A Lazy Sunday

I've had a quiet, lazy Sunday and I'm not the only one.

I had a lot of laughs watching Suzie (the tabby) and Matisse (the black cat) pass this woven rope ball back and forth to each other.  Very .... slowly.

With minimal effort, while lying flat on their backs.

That was about as much excitement as we all could handle today.  Isn't that what Sundays are all about?

Day 34/100 - #100dayproject

Rug Hooking in Cobourg - Part 2

As promised in Thursday's blog post, here are some more photos from the rug hooking exhibit I attended last Sunday in Cobourg with my friend Barb.

This design of woodworking tools was actually hooked by a man.

We were told the designs below were completed by the same gentleman.

I loved the texture on this one.

The optical illusion of this design still amazes me!

This was another of my favourites, and not just because of the cats!

I really liked this lady with the fish on her head too!

There were also a number of vendors at the show, many selling pieces of wool fabric to cut into strips to create rugs.

I was delighted to buy this batch of colour samples.  Barb wondered what I am going to do with it and right now, I have no idea. I just knew that I had to have it! I like the way it looks just as it is actually!

Day 33/100 - #100dayproject

Drenched

We've been having a little rain here in Ontario the past few days.

Okay, make that a lot of rain.  It rained Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday was clear and sunny. Then it rained again yesterday and today.  Serious rain this time. We've had 40 cm of rain so far in these first few days of May.  By comparison, we had 34 mm in the entire month of May last year!

The forecast isn't looking too good for the next two days, with more rain on the way and many areas on flood watch as a result of ground saturation. In fact, there is a rainfall warning in effect, with a total of 50 to 70 mm expected by the time it's all over.  They're even talking about the possibility of flurries on Sunday.

Lucky for me, I have no plans to go outdoors for the next two days.  And I've got new art supplies to play with.   

Hmm, wonder if I should be worried that those Dina Wakley scribble sticks are water soluble? ;)

Day 32/100 - #100dayproject

Hot Docs Toronto 2017

I'm attending a documentary tonight which is being presented as part of the Hot Docs Festival here in Toronto.  I'm going at the suggestion of my friend Cheryl, who invited me and our other friend Maria to join her.  She's spending this week watching several of the festival offerings, whereas I have never been to a showing of this nature before, never attended any of the film festival movies that are available each year in this great city of us.  So I'm excited to go tonight.

We're seeing a film called "More Art Upstairs".   The Hot Docs website describes it as follows:  "A revolution is taking place in the art world and it isn’t happening in Paris, Berlin or Hong Kong—but in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ArtPrize is the most highly attended art show in the world, and it awards cash prizes larger than all other competitions combined. International critics and general crowds pack bars, galleries and abandoned buildings all over town, taking in over 1,500 works from cerebral conceptualists and weekend hobbyists. An acclaimed jury awards a winner $200,000 and the ballot-carrying public does the same. Nimble cameras follow four artists, each vying not only for critical recognition but for every public vote they can drum up. Part classy game show, part engaging art exploration, More Art Upstairs captures the debates ArtPrize has intentionally (or inadvertently?) triggered: Can culture be democratized? Do artists need or want to connect with audiences? And is the canonical art establishment on its way out?  Myrocia Watamaniuk".

The movie itself has a website, which you will find here.  Click on the link and you can watch a trailer for the film.

Day 31/100 = #100dayproject

Rug Hooking in Cobourg - Part 1

This past Sunday, I travelled to Cobourg with my friend Barb.  She wanted to attend the exhibition portion of the annual conference of the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild. 

Here's Barb looking at a display of "traditional" rug hooking.

However, the majority of the rugs we saw were nothing like the rugs our grandmothers used to make! I am posting these photos of just a few of my favourites, there were many more than I could possible include in just one post!

Various guilds from around the province (and one from Quebec) were displaying the rugs they had made.  Oh my goodness, what a collection of eye candy it was!!  Most booths were set up like the one below, with various rugs displayed side by side, all created by members of that particular guild.

This woman was sitting cross-legged on the ground, hooking a rug that was attached to a frame she had made herself.  It was quite interesting to me to watch her work, as I'm not sure I had ever seen anyone hook a rug before (I have vague recollection of making a rug with two inch pieces of wool way back in the 70's but that wasn't at like what these rugs were like!).  The rug behind her, with the hands, had been made by a collection of women and was going to be donated to a hospital for the children's wing.  I believe the names of the various women creators were added on the other side of the rug, on the back of each individual's hand.

The rug below was a prize winner in a couple of categories.  It was very unique and quite eye-catching. (Unfortunately, I can't tell you the name of any of the artists. The information was provided on pieces of paper hanging in front of each booth but it was too time-consuming to look up each rug by number on the list provided and then try to keep track of the names. My apologies to the hookers.)

This is an example of a "pictoral" rug design.

I know very little about rug hooking but Barb is a hooker and pointed out various things to me, such as the depth of the rug design below - how it draws in your eye into the tunnel as if it were three dimensional.

This fox was one of my absolute favourite rugs.


I'll be back in a couple of days with more photos from these talented artists!

Day 30/100 - #100dayproject

A Trip to the Field Museum

For this week's edition of Time Travel Tuesday, I'm remembering a visit to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago that my sister and I made two years ago in May.  As I recall, it was pouring rain outside and we were happy to be indoors.  I was mesmerized by the building itself - the size and grandeur of it, both inside and out.

I was completely in love with these light fixtures.  The pterodactyl was pretty cool too.

I found the number and variety of animals on display to be astounding.  As I recall, we were only there for a couple of hours and we were lucky enough to get into a guided tour group with minutes to spare.  Afterward, I focused on the bird section.  I like being able to get up close and personal with them, in a way that is difficult if not impossible in real life.  Oh, the feather details!

I was fascinated with the bird skeletons.

The dioramas are really well done.

If I lived in Chicago, I'd be signing up for a membership and spending every spare minute in this place.  Instead, I'll have to hope I get back there once or twice or several times more in my lifetime!


Day 29/100 - #100dayproject

A New Month

USo far in 2017, I've been using a traveller's notebook to journal in on a daily basis, one each month. Last month, I ordered this "stationery subscription box" from StationerybyMini on Etsy.

Here's what was included:

A laminated dashboard with a matching bookmark and a journal.

A couple of cute paper clips.

Two rolls of washi tape - one with cherry blossoms, one with a starry night design.

Some cute panda and bunny stickers.

A couple of laminated cards, one with a beautifully lettered quote and one with a monthly calendar.

Also included were a few paper bits and pieces to use to decorate the pages in the notebook (click on the photo at the top of this post to enlarge it, to get a better look at the various pieces).

I've already ordered my kit for June.  I like the idea of getting this sort of package on a monthly basis, while supporting a new Canadian Etsy shop owner.  The cost is quite reasonable - only $14.95 plus $1.00 for shipping (not sure how she can afford to offer such a cheap shipping rate, when the envelope I received had $2.95 worth of postage?!). I also like that I can sign up for one month, two or three, whatever I feel like, so there's no long term commitment involved.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go write today's entry!

Day 28/100 - #100dayproject