Speaking of Scarves

I took this picture last week when I tried hanging scarves from my new display tree. The tree is made from weathered wrought iron and was purchased from my friends at Bee Hollow in Mascoutah. I really love the way my scarves look hanging from it. Add a little breeze and some sunshine and it is a great way to show my hand dyed scarves.

Stepping in dog poop added a little bit of fun to the trial run especially since I didn't notice it until I'd tracked it into my studio. On the bright side my floors needed mopping anyway.

Into each life a little poop must stick.

Be well be happy ... remember these are the Sweet and sometimes fragrant Years.

Owl Song

I took my morning coffee out to my back porch early this morning and the owls began calling in a chain of hoots that moved throughout the woods. I wasn't aware there were so many owls in the area. To heighten the magic of the morning the moon was rising. What a wonderful way to start the day!

I had to find out more about why they were doing this long chain of hoots as it seemed like some form of communication. A little research took me to the owl pages where I read that owls are starting their mating season and the sound of their hoots are both territorial and give each other and the female owl information as to their size. In addition to the hoots of the males I heard the higher pitched screech of a couple of females... love is in the air !

owlpages.com

I leave today for the Rend Lake Art and Wine Festival in Sesser, Illinois the weather looks great for the weekend. Stop by if you are in the area. My scarves will be fluttering to gentle breezes and there will be music, sunshine and wine. I will have art quilts on display and will be taking my sewing machine to demonstrate free motion quilting. I love doing this people ask so many great questions.

This morning owl song is a great start to the day!

Remember these are the Sweet Years !

Our Common Ground

It's Not Your Granny's Quilt Show --
Maves Art Center Greenville College

Opens Sept 26, 5-9
Closes Oct 19

This web site has a map to the venue.

http://www.ocgart.org/quilt_show


The show opens Friday September 26th and promises to be a good one.... lots of great artists ! Meet some of the artists Friday night.... Just not me....I will be at Rend Lake preparing for the art and wine festival so I will be unable to attend the opening.

Remember Saturday and Sunday the Rend Lake festival has art, wine, live music and great food.


An opportunity to dance!

Be well remember these are.... The Sweet Years!

Jacque

Upcoming Schedule of Events

Have you wondered where I've been?

I have been keeping a hectic schedule lately preparing for upcoming shows and art fairs and have been dyeing and painting scarves, printing some t-shirts and working on some textile art for the wall.

They are as follows:

Smart Women Smart Money
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, September 18
Four Points Sheraton,
319 Fountain Parkway,
Fairview Heights, Illinois
exhibitor

9th Annual Art and Wine Festival Festival
September 27 & 28
Southern Illinois Art Center
14967 Gun Creek Trail
Whittington , Il
exhibitor

It's Not Your Granny's Quilt Show
Maves Art Center
Greenville College
Opens September 26 5-9
Closes October 19th
http://ocgart.org/quilt_show
Group Show

Circle of Health Wellness Center
700 A South Illinois
Belleville , Illinois
Opening reception October 19th from 1-6
Solo show

Mascoutah Fall Festival
October 25th and 26th
Bee Hollow Market
217 East Main Street
Mascoutah, Illinois

Main Street Art Gallery
Opens Friday November 7 through November 29
239 N Main Street
Edwardsville, IL
Group show

I would love to see you at any or all of these events if you are in the area!

Now you know where I've been... and where I'll be... how about you?

Remember the Sweet Years are upon us
and dancing brings life to your life.
Shake a hip!

Be well!

Jacque

News From The Road

My friend Karen and I are having a lovely time and producing volumes of dyed cloth.
Deconstructed screen printing is my new love!

Our time at the farm was productive and the scenery was beautiful.... wide open spaces and beautiful sunsets.

We are in Lafayette , Indiana this week studying with Bob Adams he and his wife Natalie are providing a great work space and we are learning a lot. Discharge dyeing is challenging me and I am enjoying the process of thinking backwards or at least that is how it feels to me.

Stay tuned for a more in depth report and some pictures.

Be well and remember these are.... The Sweet Years !

Keep your feet dancing.

