I Am SO Over Summer and a Bit of Progress

This is my dogwood tree.

This is just ONE of my dead shrubs.

 

With temperatures in southern Indiana in the triple digits, I don't have much hope for the rest of my landscaping either. The corn crops have all but dried up completely, everyone has brown grass, there is a burn ban, and we are all trying to conserve as much water as possible. My daughter kept my poor potted plants alive while I was on vacation, but some are now (literally) "biting the dust." They just can't survive being baked for days on end. I'm trying to keep the birds fed and watered, but the water heats up VERY quickly. I need to change it several times a day to keep it cool enough for them to drink and bathe. The drought here is VERY serious.

Needless to say, we are all spending lots of time indoors. That gives me some time to work on hand quilting my current piece of work.

 

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A Give Away

I am a resident artist on a blog called "And Then We Set It On Fire." For the month of August, we have a give away. If you are interested, head on over to the post announcing the give away of Lisa Kerpoe's new book, Visual Texture on Fabric. Here is the link--...And Then We Set It On Fire. Hurry, you have to leave a comment before 8 am on July 31. Be sure to head back to the blog in August when Lisa will write a post for us. You also might enjoy following along during the technique of the month--fabric resist.

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Antioch Mosaics at the Baltimore Museum of Art

While I was at the Baltimore Museum of Art with some friends, we discovered the Antioch Mosaics in the atrium court. All I can say is, "WOW, these mosaics are fabulous!" TINY pieces of stone are arranged into magnificent works of art. These works were made in Turkey from the 2nd to the 6th century. Being a Leo, I was immediately drawn to this particular piece called The Striding Lion.

Below is a close up of a couple of sections. Here, you can see the tiny pieces used to create this piece.

Close up of the background and lion's head.

Close up of the peacock in the corner of The Striding Lion mosaic.

I have visions of new quilts using tiny pieces of fabric. Surprisingly, I really like the muted palette of colors in the mosaics. I say "surprisingly" because I generally use a much more bold color scheme.

Some of the mosaics reminded me of traditional quilt patterns.

Many traditional quilt borders are very similar to the borders used in these mosaics.

If you would like to read more about the exhibit at the museum, check out this link--Baltimore Museum of Art. If you like to know more about the Antioch Mosaics in general click this link--Antioch Mosaics.

 

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Great Design at the Baltimore Museum of Art

My husband and I are visiting friends in Baltimore. Our initial plans included lots of outdoor activities; however, Mother Nature decided not to cooperate. The excessive heat (106 degrees) today forced us into indoor activities. I didn't mind; I got to go to an art museum! Of course, I forgot my camera, so I had to use the camera on my phone. I apologize up front for the picture quality (although I didn't think they were "horrible").

 

My favorite artist is Kandinsky, so I was anxious to hit the modern art area of the museum. As luck would have it, the modern art and contemporary art exhibits were closed. I only got to see one Kandinsky, and it was not one of my favorite pieces. As a matter of fact, some of the shapes in the piece reminded me of sperm! Anyone else?

While on the search for any modern art I could find, I discovered an artist whose work I really enjoyed. Charles H. Walther is from Baltimore. I loved this piece called Reversible Composition, 1937-1938.

I like the colors and geometric nature of this work--the same things I usually like about Kandinsky's work. I'm definitely going to have to do some art quilts inspired by pieces like this.

One more modern art piece caught my eye--The Blue Disc, 1920, by French artist Fernand Leger. Again, I'm drawn to these colors and shapes.

My next post will be about the BMA's collection of Antioch mosaics (the result of its participation in excavations of an ancient city, known today as Antakya in southeastern Turkey, near the border of Syria). These pieces are FABULOUS. I'm DEFINITELY planning some pieces of art based on these.

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