While in Siena, we stayed in a lovely inn. This was the view (on a rainy day.) It was very early spring and things were just beginning to bloom. This photo is looking back at the building. We had our fanciest meal in Siena. We think our table was located in an old wine cellar….
Siena is a small medieval town in the heart of Tuscany. The city center is maintained to look the way it did in the 1300’s. It’s very picturesque (or, it would be, if seen on a sunny day. It was rainy and overcast for us.) The piazza and the town hall tower are the center…
My current quilt is progressing along nicely, (but slowly.) I spent a LOT of time piecing the background and was quite happy with it. But, I wanted to tie the background of angular shapes into the design more. Since I planned to use large circular shapes in the foreground I thought skinny circles in the…
I’ve been wanting to do a series of quilts about my family. I made the first one, Happy Family, which used circles to represent people. With that one the circles were an 11th hour addition. For the next one I wanted to be much more intentional. After selecting green for the background of my current quilt it…
For my latest quilt I envisioned an interesting green background with vibrantly colored circles in the foreground. I got to work on the background with my usual technique of auditioning fabrics and designing as I went along. I chose green, because I had A LOT of green fabric. Plus, I had a theme idea that…
When you go antiquing in Virginia you’re very likely to find items related to the Civil War. Such was the case at J.S. Mosby Antiques and Artifacts in Orange, VA, where these period uniforms were displayed just inside the door. The owner, Stephen Sylvia, is an expert on military weapons. Here, he was showing us…
The opening reception for my show was FANTASTIC! First, take a quick look at the artwork. exhibit before opening If you’re extremely observant, you may have noticed that the video included one piece with a red dot on the label. That’s right, it sold BEFORE the opening! Woohoo! I was elated. Here it is. Poppies…
I arrived at The Arts Center in Orange, VA with a thorough plan about how I would hang my show. But, you know what they say about that sort of thing. It turns out that some of the measurements and the configuration were a little different than I had anticipated. For instance, this was my…
After touring the Vatican Museum we finally got to go into the church part of the Vatican: St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s the largest church in the world, and the most opulent. Gold and marble cover most of the surfaces and it’s absolutely HUGE. The architecture and art are absolutely amazing! There is tons of symbolism…
Wow, the Vatican DID NOT disappoint! The ceilings had me completely mesmerized! Some were beautiful in their structure and carvings. Others were adorned with an ABUNDANCE of individual art pieces. Such was the case in the hall displaying tapestries, below. As you can see, there’s lots of art painted on the ceilings, and the Sistine…