Is there anybody out there?

I know it has been a while since my last post. Working 2 jobs has certainly put a load on my energy. Work is very fun in places and completely challenging in others... finding time for art is my biggest challenge...I haven't even thought about dancing for a couple weeks.

Preparations are being made for Art on the Farm. My friend Karen and I will go out on the 18th of August for 5 days of dyeing and silk screening. Then we head to Indy for 4 days of study with Bob Adams. We will learn the basics of discharge dyeing.

Writing a blog is interesting....

Is there anybody out there?

Send a message if you are.

Remember these are the sweet years ... drink them up!

View From A Bus

The picture to the right was taken from the side window I hoped to catch the reflection I was seeing and the magazine stand and I was thrilled to get this picture the way I really saw it. The beauty of a great camera!

In case you were wondering if I only took pictures of European men I decided to post some pictures from my bus seat. Since I get bus sick I had the best seat in the house.... sometimes it pays to have a sensitive motion sensor. Much of the driving we did was downright scary from the front seat of a bus.... all those near misses.



I really thought this couple was sweet if you look you will see she is sitting side saddle pretty difficult considering the way these scooters are driven in traffic. Frankly it would scare the heck out of me. The heavy traffic was everywhere. In Athens circle they alternate even and odd days with even and odd license plate numbers to try to keep traffic down.

Hosting the Olympics forced Athens to put in a mass transit system which has made a difference in the pollution levels there. The pollution was so high it was causing damage to the Acropolis. Pollution is still visible to the eye but our guide said it is greatly improved. He also said that some people will buy two cars to get around the even and odd day system... go figure.

I am far from done with the European traffic report... I was amazed, horrified, alarmed, mesmerized and somewhat in awe of the driving I saw from the front seat of a tour bus.

Time for me to go do the dance of life... work today ...waitressing at a wonderful local restaurant. The Gathering Place.

I am also learning to be a Barista for my new job at the Oregon Trail Roasting Co. Here is a link to an article in the local paper with a picture of THE MACHINE and my boss Davis.

http://www.bnd.com/entertainment/restaurants/story/402632.html

Let me tell you being a coffee barista is no easy job making the perfect cappuccino foam takes a lot of practice! After experiencing the perfect cappuccino in Italy I came home pining for one. Life is funny that way pine long enough for a real cappuccino and you get hired to make them....ha ha... life is rich!


In case you are wondering.... YES... I am still doing art!
Are people still buying art ? Good question!

Be well and dance if you get a chance ....whatever the dance might look like.... these are the Sweet Years.

Sweet Hot Years

Okay... I couldn't resist but this title refers MOSTLY to the temperature in Athens the day I took this series of pictures. These hot men were doing the traditional changing of the guard ceremony in 112 degree temperatures. They guard the tomb of the unknown soldier. Their shoes had taps on them so the sound they made while they did this march was wonderful.

The ceremony took about 8 minutes and when they finished there many tourist lined up to take pictures standing next to these soldiers who were not allowed to show any facial expression.

This tourist behaviour bothered me so you won't see any of those pictures. I think they look dignified until someone in shorts goes up to stand next to them. Iwas told if you get to close to them or the tomb they will slam their gun butt down on the ground to warn you away.

They stood in the sun completely still with sweat pouring down their faces. I was brought to tears when one of the soldiers who was not at guard took a towel and very gently wiped the sweat from their faces. His job was also to keep the crowds from being disruptive and interfering with the men who were at guard. This small act of kindness was overwhelming in it's tenderness. That kind of thing will get me every time.

I loved this ceremony and the tomb has been there being guarded since 1932 and is guarded around the clock by soldiers called Evzones. It is a great honor for them to do this and they are punished if they do something wrong. They are not paid but each greek male must do 1 year military service and they must qualify.

These shoes were really amazing... I plan to investigate why they look the way they do...what is the deal with the pom poms I wonder. They sold copies of the shoes in the tourist shops ...go figure.

The Evzones have to be a certain height so all Greek men cannot do this.

