Trip to OlyWA

Last weekend I went to Olympia. Erica drove down with me.

Visiting Joslyn's family is always a treat. Here are some sweet pictures of the visit. This is a collection of drawings [recentish] done by Lucy & Timmo.

Joslyn & Rip asked if they could add Mexico & Canada to the map on the tarmac of the USA.The school was delighted.  Now I'm scheming to get Cuba, Haiti & the rest of the Caribbean Islands on that map.

Lucy & I did a bit of hat play. I thought this structure had great possibilities.

Fathers' Day happened, presents were given.

Timmo & Erica did a lot of drawing together.

Later Timmo took this picture of Erica with my camera....

I got Joslyn a shirt from Japan, also bought at MoMA when I was in NYC. Timmo, the paparazzo, took this one too.



















That's it for now.

Last post about trip east

I'm back in Vancouver now for a week, and picking up the threads of my life here. I had a really stimulating time there in a variety of ways.

There was art, old friends, old locations of importance, relatives, for starters.

My friend, Sal [as in Vermont Sal, friend from when she was in baby diapers & I was in 1 year old diapers, hence my only diaper buddy] also has rugs from the middle east.




So how could I not photograph them?
Not even possible to let them just lie there, unappreciated.

Not that they would have felt slighted.

I just love the colors, shapes & irregularities.

In the world of Islam only Allah is perfect, so rug makers put intentional errors into their rug-making.






I think that is unnecessary. We all make mistakes because we are imperfect & not Allah!

This one below I think is my favorite. It really sings in 4 part harmony!

Then there is Sal, who looks beautiful with Max, the grandson 2 year old. They are so sweet. 

Two more rugs....

We all did an outing together to Hanover New Hampshire.
On the way home we saw a snapping turtle, my first.
Sal's husband, Dick, said this was a smallish one & maybe wounded, since it didn't scurry away when we approached it.
I was most taken with how prehistoric it looked, dinosauric!

And finally, at Sal & Dick's house there is a wall built by a Welchman. This is NOT a typical Vermont rock wall. But it also isn't totally typical of Welch wall either!

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The Ecstasy of Shapes

The day I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art I saw the Stein Collections. The Stein Collection would be Gertrude & her brother, Leo. This collection was gradually accumulated and dispersed by them, depending on their money needs & availability. The work was never all-in-one-place.

It's one of those one-off historic shows where stuff comes together and goes back to 100 households and museums. Ten years ago during my 40th SLC reunion there was a similar one-off show on European tapestries. After Mr. & Ms. Stein's collection, I went roaming in the Met. I think my favorite place is the great hall of indigenous art.

In my mind this stuff transcends time & place. I am too dazzled to take notes. 

Simple shapes, simple functions, wonderful textures.

Then there's complexity....

This sculpture was maybe  12 feet long with creatures inside it. A marvel of carving. Pigs' heads at both ends.

Then two small items: comb & maybe one & a half inch pendant[?].

Being in the presence of excellence is so excellent!!

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Odds & ends from NYC

Make that "discouraged with blogspot" not bloodspot as in the last post.
I am not ailing. I got auto-corrected by blogspot!!!

I am home, comfortable calm familiar home. I enjoyed all the other homes I was in on my trip, but they are stimulating more than calm.

My trip was wonderful. George predicted I would have a ball and I did. My prediction was more of an anxious nature, as I got quite hung up about the connections in my trip, the transitions-going-wrong possibilities. There were many pieces & legs to the journey and I am grateful it went smoothly.

I wanted to share a few themes of the trip. I'll start with some New York/Italian panache high-fashion window.

The extra added window reflections are part of my pleasure. Too funny. Of course I used to be called Daffy. I got so sick of "oh like Daffy Duck?" as a child, I soon switched to Daphne & Daph. 

After seeing ecstatic alphabets it was hard not getting caught up in these silver inflated letters. I also got caught up in the ambiguity made by reflections from the street, please note: THIS is a dress I WANT!

Art photographed would be another category. Robin Tost, a Sarah Lawrence classmate, makes metal quilts, for heaven's sake. They are so special.  

Then Susan Hambleton's swimmers.... also a classmate.

At MoMA, aside from Elsworth Kelly's wall, I have some other things to delight in. I wish I could have photographed the Ecstatic Alphabets show, but there was a photography ban on! AND there was no catalogue either, from which I might have purloined cool images. There were so many language-based ideas in those rooms.... enough to keep my mind busy for a long time. I'd have gone back for RE-viewings in a flash.

This was an interesting exhibit about modern art approaches to the human body.

This one was called Anyone's Self Portrait. I am in the mirror, just arms.

We also saw an industrial design exhibit. It was fascinating too. Below is a leg splint designed by Charles Eames. And fascinating forks!

This is a housing unit deigned to use heat from street vents. It's for people without homes.

And then there was the art in Meridee's apartment. I'm just sharing a bit. Two Calder prints.

This is a sculpture below is by Eli Noyes, Meridee's brother. The Noyes family knew the Calders quite well. Sandy Calder was not happy if he found anyone copying his "look" which actually was very easy to do!  This Eli Noyes sculpture was in the room where I slept. OH my!! So much to feel enriched by!

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