Under the Egg-fluence

The BJP that I'm trying to complete is actually for the month of March - so yes, I'm a month behind. During the month of March, I made a trip to see an exhibit titled The Marriage of Art, Science and Philosophy at the American Visionary Art Museum here in Baltimore.


This museum is a gem of a place that houses art created by self-taught individuals -- it's unique, it's inspiring and it's wonderful. I've visited a lot of museums and the creativity expressed in this museum sets my muse on fire like no other museum I've been to. I try to make sure I see all their exhibitions and I'm rarely disappointed.

The exhibition of the Marriage of Art, Science and Philosophy was dedicated to the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke, one of the world's best known writers of science fiction. I loved watching the video about this amazingly playful and wonder-filled individual. It's why I chose to read 2001: A Space Odyssey as one of my books in the 1% Well-Read Challenge.

This Saturday, May 2, they are holding the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race which is a race made up of human-powered, amphibious kinetic sculptures that spend the day racing across the harbor and through the City of Baltimore. It's a zany, crazy event and even the spectators get involved by dressing most outrageously. You can't help but smile when you see it.

Well, if I show you some of the marvelous sculptures that live outside the museum, perhaps you will notice how they influenced my March BJP?

This nest is a balcony off of one of the buildings....

This bird stands guard and faces the roadway that runs by the museum...

This sparkle tree stands next to the museum and is a total delight for the eyes in all weather...


And, this egg was my inspiration


for the egg that's now in my nest...


I used a felt "bead" and cut it and manipulated the wool until I got the egg shape I wanted, then beaded away!


And now you know, some of the rest of the story...

Gone With The Wind -- Book Review

Oh my. If you have never read this book...or haven't read it in a very long time, treat yourself and immerse yourself in its almost 1,000 pages! I confess that I took this with me on Spring Break and did little else but read -- this book made me stay up late and wake up early -- couldn't put it down, until it was done...and then, of course, I was so sad to see it finish.

Written by Margaret Mitchell and published in 1936, this is an epic story of love, war and survival set in Georgia during the Civil War. Scarlett is so unbelievably appealing to me because she is bold, cunning, ruthless and fearless AND so is Rhett Butler. It is probably one of the greatest love stories of all time, and even more appealing because it is full of tempest, and passion, rage and danger. As a couple they are evenly matched and the unpredictability of their actions and words, leaves you constantly shocked or disappointed -- but trust me, these two happened to the world -- the world didn't happen to them. And, suffice it to say, they evoke A TON of emotion in the reader -- even if you know the story, the book is worth the read again and again! Three months after being published, the book had sold one million copies and just one year later, the novel won the Pulitzer prize. To say it was a tour de force is an understatement.

In 1939, the movie was released starring Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh and went on to win 10 Academy Awards. Today, the movie is considered one of the most popular and greatest movies of all times and, when adjusted for inflation, Gone with the Wind is the highest-grossing film ever! This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the release of the film in Atlanta, and the film is being restored for release on DVD sometime this year. Four hours long, this film is magnificent and true to the book, down to many of the famous lines.

Rhett Butler to Scarlett when she asks him to kiss her: "No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how."

Scarlett, when Rhett proposes that they marry: "It's fun for men -- though God knows why. I never could understand it. But all a woman gets out of it is something to eat and a lot of work and having to put up with a man's foolishness -- and a baby every year."

And Rhett, in response: "I said you'd had bad luck and what you've just said proves it. You've been married to a boy and to an old man. And into the bargain I'll bet your mother told you that women must bear 'these things' because of the compensating joys of motherhood. Well, that's all wrong. Why not try marrying a fine young man who has a bad reputation and way with women? It'll be fun"


But one of the most delightful parts of the book is the relationship between Mammy (Scarlett's nursemaid) and Rhett and the red petticoat. You can read the whole scenario here, if you want. And, Hattie McDaniel who played Mammy in the movie was the first African American to win an Academy Award and it was for Best Supporting Actress.

When Margaret Mitchell was asked what Gone with the Wind was about she said, "if the novel has a theme it is that of survival. What makes some people come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong and brave go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don't. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those that go under? I only know that survivors used to call that quality 'gumption.' So I wrote about people who had gumption and people who didn't."

Scarlett, when faced with starvation: "As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."

It's a must read. Just don't plan on doing much else while you're reading it.

Next up for me in the 1% Well-Read Challenge is Deep River by Shusaku Endo.

Playing with Petals

OK. So I wasn't quite ready to move onto the bird. I kept wanting to add some three-dimensionality to the cherry trees...and so, for the past two days, I've been playing with petals.

It took me a while to get the shape I wanted and to figure out how to bead them using peyote stitch. Then, I made myself write it all on a chart so I won't forget what the heck I did...