This was a very tightly choreographed ceremeony all movements are done in unison ... high stepping ...arm swinging, and guns changing position. I am sure there are technical terms for these movements but I care more for their beauty and majesty than the correct term to call them.

In Greece young men do a a mandatory year of military service and they compete to do this ceremony.

Each change of guard spends 1 hour standing guard this was a brutal temperature to be doing this. I hope they freeze their underclothing before they head out. The 2 guards who marched away at the end of their hour were drenched with sweat.

Did I mention it was hot???

They hold this leg raised position for quite a long time it was impressive. I am not sure how many times they repeat it.

See how high he lifts his feet it is very striking when the foot comes town there is a loud tapping sound as the metal cleats on his shoes touch the ground.

There are many ways to dance .

I hope you enjoyed these pictures of very hot soldiers doing a very tough job.

If your Sweet Years are heating up as we reach the best of summer be glad you aren't dressed like this!

Be well ... remember if there is an opportunity to dance.... high step it!

Sweet Years continued

I decided to investigate the phrase Sweet Years because I like it and my Italian bus driver oozing with machismo was wearing it and I wondered why. Clearly, this man is interesting! So many of you have commented about him I must of not been the only one to notice.

I did a Google search and came up with these bits of information.

There is a clothing line in Italy that is very popular and I am guessing this is where the watch band came from. Here is a link to their site .

http://www.breadandbutter.com/brandbible_summer2008/htdocs/brandbible.php?bpid=266

I warn those of you who have wrote me telling me of your wee bit of crush on my bus driver the guy on the front page of this link is pretty darn cute in a certain swarthy Italian way.

I also discovered a you tube with an Italian beauty singing the link is below. Perhaps my bus driver loves this woman I can certainly see him dancing to the song she sings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9g5JyvuHfs

The wonder of it is I'll never know which makes the mystery rather grand ... don't you think?

In any case I think the Sweet Years is a commendable message aren't we all living the Sweet Years right now no matter what our age may be.

In my case I like to think they have all been Sweet even the more trying years.

So here's wishing you many Sweet Years in the future and the acceptance of the Sweet Years that you have already lived.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Let the Sweet Years unfold!

Art in Athens

This mural covered the whole side of a building in downtown Athens it was really spectacular and the subtle colors were very beautiful. I suppose it is possible that it was once a much brighter color palette but has faded over time. I went to zap51.com and found the artists website. His name is Alexandros Vasmoulakis and his work is interesting. I like his faces and the colors he uses.

Right Side Bird
These birds were painted by hand on each side of a door into a home decorating business in Athens. They were very intricate and the colors were wonderful. I wanted to hire this company to paint my kitchen. I was unable to read the Greek so I do not know the artist. They were a great addition to the bustling downtown area where there was quite a bit of building repair being done with lots of boarded up areas and netting to cover work areas.

We had free time and wandered the flea markets and discovered mostly tourist crap. A common occurrence for much of my trip something I found frustrating. I wanted to wander the off the beaten track places looking for treasures.But hey if I was going to feel frustrated I might as well do it in the beauty of Greece and Italy.

Left Side Bird

Near downtown on the plaza I loved the Nigerian street vendors selling Prada bags most likely stolen or knock offs they kept up a steady flow "Hello lady" in a lovely accent trying to get and keep my attention. One elderly Greek lady with a lovely smile and an armful of handmade textiles followed me for a block or more trying to sell me a particular tablecloth. I kept saying no... no... no she kept trying and when I pulled my arm out of her hand she started screaming something that sounded a lot like the word failure. Who knew what she was yelling Greek blessings or curses either way it was fascinating. I would of taken her picture but it would of meant buying a tablecloth I didn't want for far too much money.

While in this same plaza I stopped inside a a beautiful old Greek Orthodox church and spent some quiet time and lit a candle in honor of my friend Kent as it was the anniversary of his death. There were just a few candles lit when I entered but by the time I left there were 20 or more it was a very busy church lots of people coming and going saying a quick prayer and lighting a candle. I liked these plazas centered around the old churches they were really very beautiful and most had lovely shade trees.

Dance if you get a chance... remember these are the Sweet Years!