rajafacesbothways

One Last Peek

All my inspiration from the trip north with artists has been decimated by unpacking, regrouping, and shifting photos about. Yesterday a friend and I drove through beautiful back roads to Broadstone Gallery in Frankfort to retrieve the photos from my exhibit. Three had sold--(I'm still amazed that people will part with money for art is this economy) the others have been tucked in corners and hung on walls here. Slowly I'm extending some almost ceiling high--if it works for the Louvre it works for me.

Here is a peek at the Garden Door, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin in Door County.

And below is a corner of the charming Fairy Garden:

Garden Crawling

Saw quite a few gardens while in Wisconsin, including the Garden Door, which we also visited last fall and Overbeck--a private home, formally an old schoolhouse, and garden mixing nature and art in an incredible manner.

On the way back we stopped at the Flying Pig Gallery and Greenspace in Algona, WI. Filled with "outsider art" metal sculptures it had an Alice in Wonderland quality to it.

Workshop Wind-Up

Through storms and heat and tied up traffic--all in Indiana--I've returned after the rewarding fun week up north.

Here is the sum total of my creative efforts--looks like less work than it actually was.
The open "flag book"  is a kind of pop-up book--the smaller books fit into the boxes I made and the book at the upper right is a closed-up mess that is spattered with my blood from a needle that had a mind of its own while I was attempting to create a spine with waxed thread. Unfortunately, the waxed thread's entanglements made the spine appear more like  spinal biffia than a book construction.

Winding Down

Got up at 5 a.m. to see a beautiful sunrise and went into the studio to work before the others got up-- mainly because I didn't want them to see me struggle trying to figure out how to do a flag book. It turned out well actually. I can't say the same about the non-adhesive book I attempted that required stitching the spine. There is blood on the cover and interior where I missed the stitching and jabbed myself and a loose loop that dangled between the pages. I finally said screw it--will give it to Karen so she can feel good about her own sewing attempts.

However Anita's husband, Joe, judged all our results and selected one of my projects to win the $10 best-of-show prize--minus taxes.

Tomorrow we return to the Chicago area. I'll drive to Kentucky on Sunday. And if all goes well, ww plan another workshop here next year.

Winding Down

 Took a break from bookmaking for a walk along the everchanging lake and to see a play, ^Heroes, by Tom Stoppard  at the Peninsula Playhouse along Green Bay (the water not the town). Great play.with a cast of three men. And a terrific sunrise again this morning--popping over the lake.

Today gong to visit Master Gardeners  grounds and a couple of other gardens and try to make a Flag book.

Artist's Workshop

Yesterday was spent making books--mine are simple, using photographs that I didn't know how else to use while the others are much more adept at making things. They all went to kindergarten--I blame my ineptness on my lack of that education.

Raining out so no walk--foring me to go back to the studio and try to make a more complicated flag book.

However, looking out the studio window at the waves and birds over Lake Michigan is a big improvement over gazing at the jail behind my loft.

Gone North

After a busy weekend of visiting and gathering goodies in Chicago I am now struggling with a different computer and loving the view from the large windows of my friends', Anita and Joe,' home, overlooking Lake Michigan. One thing I really miss in Kentucky is not being close to a big body of water, having lived by two of the Great Lakes and along the Pacific in my past. The Kentucky River just doesn't do it for me.

I'm with four other artist friends I've known for decades. All of us work in a variety of and different media and this time we are focusing on exploring bookmaking--flag books, tunnel books, pop-up, etc. Anita has a wonderful studio for us to play in, plus Door County is a beautiful area to explore.  I've been fortunate to be a guest here many times. It is wonderful having successful men in my life that I never married!

On the Road Once More

I'm off tomorrow to Door County, WI to join artist friends for inspiration and conversation, to touch base in Chicago with others and to load my car with sustenance from "only in Chicago" goodies. I'll return in a week. But first another look at the rest of the back yard. Aren't you glad I don't have an acre of land? Me too!.

 (below) The rooftop potatoes (foreground) are ready to harvest and we've picked two delicious tomatoes. 

Steel Magnolias Live

Chicago has it Mario Triccochi Hair Salons. Here I go to Salon on Broadway, a pink house with a salon added  on to it by Kathy, the owner/beautician. She's good, the atmosphere is friendly and the local chatter flows.

Yesterday there was a new twist to this Steel Magnolias setting. in the midst of my appointment her show dog was giving birth to three pups. A female was born shortly after I arrived, another was in that process when I left. Kathy divided her time  between doing hair and delivering pups. This would have never a occurred at Mario's! Two other women, Ann and Jean arrived for their appointments. It was decided the new pups should be named after the three of us.

Not only did this event add color to my hair, it adds color to my life here. And reminds me I'm not in Chicago anymore.

Glory Be

Thought you might like to see life-changes on my back area. The morning glories are beginning to show off:

This was their dark days, a couple of weeks ago:

And this is how they bloomed this morning:

Hmm. Could this be the reason they are called Morning Glories?!