Jingle, jingle, jingle

Knitting
Just a friendly reminder that Christmas is just around the corner (and Hannukah may be even closer). Time to start your holiday gift knitting.


Here is some fun yarn I bought at Michael’s recently. My neices and nephew will love this stuff. They are still at the age where they adore me. Soon enough they will barely acknowledge my presence so I have to enjoy this time while I can. (I know this, my older brother’s kids are at this stage. It’s hard not to take personally, but I try not to. They will come around!) This is the gang I taught to knit a few weeks ago when I saw them in R.I.

Pottery
I also throw pots, here are some recent examples.







I had always wanted to try wheelthrowing so I took a break from painting about 3 years ago to try it. It was really fun, so different from painting. But my teacher was not so responsive to new students which left me cold. Luckily he had a great TA, I think her name was Elizabeth, who took the newbies under her wing. So I did pottery for a couple of semesters, made a bunch of bowls that I use all the time, and then returned to watercolor.

Last spring I was ready for another break from painting, I was in such a creative slump, so I signed up for pottery again (at the Art League in Alex.), on a different night to avoid the teacher I had before. This class has a totally different mojo and has been a very weird experience. Most of the people in the class are really nice, helpful, chatty. But there are a few doosies. Like the woman who stares at me all the time. All last semester I would catch her staring, and she wouldn’t even look away! It got so creepy, week after week, that I stopped looking in her general direction. It continues this semester. And the woman who told me at the beginning of this semester that she didn’t remember me from the last session. What a thing to admit to someone! So I am not totally psyched about this class either and I think this fall will be my last session for a while. Although I do really like pottery and it’s a nice break from painting. I just need to find the right teacher and the right mix of students…

Dating
No dates this weekend. I do have a voicemail from Dave I have to listen to. I am feeling so-so about him. And Charles is away. He is away every weekend (picture me rolling my eyes). I heard from a long-ago ex I met when first started on match.com. They boy is still conflicted. No thanks!

Other Amusements
Corey and I braved the heat to see the Chagall Bible at the John Paul II Cultural Center. Neither of us, being art people, even knew that Chagall had illustrated a Bible so we were curious. It was an impressive building and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I am Catholic, Corey is not, but it really didn’t matter. They have a nice, interactive area on the lower level with a beautiful water fountain. I took some pictures.

Then we went to see Winslow Homer’s watercolors at the National Gallery . As a watercolorist (strictly a hobby) I really get a lot out of seeing Homer’s watercolor work. He was a master of the medium. Had total control and his use of color is amazing. And for non-art people, it’s a beautiful exhibit of watercolor and oil paintings.

We also stumbled upon Irving Penn: Platinum Prints. Wonderful platinum prints he made of some of his more notable work. It includes a wonderful portrait of Pablo Picasso and a series of portraits of Mexican (??) native people.