Grandchildren, Journal Pages, Easter...Fun!

It has been a busy couple of weeks for this sewing/painting grandma!  I had our two oldest grandchildren here in Raleigh for a few days last week during their spring break.  Since I also babysit for the littlest one on Mondays and Tuesdays, it was a fun time for me and the little cousins.  You might understand why I have not had much time for blogging!

We did lots of painting and sidewalk chalk art.

I took them to the sculpture trail at the North Carolina Museum of Art.  It was a beautiful day to be outside.  Little Charlie saw this giant sculpture and must have thought it was a big patchwork quilt. She went running up to it...

but when she touched it, it did not feel like a quilt at all!

At the end of the walk there was a sidewalk full of pulsing fountains to cool us off!

We have lived in a rented house in Raleigh for close to two years, but never tried fishing in the pond in front of the house until recently.  My husband got two fishing rods for his birthday in March, and we discovered that we have a perfect fishing retreat right at home!  Lily caught a fish right away.  Most are bream, but I caught a little bass.

Now everyone wants to go fishing all the time!

Lily wanted to do some sewing while they were at my house, so we started a patchwork project.  I had a lovely floral block made for me by my friend Tama.  Lily loved it, so it will be featured on her tote back when it is finished.  She picked out all the coordinating fabrics and colors.

I had to take the big kids back to their daddy on Wednesday, but on Thursday we went to our cabin in the North Carolina mountains for Easter weekend.  Dave, Emily, and little Charlie came too.  It was a wonderful family weekend.

We have a family compound up there.  My sister and her brother-in-law also had all their grandchildren there!  We had a giant Easter egg hunt in Katy's back yard.

Here are Lacy and Holly checking out the treasures they found.

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Then there were sack races across the yard.  I think there were lots of good memories made that day.

 Okay, so I have not had much time for sewing or painting, but I am still trying to complete the 21-Day Art Journaling Challenge that I joined on Facebook.  Here are some pages I have made according to the daily prompts.

Paint Over a Photo

Kitchen Kapers

Hearts and Wings

Map It!

Home is Where the Heart Is

I have also been doing lots of printmaking while watching the weekly video lessons from Traci Bautista on the Strathmore website.  The lessons are free.  It is a messy process.  I will share some of my printmaking attempts next time.  I'm not sure it is my thing...but it's lots of fun!

Art in Bloom

Flowers, artwork, friends, food, and family made for a perfect day yesterday!

It began with an excursion (about two miles down the road from me) to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.  Four of us from the Anything Art bee met for the special exhibition of Art in Bloom, which will run through this Sunday.

Florists from across the state created spectacular arrangements inspired by paintings or sculpture in the permanent collection.   I tried to take photos of the flowers with the inspiration piece.

This Monet is one of my favorite pieces in the permanent collection.

Another of my favorites is The Garden Parasol, by Frederick Carl Frieseke.

Here is Aphrodite and the arrangement she inspired.

 This arrangement cleverly includes elements of the waves and the tall ships.

One of my favorite pieces was this very colorful, tall arrangement that coordinated with every painting in its gallery.  But it was inspired by the ebony chest behind it.

Outdoors there was an installation as well.

Some of the galleries just had large arrangements not inspired by just one piece of art.

Based on the opening morning, I would say that this exhibition was a smashing success.  I hope they will repeat it in the future!

The four of us went to one of my favorite nearby restaurants, Bella Monica's,  for lunch.  That takes care of the flowers, artwork, friends, and some of the food of the day.

But...it was also my husband's birthday!  More food and fun, this time with family.  We went out to eat with our son Dave, his wife Emily, and our sweet munchkin Charlie.

They gave "us" His and Hers fishing poles and some great chairs so we can try fishing in the pond behind our Raleigh home.  We had a couple of very warm days this week, and I could see the fish swimming about from the back deck of our house.  

The fun will continue this weekend with more family and friends as we make what is now an annual tradition of a trip to Asheville to experience as many beer breweries as we can!  There are over forty in Asheville and surrounding areas.  Good times!

A Quilty Visit to the North Carolina Museum of Art

Paintings, textiles, quilting friends, and delicious food made for a perfect day today!  Nine of us went to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, which is only about five minutes from my house.  One of the ladies in my art quilt bee arranged for a docent tour of the Impressionist paintings, and of other items in the collection that might be of interest to quilters.

I enjoyed the chance to revisit the Impressionist-style work in the museum collection.  My favorite is this Monet, The Seine at Giverny, Morning Mists.

After brief introductions to the paintings, we visited the Rodin sculpture gallery, a few of the contemporary paintings, and then the African gallery.  We were all gob-smacked by this costume from Africa.

Egungun Masquerade Costume front

Apparently the costume is worn by dancers, who must peer out from between the beads located near the headdress.  At each event, a new panel is added, so this costume is extremely heavy, with many layers of heavy beaded, sequined and stitched fabric.

Egungun Masquerade Costume, detail

I would love to see someone dancing in this get-up, with the ornate panels swirling and moving.

There is another piece in the museum that we all admired, an immense assemblage of labels and parts of everyday items like aluminum cans by El Anatsui titled Lines That Link Humanity.  You can see that it extends from floor to ceiling.

El Anatsui
Dimensions: (irregular) 18 x 25 ft. (5.49 x 7.62 m)
Medium: Discarded aluminum and copper wire

One of the last pieces we viewed was Bride, an amazing display of hand-blown glass staged to look like a tiered wedding cake.  Many of the glass objects recall familiar items from famous paintings, especially still lives.

Bride

Beth Lipman, 2010 

http://ncartmuseum.org/art/detail/bride

Admission to the NCMA is free except for occasional special exhibits.  The docent tour was also free.        

What a great way to spend a morning with friends!