Mexico

We are just back from a week in Mexico, so I thought I would share a few interesting images with you.

The area right next to the resort we stayed at is a little patch of jungle. There is some building going on there, but like many Mexican building projects, they have not made much progress over the years. It's supposed to be a museum, we were told, but right now it's just a happy place for iguanas to live. Here's a nice specimen who wandered through the chain link fence to bask in the sun and pose for pictures.

This colorful character is a Mayan (I think). He visited the welcome party to invite everyone to go to a special dinner at one of the resort restaurants that included a show about Mexican history.

The sunset is usually quite magnificent over the lagoon. So it became an almost daily challenge to try to capture it. Here are a few versions. Often "sunset" was accompanied by margarita's at the lagoon-side bar, "Poncho and Willy's." (By the way, Poncho and Willy are two of the salt water crocodiles that visit the restaurant there nightly.)

One day we rented a car and traveled south along the Mayan Riviera. We spent the day at a sister resort close to Playa del Carmen and on the way back we stopped at a quieter fishing village that has so far escaped overdevelopment. The town is Porto Morelos and a popular photo spot is this leaning lighthouse that was tilted by a hurricane in the 1980's.

This was also taken at Porto Morelos. The white speck on the horizon is a cruise ship traveling north from Cozumel. The ocean along the Mayan Riviera is very calm because there is a reef that acts as a natural breakwater.

Friends

While I was in Plattsburgh earlier this month, I had lunch at "The Naked Turtle" with my friends, Carol, Carol, and Sandy. I told them about my blog and said I would post our pictures on it. So, ladies, here we are!
The hostess took this picture of all of us, but we were in the shade. That's Sandy to my right and Carol H. and Carol L. to my left. Here are some clearer shots of us in the sunshine. It was a pretty day on Lake Champlain!

It just doesn't get much better than this!

The Asheville Reef

Though we are pretty far from the ocean, a reef is growing in Asheville!

We are an official satellite of the worldwide "Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef" project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles.

The project started in 2005 and has grown out of several intersecting threads - mathematics, marine biology, feminine handicraft, collective art practice, and environmental concerns regarding the plight of living reefs. Here is a portion of the local coral reef:

Over the last month or so, I crocheted four items to add to the reef. Here they are, photographed in two different settings at my home:

You might recognize some of my pieces in the larger display at The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, where our local reef is currently residing.

When I delivered my pieces of coral, there were a group of women actively involved in making their own coral creations. Now that is a good example of how the project is fostering "collective art practice!"

There were a lot of items that were far more creative than my contributions, so I couldn't resist sharing a few more pictures:

Even though crochet is far from my favorite fiber medium, I enjoyed being part of this project and I look forward to attending the reception in September when the Wertheim sisters will come to UNC Asheville to speak about the project.

Fun with scissors and glue!

Last week I went to a "Collage Art and Mixed Media Workshop" at the local community college, AB tech. It was taught/facilitated by a local artist, Ursula Gullow and there were just 5 of us in the workshop, so we had plenty of opportunities to network together and explore our creative sides.

I came away with two collages, both using some copies of old postcards that I had brought with me.

This first collage started with some woven paper, a technique that Ursula demonstrated, however by the time I completed it, there was very little of the paper weaving showing. Another technique that we were encouraged to explore was stenciling and I used this extensively to fill my background space. I also used some printed lutrador and then finished the entire piece with a wash of diluted glue tinted with some brown paint. I found that the wash tended to "antique" the entire piece and that seemed to enhance the overall "aged look" suggested by the vintage postcards. The collage was mounted on a canvas board which I chose because I felt that due to its size, a piece of poster paper would have been too flimsy.

My goal was to try to use collage in a piece that was primarily fabric, so I had brought a piece of white muslin taped onto a piece of foam core and I used that for my second piece. This piece uses painted fabric, printed lutrador, some ribbon and some paper strips. I attached everything with glue and then when I got home, I removed the fabric from the foam core and fused it to a piece of batting and did some surface quilting to make sure everything was attached. I did a little bit of thread painting to extend the brown paper lattice. It is approximately 11 inches square and I'm not sure what the next step will be. I would like to embellish it further... maybe some beads?

I enjoyed the workshop very much. Ursula did a great job inspiring and encouraging us. She demonstrated several techniques that she finds useful when constructing mixed media pieces and encouraged each of us to use them, if we chose, in our projects. It was a fun day!

It's in the mail...

On the first day of summer, my new greatnephew was born. His name is Harrison Joseph, but I guess he will be called "Harry" which was my father's name (his great grandfather).
A week later, while I was in Buffalo, I bought fabric to make him a quilt. And here it is!

It's just a simple design of squares with an inside border that matches the backing. The inside border and backing fabric has some cute little vehicles on it and the squares are random primary colors that match. It's about 35 x 45 inches.
I think it looks very "little boyish" with blue being the dominant color and all the little cars and trucks on the print fabric. I just used raw edge machine applique to add his name in block letters to the top.I'm pleased with it and I'm especially proud of the fact that it is already in the mail and he will receive it before his 1 month birthday! I'm usually not that prompt. :-)

Roan Mountain

Last Friday we took a trip to Roan Mountain which sits along the North Carolina - Tennessee border a bit north east of Asheville. Roan Mountain isn't really a mountain peak, but rather a ridge that spans about 5 miles and sits over a mile above sea level. Because of the elevation they have what is referred to as a Canada-like climate that creates an interesting ecosystem. This is the time of year when the native rhododendrons are in full blossom. It's a spectacular display of thousands of magenta blossoms.

Here we are among the rhodies on a beautiful June day!

A brief hike from Carver's Gap along the Appalachian Trail brings you to Round Bald where you get spectacular 360 degree views like this.

Here is a photo of a native flame azalea. They are also naturally occurring on Roan Mountain, but not as plentiful. They do have a beautiful color though and are a treat to find.

A Quilt for Shindig

One of the things I really like to do in the summer is attend the weekly Saturday evening outdoor event called "Shindig on the Green." It's a mountain music and dance program that features a "house" bluegrass band, a couple of scheduled traditional dance/clogging groups, and the rest of the program is "open mike" and made up of entertainers who just show up and sign up to do a couple of songs each. The music is a mix of bluegrass and traditional ballads that stem from the Scots-Irish heritage of the Appalachian region. It's a wonderful community event in a beautiful setting, last year returning to the refurbished Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville. Shindig happens in July and August and starts each Saturday evening "right around sundown."

This spring my friend Alice and I decided to make a quilt and donate it to the Folk Heritage Committee. The FHC organizes "Shindig" and our quilt will be raffled off to raise funds to support their work.

It was a fun collaboration! We chose to make a traditional pattern, a log cabin quilt, and set it in the "field and furrows" design, because we felt that was in keeping with the agrarian roots of mountain music. Log cabin blocks traditionally have a red center, to signify the hearth, so we chose contemporary batiks in golds and blue-greens to surround our fire. The quilt measures 60 x 84 inches and consists of 35 blocks. None of the blocks are identical!