Once I made five petals, I was able to stitch them together using a square stitch and this produced a wonderful cupped effect, which was just what I was shooting for...


I used a combination of delica beads for the center of each petal and small 20 degree AB clear beads I bought from Beadcats. The light and darker shading of the petals is actually from changing the beading thread from a pale pink to a darker pink -- it was just the subtle change I needed and was less drastic than changing the bead color.


When I finally add stamens and intersperse them throughout my cherry tree, I think they will look great. Overall, I was quite pleased with myself for figuring it all out. In the beginning I was all thumbs beading those tiny petals. Now, I'm much more proficient and I have dreams of making a necklace or bracelet covered in them...wouldn't that be beautiful?


I am trying to finish this piece by this weekend because, all next week, I'll be too busy enjoying Allie Fest 2009!

What is Allie Fest 2009, you ask? Well, the very talented crazy quilt artist, Allison Aller, is coming to teach a Crazy for Flowers workshop and...she is staying at my house! And, we're going to go to New York for two days, and the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and shopping at Accessories of Old....and who knows what else...

So, Allie Fest 2009 will be quite the event AND we have a very special guest who will be returning to join us as well. My bead embroidery teacher, the very talented and sweet Robin Atkins. So, I'd love to have this piece finished by the time my teacher comes back. When Robin taught her workshop in the Fall, I had just started the BJP and had only finished my first piece. It's going to be a very exciting week for us all!

Still my beating heart. All because of blogging and the internet. Isn't it wonderful?

OK, gotta run. I won't promise the bird this time...we'll just have to see what comes up next...

Beaded Cherry Blossoms

Well, my internet has been down for 24 hours and it keeps going out intermittently so I'm making this short! Just a quick update on my BJP. This piece is taking me a long time for some reason but I'm enjoying it immensely.


I've finished the beaded cherry blossoms except for the stamens in the middle of the flowers. They will stick up quite a bit so I'm saving those until much later so that my thread doesn't continually get caught around them as I stitch.


Even though the Yoshino cherries are past their blooming, the Kwanzan cherry is in full bloom in my front yard. The flowers on this tree are a deeper pink and, from far away, the tree isn't as spectacular to me as the ethereal nature of the Yoshino. But, up close, the flowers look like tissue paper and the colors are gorgeous.


Next up is the bird!

Courtly Pomp and Easter Crowns

As I struggle to scale Mount Laundry and re-enter my life here in Baltimore, I wish I could say I had my finished BJP to show you today. Alas, it is not complete.

But, I simply must share some wonderful links and news and some pics of a book that arrived while I was away.

If we could only get ourselves to Versailles before June 28! There, we would be able to see over 200 pieces, borrowed from all over the world, showcasing the fashions worn in the courts of Europe from 1650-1800 in the current exhibition, Court Pomp and Royal Ceremonies. Oh, my friends, the embroidery, the goldwork, the extravagance! It's another fabulous embroidery exhibit in two months! Unfortunately, I won't be able to travel to this one.

Since I won't be making it to Versailles (unless someone out there has a free ticket they want to share?), I ordered the exhibition book from the French Amazon website -- and it was well worth it! I wish I could show you everything but here are a few pictures to whet your appetite...


And here are two pictures of an embroidered waistcoast that my sister and I saw in a French flea market when we were there in 2005... If I'd only had the $4,800 to buy it at the time...


I first learned about this exhibit through the wonderful blog of Ingrid Mida, Fashion is My Muse. She posted today about Lace in 18th century France and will be posting about lace all week long. I loved this post on the Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway! She loves embroidery and fashion, and her book blog, Blog of a Bookworm, is a treat. Check out this review of 18th Century Embroidery Techniques.

It all literally makes me swoon. If you have enjoyed today's post as well as my other post on modern haute couture embroidery, you might enjoy the French movie, Sequins, with English subtitles. It's a sweet story of a 17-year old French girl whose passion is embroidery; she finds herself pregnant and alone and seeks out employment with a professional embroiderer who has stitched for the big French designers such as Chanel and Christian LaCroix. It's a simple story of the strength of human relationships and most of the "action" takes place over the embroidery frame. Now that's my type of action!

Also, remember when I posted about Aretha Franklin's hat at President Obama's inauguration and I shared the book, Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats? Well, for Easter, the Los Angeles Times ran this story...A Congregation of Splendid Hats which touts that hat culture is alive and well in America's black churches. But the best part of all, is the images in the photo gallery -- take some time to view all of these hats and the queens who are wearing them... they are sure to make you smile.


I found out the article through Elaine Lipson's blog, Red Thread Studio -- another beautiful and informative read on slow cloth, textiles, art and culture.

Here's to finding your own crown and courtly pomp! Enjoy the day!

The Great Erase

It takes a few days.

