A Gift of Vintage Linen Dish Towels

I stated in the previous post that a woman came to the Artists and Artisans in Paradise Art Show specifically to meet me and give me the gift of these beautiful dish towels. She read in the newspaper article that I search estate sales for old cotton and linen fabrics to turn into paper. She acquired this collection of linen kitchen dish towels quite by accident. She explained to me how she and her husband would go to estate sales and auctions. One year they bought an old dresser at an auction. When they brought it home and opened it they found these towels in there. The woman said she hadn't used them and won't. She thought of me when she read the article and wanted to pass them on free to me if I was interested in them. "Was I ever!" I exclaimed. "But they are too beautiful to cut up and turn into paper. I will add them to my dish towel collection and use them in the kitchen" I told her. "As long as you want them, they are yours" she replied. Isn't that precious?

Look at these beauties. Note the dates on each of them.

First Annual Artists and Artisans in Paradise Show

Hosted by the Stratford Arts Guild, the first of what will be an annual show, Artists and Artisans in Paradise was a success! Well advertised and a gorgeous late summer day brought many people to Paradise Green, in Stratford, CT. It was nice to participate in an art show in my community and meet art lovers from my town.

 A few people came specifically to meet me and see my work based on an article in the Connecticut Post. I was quoted in the article along with a few other members of the Stratford Art Guild. One woman came to give me a stack of vintage linen dish towels. She had read in the article that I peruse estate sales for cotton sheets and linen tablecloths and dish towels to turn into pulp for papermaking. The dish towels she gave me  are too beautiful and full of history to be cut for paper. I have added them to my rather large vintage dish towel collection. That was an unexpected and delightful pleasure! Another woman came to see me because she liked the way I described my work in the article. (Abstract, yet representational and inspired by nature.)

Artists and Artisans in Paradise

The Stratford Arts Guild is hosting its first juried art and crafts show. It will be held on the town green which is named Paradise Green. Another event to promote Stratford and make this a community for art. Wish us good luck and a beautiful day!

Festival Stratford 2013 Part 3

Here are photos of the art/craft vendors set up. I did not take pictures of the individual booths.

Bob at my booth

Crowd who came to hear the 6 p.m. jazz performance.

 Midsummer Night's Dream stage. No photos were allowed to be taken during the performance.

Traffic control

 Note: Photos on Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt 2013 list in this post:
#1 Open air market
#2 Theater of Performing Arts
#15 Police car

Festival Stratford 2013 Part 1
Festival Stratford 2013 Part 2

Festival Stratford 2013 Part 2

Continuing from my previous post, here are a few more views on and from the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre property:

Housatonic River

 

 

 

artwork by John Tarka

 Note: Photos on Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt 2013 list in this post:
#4 An airplane (in the first photo)
#12 A cloud in the shape of something (specify) In the second photo, the thin, horizontal cloud reminds my of Michelangelo's painting of the finger of God touching the finger of Adam on the Sistine Chapel. Though it doesn't look like that, it is what it reminds me of.

Festival Stratford 2013 Part 1
Festival Stratford 2013 Part 3

Festival Stratford 2013 Part 1

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking part in the first annual Arts Marketplace which took place during Festival Stratford's showing of A Midsummer Night's Dream, performed by Connecticut Free Shakespeare. As a way to draw attention to the cause of resurrecting the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, CT, this was the eighth year this event has taken place. It has gained in popularity and the organization is finding new ways to increase the draw. One such activity was adding the Arts Marketplace. There were ten art/craft vendors in total along with several food trucks and the local VFW selling mixed drinks and draft beer from Two Roads Brewing Company which is our newest town attraction.

I will add photos in several posts to keep this from being so long.

The setting is beautiful. The buildings are historical treasures. The Shakespeare Garden is taking shape once again. Here is a quick tour:

The Theatre

Sundial on Theatre

inside of Theatre

Theatre Museum

Katherine Hepburn often performed here

in the Lobby

A statue on the grounds

Shakespeare Garden

the White House where actors used to stay

Note: Photos on Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt 2013 list in this post:
# 2 - Theater for performing arts (1st photo)
#21 - Sundial (2nd photo)

Festival Stratford 2013 Part 2
Festival Stratford 2013 Part 3

What's Been Going On

Whew! I feel like I'm finally getting my head above water. Or should I say above the piles of stuff. Since returning home from vacation two and a half weeks ago it seems that all my husband and I have been doing is moving furniture and stuff. My sister in law decided it was time to tag and remove desired items from my in-laws house. It is wonderful to have these household items from my husband's past in our home, but the timing has been less than ideal. Anyway, it is done enough for now and I won't bore you with the details of all we still need to do.

Last week I did get to squeeze in a watercolor workshop with Linda Anderson Miller. That was offered by the CT Natural Science Illustrators. It was wonderful! Linda held the workshop even though I was the only one enrolled. We got to know each other pretty well as a result and I am very thankful for that.

The weather has finally cooled down too. Ahhh. (That is a sigh of relief.)

Tomorrow I plan to work outside cleaning up the gardens. We are hosting a garden party on Saturday evening which should be fun!

Next week I will be preparing for the weekend Arts Marketplace to be held during the Festival Stratford 2013 Midsummer Night's Dream Presentation. This will be my first outdoor show. I am very excited! We have invested in a tent, walls for hanging my work, tables for displaying my handmade papers and journals. On Monday, which is when my mobile phone contract is eligible for an upgrade, I am going to get a "smart phone" so that I can accept credit card payments! Time to go all-in with this.

The week after that I plan to start making some paper. And I need to get back to my 52 Flower Drawings Project!!

Home, Sweet, Home

My husband, Bob, and I are back from our ten day road trip. We had a great time, met some wonderful people and learned lots of things. When we left Connecticut on June 27th, the weather was cool and rainy. Back home now it is in the lower 90s. The house is really warm from being closed up and the lawn and flower beds are overgrown! Lots to do over the next few days. I hope I will take the time to write and blog about our experiences. It was difficult to keep up with it on the road. We were living each day to its fullest potential which left no time to record it. If I don't have some sort of documentation, whether written or photographic, in time I forget and I don't want that to happen.