Saturday, December 17, 2011

Framed Sunflowers

I can now reveal one of our gifts to Dave and Emily:  one of my watercolor paintings that I had matted and framed.


I chose the same green velvet mat as my Hollyhocks picture, but the frame has a golden gleam.  There is a bit of reflection showing in the glass in the photo.  They seemed to like the picture, which is actually a mixed media piece.  I added painted tissue paper to the watercolor painting to add more depth of color and some texture.  There is also some texture added by sanding watercolor pencils over a piece of lace on the blue background areas.  You can see that better in this picture of the unframed painting.



I received a copy of a book I have been craving:  Masters Art Quilts, Vol. 2, curated by Martha Sielman.

                         
This is a fascinating collection of art quilts by men and women from around the globe.  Only a few of the names were familiar to me, such as Paula Nadelstern, Laura Wasilowski, and Jane Dunnewold.  How wonderful to be introduced to so many new works of arts made with diverse techniques.

We also got a fabulous gift of an Apple TV device.  We can now view our computer or phone images, videos, music or other media on the television wirelessly.  How cool is that!

We had a great dinner at Bocci's Trattoria and Pizzeria in Cary.  None of us had been there before, so we each ordered a different entree and shared them family style.  Now it is one of my favorite local restaurants!  Great food and service.  The meatballs were the size of baseballs.  There was snow crab ravioli- yum! 

To really get into the Christmas spirit, we went to see the Christmas lights at one house near Dave and Emily's.  They have a phenomenal light show which is synchronized to music they broadcast on an FM station. 



They were rocking the Trans-Siberian Railroad music


and then went into The Star-Spangled Banner.  It was awesome!



A relaxing soak in the hot tub while it poured down rain outside was the perfect ending to a great evening. 

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