It takes a few days, when you first go to the beach, to unwind from the world --

to allow yourself to become unhinged,

to open...


And once you settle into the rhythm of the sea and the sand...

your mind frees itself and your thoughts float and spin and toss and play in the sun and the surf

or they amble along without any purpose...or they lounge about...


and it is re-freshing and oh, what a release -- a relief --

almost as if you were bleached out like the shells that tumble at your feet...and your mind erased by the next wave that comes upon the shore...


Erased...tumbled and rolled until you have smoothed out your edges...

and you have become patient.

Patient with yourself.

And willing to wait for yourself.


It takes a few days.

A few days to wind back up again.

A few days to tuck away the sunshine and the sea and the sand so you can stay open on the beach for a little while longer.


A few days to tuck away those shells that remind you to stay open. To be grateful.

It takes a few days.

Spring Break

Lucky Me

A week or so ago, I was the lucky winner of this beautiful book handmade by the very lovely and talented Eileen Terwilliger of Star's Fault. I can't tell you what a delight it was to receive this beautifully-crafted book -- I cannot wait to fill it full of lucky thoughts and memories. Isn't it great to receive a gift so full of visual delight?


I hope you will stop by and visit Eileen's blog. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska and has created a very enticing and creative life. Her photos are wonderful and often include her cat Star. She dabbles in many different art forms and she puts great care into everything she does. Check out this post about her Garden Journal (TDF!), this post on Grandma's washcloths, and I loved this one about making an ottoman cover! And more pics of my book here...


I always enjoy my visits and am very grateful for owning a piece of her evocative world.


Now, I'm off to pack and prepare for my trip. Early tomorrow I'm leaving to visit my Dad who lives in Naples, Florida. Warm weather, sunshine, seashells, delicious produce and afternoon naps.

Lucky Lucky Me.

The Old Man and The Sea -- A Book Review

Many of you know that I participate in the 1% Well-Read Challenge and that we have just kicked off another year. That means that by the end of this year, I should be 2% well-read -- actually, I think I'll be about 10% if I include all the books I've ever read on the list outside of the challenge.

Anyhoo. This month I'm delighted to tell you about this little gem of a read by Ernest Hemingway. If you read it in school, I urge you to read it again.

The messages are many. The prose is simple and direct. The story captures and captivates you.

It's only 125 pages and takes only a few hours to read. I read the whole thing on the bus trip up to New York last week, while looking up every now-and-again to say to Jim and Jack, "You've got to read this. It's such a great story!

The book starts out with the old man who has fished his whole life on a skiff in the Gulf and he has gone 84 days without catching a fish.

Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated. p. 10

In the first 40 days, a boy had been with him but the boy's parents had said that the old man was salao -- the worst kind of unlucky -- and pulled the boy to another boat. It made the boy sad to see the old man working alone and so he continues to help him and, is truly, the man's one true friend. The boy loves and cares for the man who has taught him to fish.

He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women , nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy. p. 25

The middle of the book takes place at sea, when the old man, alone, hooks the largest marlin he has ever seen in his life.

Now is the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born for. p. 40

It's larger than his boat and stronger than the old man, so the old man uses his wits, his knowledge of fish and the sea, and his will -- to perservere against the huge, beautiful fish over three days and two nights at sea, alone, with only two small bottles of water and a fish to eat.

I wish I had the boy. p. 45

He has tremendous respect for the marlin...

You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who. p. 92
But a man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated. Page 103
...and I will stop there. What happens next is poetic. But in case you haven't read it, I won't spoil it.

And my favorite line... To hell with luck, I'll bring the luck with me.

I couldn't put it down. A gem. Jim and Jack are both going to read it too.

Next up is Gone With the Wind...which I'm clap-my-hands excited about. I'm taking it with me next week when we go to Florida to visit my father. I expect a heck of a good read...and, of course, we'll have to re-watch the movie...

One Blossom

After two days of working, I've finally stitched one blossom. That's it. Just like the Charlie Brown tree in my front yard...


I've noticed that my process has changed fairly significantly since I first started these bead journals. When the month begins, I begin beading in my head. As the days progress in the month, and I still haven't had time to actually sit down and bead, my mind continues to stitch and bead and create. By the time I am finally sitting down to stitch, I have a complete design already beaded in my head; with much of the same emotion as if I were sitting down and stitching improvisationally.

Once the beading begins, I find that I don't necessarily follow ALL the details in my brain, but I improvise as I stitch and bead along. I wonder if anyone else experiences this?

Here's the first blossom on what promises to be a bead-full journal piece. It was important for me to include one silk cherry blossom in the Japanese embroidery "style" in order to pay homage to that part of myself.


And, as I stitched this blossom, I realized how rusty my Japanese embroidery skills were. I first used flat silk, but ripped that out and ended up with a soft twist. It's not my best work, but it IS representative and that's what I'm going for right now.

