Category: Journal

I haven’t posted much on the blog recently, but I have been fairly busy. I have been stitching up a few beadwork kits for my friend Naomi in San Diego, and teaching at the shop. April will be spent on working up some new ideas for new classes.

I have also been working on getting our home studio space/office into a workable space. For a long time it has come to resemble a bombsite, and Jeremy and I were often just grabbing what we needed and shutting the door. It really did not function as a studio. This week the builders arrived to work on the roof of the building, so building maintenance had to access the studio to remove the air conditioning unit from the window, so we had to tidy up, as it was really in an awful state. Eeeeeeek!!! We still have a few piles to sort out, but another day, or two should do it. These before and during shots, show just how bad it had got. I’ll post a finished one soon. Lisa, make sure Hank is sitting down before he sees them, he might freak out!

Before photos are photos 1 – 7, photos 8 – 10 are the current state:

I haven’t blogged much this month. It has been very quiet here, and I kind of like it that way. January is a time for curling up with my knitting, or beading, teaching myself new techniques, and working towards finishing old projects, which I will post another day.

Last night was really snowy. Jeremy took the train home last night, I’m glad he did, he would have been stuck on Lakeshore Drive for 6 hours! We had a short power cut at about 9 ish, just as we were watching Bill Murray’s film Groundhog Day, and having a late dinner.

This morning Jeremy and Tim had taken the day off due to the weather, so the three of us went for a walk around the neighbourhood with our cameras, these are my photos from the walk, and Jeremy’s can be seen here.

I feel a little guilty about not blogging over the last couple of weeks. The week before Christmas was very busy for me, I taught 5 classes, and was helping out at the store, and trying to make sure everything was ready for Christmas.

A few days ago, Lisa Peters and I were chatting on Facebook, as we often do, for some reason we got onto the subject of vintage clothes. A couple of days later, I received a package from Lisa. I couldn’t work out what it was. We hadn’t arranged to send Christmas gifts, and I wasn’t involved in any swaps with Lisa. I felt excited, yet guilty that I hadn’t sent her anything. I saved the package for Christmas morning, and opened it along with Christmas gifts from my family.

Inside was this gorgeous black swing coat, an enameled filigree butterfly brooch, and a few of Lisa’s gorgeous ceramic links and cabs. Thank you for thinking of me, Lisa! The coat and brooch had belonged to Marietta Maiori-Giovanelli, Lisa’s beautiful Great-Grandmother, who had been an actress in New York. Marietta can be seen in these two photographs, she is the Queen in the photograph of the Columbus Day parade.

Jeremy took these photos in the garden of our Apartment block, I’m not showing the coat to its best advantage, as I thought I would fall flat on my face if I wore it with heels in the snow. The coat is in beautiful condition, and I want to keep it that way, so I want to find a padded coat hanger, or make one, to protect it. After the events of a couple of weeks ago when my wallet was stolen, this beautiful gift and kind gesture completely bowled me over. The photographs of Marietta appear with the kind permission of Lisa Peters.

On Sunday, the four of us went to a family diner called Kathy’s at the end of the street, and had brunch, before Jeremy and I drove up to Washington DC. Jeremy had already visited Washington DC once for a conference, but we hadn’t been able to afford to go together before. By the time we arrived it was getting dark, and both of us were pretty tired. We checked into our hotel, went for dinner and then went to bed early.

On Monday, we spent the morning walking around the Freer Gallery of Art. When I was 18, I had recently left school, was in a job I hated, and as trying to decide what I wanted to do. I felt like I wanted a few days just by myself to think things through, so I booked a few days at a bed and breakfast in Inverness in Scotland, which is the area my family always went to for summer holidays. When I was in a book shop there, I found a copy of a book on Art Nouveau, called Art Nouveau written by Lara-Vinca Masini. On page 30 there were a couple of photos of James McNeill Whistler’s Peacock Room, which is now on display at the Freer Gallery. I had wanted to see the Peacock room ever since. I was finally going to get a chance to visit it. Jeremy took these photos, as I had lost the charger for my camera, he had ordered a new one, but it hadn’t arrived before we had to leave for our trip.

In the afternoon we walked around the National Museum of the American Indian, which I think is a must see for any beadweaver visiting Washington DC. On the outside it is a striking modern building reminiscent of both the hills and rock faces of New Mexico, and of Adobe homes. It is very organic looking and a striking contrast to the Classical Greek, and Gothic style buildings nearby.

Inside where were small seating areas for contemplation, something I was grateful for as I passed through the exhibits, and listened to the stories. Like the Guggenheim in New York, you enter into a large atrium, with a staircase that follows the inner walls and leads off to the main gallery.  The atrium is filled with modern sculptures, and canoes and has interactive exhibits for kids.

The next floor is where they have temporary exhibits. At the time we visited the gallery had an exhibition featuring musicians including Link Wray (Shawnee), and Jesse Ed Davis (Kiowa, Seminole and Muscogee Creek), who recorded with both George Harrison and John Lennon. As part of the exhibition there was a beautiful velvet patchwork coat worn by Jimi Hendrix who had Cherokee ancestors.

Then there were the permanent exhibitions, including one called  Our lives: Contemporary Life and Identities, where several communities talk about their lives, history, preservation of languages, stories and their artwork . I wished we had been able to spend more time there, as the stories were incredible – tinged with sadness, and regret, yet looking out towards the future, and passing on traditional art techniques to new generations.

On the Saturday Sarah, Kerry, Jeremy and I went to visit Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, most of the photos we took were of the grounds and vegetable garden and the house, as we were not able to take photos inside. One item I would have loved to have had a photo of, was a beautiful deerskin jacket covered with intricate porcupine quillwork and beads, that hung in the hallway of the house. So far I haven’t been able to find one online either.

Jeremy and I managed to get away for a few days last week. We went to visit friends Sarah and Kerry at their new home in Staunton, Virginia, in the Shenandoah valley, close to the famous Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Allegheny mountains.

Staunton is a small college town, with lots of beautiful second hand stores, small galleries and local restaurants. It was wonderful to just walk around, and get away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago for a few days.

When I found out we were driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains, this Laurel and Hardy song popped into my head and wouldn’t leave.

We all have UFO’s – unfinished objects, that is. Mine are beginning to take over a bit at the moment, this is only a small selection of them. I’m trying to finish at least one thing before I start another, but it doesn’t always work that way.

Some designs start with a doodle in my sketchbook, others are the result of experiments with different stitches. Some are completed quickly, and come together easily, and others, not so much. These pieces are at the stage where I’m not sure where I want to go next.