Amazing gallery opening

On Saturday, we drove to the Sarvisberry Gallery and Studio near Floyd, Va., on the edge of the Blue Ridge. This is the home of Gibby Waitzkin where she has carved out a special piece of heaven. From the timber frame home, to the timber frame office of her husband, to the environmentally friendly studio and gallery building, it is a place of invitation--inviting you to be at once at peace and at your creative best. Gibby has mastered the art of papermaking and often combines digital photography with paper and botannicals to make wonderful pieces, both large and small.  For her gallery opening she took the practice to great heights, presenting numerous pieces mounted in old window frames and rusted wrought iron.  It was a festive evening with food, wine, candles, friends and art. What more could there be?  See her work at http://www.sarvisberry.com/.

A great art project with a funny name

I continue to have fun with my artwork for the FloCoiMo project. I'm learning things about myself and my artistic abilities and connecting with people I've never met.  Art and the people who do it in this area have been my passport to my new life in Virginia and made my new way much easier than I expected. The top piece here is a scene from Dresden, Germany, in the bohemian area of the city.  No art in stuffy museums for this neighborhood!  The art was on the outside for all to see for free, rain or shine. This courtyard was just full of surprizes. On a funny note, one day bacon accidentally became a theme for the FloCoiMo project, starting with Mara waxing poetic about this favorite breakfast food. Then Sarah chimed in and I just had to give them something to illustrate their thoughts. The bacon is sizzling, but so are the FloCoiMo folks including Michael at http://www.adhominem.weebly.com/ who is supporting us every day!

On a slightly different note, yesterday I went to the YMCA Crafts Bazaar at University Mall in Blacksburg.  Took a long time to get through it because I kept stopping to talk to artists that I already knew like Darcy Meeker and Becca Imbur, Sarah McCarthy, Cecilia Riegert, Anne Anderson and Carly Burke.  See what I mean about connections? I've only lived here since March. Life is good.

Dinner , friends and the Indigo Girls

We fixed dinner for our new friends Anne and Jean last night. It was the first time they visited our house. What a delight to be visited by people with curious minds and an appreciation for art. That kind of first visit is never just a peek at each room during the house tour. It is a room to room discussion of my art work, Bill's woodwork, our combined antique pieces, papyrus and copper from our travels in Europe and northern Africa. It is looking at books and being excited to see new things. It is feeding enthusiastic eaters and having lots of interesting, free-flowing conversation. Afterward, we fought the parking frenzy in Blacksburg as hundreds of people arrived for the Indigo Girls concert at the Lyric. Anne and Jean had invited us to join them for this group they loved and we had sort of heard of.  Now we love them, too.  The Indigo Girls and Anne and Jean.

Every day is art day

Sarah and Mara, two energetic, creative ladies in Floyd, came up with FloCoiMo, Floyd County Imagination Month, and challenged interested parties to contribute writing or art or photography or just about anything to the process.  After hesitating to do this thing, I jumped in with both hands and have been creating one mini artwork a day.  One smart jewelry maker decided to contribute one post a day to http://www.mountainlightjewelry.wordpress.com/.  Great idea! The only time someone reads my blog is when I send them a note saying...hey, go read my new piece! My family is not real blog savvy! So, here goes. I won't post every day, but each time I do this month, I'll add it to my contributions to FloCoiMo (gulp, scary making it so public). Here is one of my submissions. Each one is on watercolor paper 2.5" x 3.5". Go to http://www.adhominem.weebly.com/ for the rest of mine and many other excellent works of art and words from the other creative folks.  Also check out http://www.jacksonvillecenter.org/, the glue that brings us all together.