Oh, and allow me to introduce Blossom, this beautiful little hand-made, fabric doll that was given to me by a friend in Japan. Blossom had a big job this morning of keeping the wind from blowing away my work during the photo shoot.


I also went researching beaded cherry blossoms to see what I could find. I didn't find too much in any of my books, but I did find something I could modify.

In my search, I came across this beautiful purse, stitched by Masami Sato. This purse, called Cherry Blossom (go figure!), won Best in Show in the Bead Dreams competion in 2006.

And I also found this cute felt brooch by lupin on Etsy.


Well, time to go for a run and then get back to my blooms...

Remember, the point is not the speed at which you bloom, but the fact that you keep on blooming.

It's a famous quote, I'm sure of it...

The Charlie Brown Cherry Tree

So, after my post on Friday, you were probably expecting to see beautiful pictures of cherry blossoms from our Nation's Capital...

Well, I got nothin'. We didn't go. Everyone at our neighborhood Egg Hunt on Saturday told me about the huge road race...the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler -- that was going to be held on Sunday morning when we were planning to go. And how, at the crack of dawn, the entire tidal basin would be mobbed with runners who come from all over the East coast to participate in the race. So we decided not to go.

Instead, all you get is this...my Charlie Brown Cherry tree in my front yard...


When all of the adults around are spewing forth mouth-dropping visual delight, my little tree managed to make a few blossoms. Now, it kind of gives me an idea how teenagers might feel...

I planted three of these last Fall and these are all the blossoms they've got. Just enough to tell me they were alive and that they're working on it...

But, lest you be disappointed, look how pretty they are up close, and in the rain.


Check out the subtle shading of the petals..how they sway in the wind...how they droop so gracefully under the weight of the raindrops...


Yes, it's raining again. But I know it's good for the the grass, the trees and the yard, so I'm not complaining. It's just not good for photographing needlework.

So, if you want to see the perfect post on the trip I wanted to take to D.C., check out this post from Such Pretty Things. And, if you want to see stitched cherry blossoms, check out this post from Ivory Blush Roses.

And, if you want to see pictures of my son and husband after a day of shooting paintballs at each other and about 200 other testosterone-laden males...you can stay here.


They were so wound up -- nothing like a little violence to get their blood moving -- not to mention that they tickle each other constantly while I'm taking their picture. There's nothing better than the sound of your child belly-laughing...


They were confined to the garage until they were completely naked. But I spared you those pictures...

And, since you already know that my latest BJP has something to do with cherry blossoms, here's another hint.

Have a beauty-filled day.

Cherry Blossoms on the Brain

It's another gloomy Spring day here in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan area. As you can see from the National Park Service's Cherry Blossom web cam, the skies are rainy and overcast.


And I am working on my Bead Journal Project for March. I wanted to show you a progress picture this morning, but the weather is not cooperating for good pictures...so I'll just put you in the mindset of what I'm doing.

Image courtesy of Blue Lotus

I'm stitching a few cherry blossoms and I'm stitching them according to the method I learned in Japanese embroidery. It's my first time taking a Japanese motif that I have typically stitched on silk fabric, on a stretched frame with silk thread and translated it into something that is more mixed media. But the cherry blossom, or sakura, is by far one of my favorite Japanese embroidery motifs. The silk thread really represents the delicacy of the cherry blossom well.


These examples are taken from an antique embroidery fragment given to me by my Japanese embroidery teacher.


Cherry blossom viewing has its own word in the Japanese language, hanami (literally to "view flowers"). And hanami is a huge deal in Japan when hundreds of thousands of Japanese people will flock to parks to walk, play and eat under the flowered canopies of the cherry blossoms. One of my favorite memories is hanami bento or special lunch boxes that were prepared to eat while cherry blossom viewing. They were always so beautifully presented that it seemed to taste better because it looked so good.

Image courtesy of Blue Lotus

I just discovered Amy of Blue Lotus who moved to Japan in 1996 and married a Japanese man. She chronicles her love of Japan, especially Japanese cooking on her very beautiful and informative blog.

We're lucky to have our own celebration here in Washington, D.C., the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which is held for two weeks every Spring to coincide with the peak blooming of the cherry trees that surround the tidal basin and Potomac Park in downtown Washington, D.C. The festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, honoring the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan and representing the hope for continued closeness between the two cultures.

Photo courtesy of Mireille on Flickr

And, I'm happy to report at the writing of this post, that the peak blossom time is NOW! In the rain. But that's OK, I'm hoping to go over on Sunday at sunrise to sneak a peek at the spring spectacle...

Maybe by then, I will have better weather to take some pics and have more to share.

And, one last thing, I just happen to love the artwork for this year Festival poster...isnt' it great?