01.26.09
Encaustics, day two
Yesterday was another blissful day at encaustic class (many thanks to Richard for staying an extra 4 (!) hours to let us work longer), which produced the following:
5 pieces in 10 hours–and I can always take a torch to them and rework, should the fancy strike me. Oil and Water has an encaustic section I’ve got my eye on to set up my own encaustic studio.
01.24.09
Encaustics
I spent all day in an encaustic class at Bainbridge’s Creativity Center, learning different techniques like layering, incising, embossing, etc. Tomorrow we’ll learn some texture techniques, which I’m excited about! I love the smell of the wood and beeswax (Richard had the space well-ventilated so we wouldn’t be overcome by the aldehyde fumes) and I love this medium.
I’ve gotten my first piece here to a stage I’m starting to like.
I tried a gouging tool, then filled in with dark brown pigment.
Final form (decided I didn’t like the branches).
01.19.09
3.18 million years before our eyes
We spent the afternoon at the Lucy exhibit at the Pacific Science Center–and it was fascinating for all of us. Being woefully ignorant of much of African history, I found the sections on Ethiopia past and present quite enlightening. (I learned that Ethiopia was the only African country to remain independent in the face of European colonization.) The actual Lucy skeleton was in a hushed and dimmed room–I loved watching the kids experiencing such a regard for science.
From there, we headed to the butterfly house, warm, lush, colorful.
Here’s a blue morpho with a sadly damaged wing, but that broken bit lets you see the other side of these gorgeous beauties.
These last two are owl butterflies.
01.17.09
Around the January garden
It seems far too early, in part because of all the snow we’ve had, but the garden is waking and stretching up out of the earth.
Up comes the garlic.
The white hydrangea is budding, but hasn’t lost its frost-killed leaves yet. Maybe once I get all the pinecones and pine branches picked up I’ll go to on those leaves.
Here’s the star magnolia. At this point, it looks like a pussy willow. Which reminds me–I’d like to get one.
The poppies are looking nice and healthy, aren’t they?
Daffodils and crocus buds, coming up right on time.
And the sweet little English daisies that bloom all year long, given shelter from snow and sun.
01.13.09
A little tea-time music
My piano is being tuned right now.
I. Langlois is tuning it, this piano that he designed and had built to his every specification, this piano that he delivered himself and situated in the music room. I like the slow progression of notes being tweaked and manipulated. It reminds me of an orchestra tuning before a concert, robust and alive with harmony and dissonance dying, resurging, slipping over and around me.
Young Singers
Sunday night K. sang with the Bainbridge Chorale’s Young Singers; it was the rescheduled winter holiday program, and it was a really delightful extension of the season. Kathleen Bullivant directs the choirs with such enthusiasm and skill that I found myself watching her with an ever-widening grin. Beautiful job, girls!
ETA: One of my favorite blogs, the NYT’s After Deadline, reminded me that I just had to include the spell-check-can’t-help-you-here moment of the concert: during the sing-along, everyone stopped singing to laugh at the line “And I’ve brought some corn for pooping.” Indeed.
01.11.09
Swinging in the Rain
Last night we went to the Second Saturday Dance at Island Center Hall: East Coast swing with live music from Swingset Sensation. I was delighted by all the people who really know how to dance the Lindy Hop and other fun stuff; we’re sort of novices sticking with 6-count swing. Next time we’ll have to get there early enough for the instruction session!
I was quite taken with the scene: polished wooden floor, wooden walls and ceiling, glowing with the reflected light from swaths of little white Christmas lights, the band set up in the corner stage, the windows wide open to let in the cool night air and a hint every now and then of the rain falling outside.
01.09.09
Food notes
* A’s preschool teacher is a model of sustainable living and she uses these waxed paper bags instead of plastic sandwich bags. I bought some at Town & Country, and they’ve worked great. We just fold the top over and staple it shut and they keep everything fresh.
* I’ve been studying a lot lately, which means I’ve also been snacking a lot lately. I’ve come up with the simplest homemade carmel corn recipe ever, done in the microwave.
1 bag microwave popcorn
3/4 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
2/3 cube butter
1/4 tsp baking soda
mixed nuts
Put sugar, corn syrup, and butter into glass bowl and microwave for 2 min on high. Stir until butter is incorporated, microwave on high again for 2 minutes. Stir in baking soda and pour over popped corn and nuts. It turns out sweet and salty and crispy-crunchy.
* Tea-time at our house has gradually grown to become more ritualized as we’ve acquired the accoutrements. I’ve been making various Rooibos teas, with 2% evaporated milk or rice milk instead of cream in the tiny creamer. It’s a sort of English, African, Pacific Northwest fusion and a nice time with the kids. I used to put their after-school snack out and start doing other things, but lately I sit at the table with them for tea time and go through the mail and do various paper-work while they tell me about their day.
01.03.09
New Year’s hike at First Water
New Year’s Day saw us hiking in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. A few days after desert rains, there was still a fair amount of water along the trail. Here’s K. getting a closer look at the stream.
Here’s A. with cousin D.
Muppet cactus.
This one’s crossing his fingers for us.
The Wright kind of overnight
Last Monday in sunny Scottsdale AZ, we toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter compound Taliesin West and then lodged for a night at the Arizona Biltmore, which is replete with Wright-influenced architecture and motifs.
The tour guide at Taliesin West told us the first time Wright came to AZ was as the consulting architect for the Biltmore, and then returned to found Taliesin in the desert in hopes of improving his health. I found the tour vastly interesting and inspiring.
This is a Hohokam petroglyph that gave FLW the idea for his stylized square.
These exterior shots are of the design studio.
This is inside the living quarters, which feel spacious and cozy at the same time.
I’m sitting in a surprisingly comfortable FLW origami butterfly chair. In this same room, there is a Steinway with peeling varnish but perfectly in tune (I tickled the ivories briefly). I later learned that FLW was a concert pianist (he played by ear, never having learned to read music).
Here’s a bit of the Biltmore blocks.
And here’s more of the same motif behind a hutch I like, one of a few in the lobby. Southwest meets Arts and Crafts and I like the result!
