Memory Monday-Graduation

Graduation, a conclusion of one chapter, a beginning of another." Catherine Pulsifer 

       We finally made it to graduation!! At least some of us did...as it turned out, there was one course that Dick had to pass in order to graduate and this one professor had given him a failing grade....so...on to MY graduation!

The Columns and Jesse Hall

     Summer graduation was held outside...between the Columns and  Jesse Hall. Chairs were set up on the grass for the graduates, kind of a quad area with a sidewalk all the way around.  A stage was set up for faculty and graduates to walk across....chairs on the sides for guests.  Well, we have marched in, cap and gown, and taken our seats...I am looking for my family...mom, dad, brother Jack, sister Judy, her husband, Jim, baby Doug, my three cousins, Carolyn Dale, Doll, Fran and my grandmother. And there they are....walking up one side of the walk, around behind the stage, and down the other sidewalk looking for seats!  The first commencement speaker had begun...and, of course, I am mortified...still young enough to be embarrassed by family!
      After the ceremony, time to spend with family...they are all staying in a motel in Columbia...I am still in my apartment which BTW is completely furnished so all I have to pack are my personal items...clothes, books, bar stool.  Out to a big dinner with the family..but I am most anxious to get to the PARTY!  After all, this is my final shot of freedom before becoming a real adult with a real job! I eventually get away and head to the Knight, looking for Dick.
        I am sitting there among my friends and in he walks....with this "susie" he had dated last summer!  I will not go into detail the words that were running through my mind....very blue!!! but Beth and I left there and went to other places with another group!  We ended up at the Coronado Club, one of our hangouts on the edge of town.
      Now, I am going to confess something here because it is part of who I am...so don't judge!! Here I am...newly graduated....just beginning to realize...oh crap! I'm an adult now...I'm in charge of me!  and the guy whom I was thinking I am in love with just really messed with me!!  So I am overindulging in the alcohol thing..sitting on my favorite bar stool, having a blast, extolling about how I am going to miss this bar stool. I am dared to "steal" the bar stool and I do!!  The place is so busy no one notices that I walk out with a bar stool and put it in the back of this friend's pickup truck which he delivers to my apartment for me later.

Very much like my bar stool except a single door rail rather than a double.

     Later that night, we end up back at the Knight...Dick is no longer with the "susie"...he has been looking for me...we make up...all is well! Except for the fact he was so angry with not getting to graduate that he had gone to the Air Force Recruiting Office and signed up for a four year hitch in the military!

North FW SAQA May Meeting

“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” 
― Émile Zola

      Saturday, the NTSAQA met at Jules Rushing's house...a very talented lady who is an expert in dyeing fabric.  She has a really great set up in her garage to dye fabric and she invited us to join her in dyeing.  Nine of us met there and had a great time!

Kay, Denny, Rhonda

Jo and Doreen

Deborah 

Heather...got hole in her gloves

Heather and Deborah B.

Jules showing one of her dyed fabrics 

Jo with one of hers

                          After we finished dyeing we ate lunch and had our "show and tell"!

Heather didn't have a show and tell for us but she did pass out cards about her Show "A Fine Focus".

My mini 4" x  4" we did at my last art group meeting.

And a past challenge, picture on left is from the Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska
and on the right is my piece....design perspective and neutrals.

An Unusual Lone Star quilt by Doreen

Jo shows some of her are work with thread and paint

Deborah shows her 3-Dimentional leaf fabric bowl

Denny shows her art work

And another quilt made by Denny and others in her guild

Deborah Boschert shows one of her art quilts

Jules showing a piece she is working on

Jules with an original needlepoint created with her own dyed threads

After dyeing, we took our fabric home in containers or zip lock bags.  Then today I rinsed out my fabric and here it is.

My dyed fabric

and another shot of my fabric.

    So when we meet again, we have a challenge to use our newly dyed fabrics in a work of art....no size or design designated.  It will interesting to see what everyone comes up with!!

Memory Monday-Student Teaching

“Humans, not places, make memories.” 
― Ama Ata Aidoo

University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri

           So, here I am! Summer of 1962...ready to graduate and to begin conquering the world!!  The only class I have left to take is my Student Teaching. I had probably the worst possible teacher training in the world!  Kids in college back then were not nearly as well coached and advised as they are today!  I just knew what I had to have to graduate and somehow had left this very essential part of my education to the last.

Townsend Hall- The university's school for education attended by many of the professors' children. 

      This is where I spent my mornings that summer...I had one class of 9th graders who were taking a summer class for accelerated kids in order to earn a credit ahead. And my other class was a remedial class of about the same age of kids who had flunked the previous year and needed to retake English in order to be promoted. We met for two hours four days a week, so after my two classes from 8:00-10:00 and 10:15 to 12:00 I was free for the day!!! If I remember, one class had about six kids in it and the other maybe 10....so NOT typical of a normal classroom situation.

        I loved summer school!!  I had talked my parents into letting me live in a small basement apartment (no hours) with my girlfriend who was working on her master's that summer.  Another friend of ours who had graduated that previous spring came the first weekend of summer school and STAYED!  We were all pretty good party gals, but Beth and I had to get up and go to classes.  Joanie slept all day and was ready to go again each night so we had to curtail our partying to Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. (Joanie, by the way was the same girl who had the crush on Dick the summer before! And the friend who had the aunt and uncle in Coral Gables,Fla. where we stayed when we went to the Orange Bowl in 1960.)

      That summer our favorite hangout was The Black Knight...a pub considered to be so wild that the Stephens Girls were not allowed to go there!  It wasn't that bad, and we Mizzou coeds were ok with the "susies", as they were called, not being there!  And coincidentally, that guy (future husband) happened to be living with two of the guys who worked there!  Dick had a job at the only upscale restaurant in Columbia but as soon as he was off work, and when not working, he headed for the Knight...so we kind of hooked up that summer...we kept pretty close company for about eight weeks!

     Of course, we didn't just hang out at the Knight...there was  the Stables, Andy's, the Shack, the Coronado Club and a private party lake where we spent most days.  I didn't have a car in college...so my friends and I had to always hook a ride with who ever was heading to the lake.  Times have change so much...we had dorms for girls with hours to be in, and now there are coed dorms.  I never felt afraid to go out with guys I didn't know!  It just never occurred to any of us that it might be unsafe to jump in the car with a guy you didn't know. Date rape was really unheard of...at least in my world.  And our drug of choice was beer.  If there were other drugs around I was not aware of them...a kinder, gentler, more naive time!
      By this age, 21, I was a quite a bit more mature than when I started school four years previously. And, even though I was still having a great time, I was much more responsible and did see to getting to my classes and doing a good job as student teaching.  I realized that my parents had sunk quite a bit into my education and that the party could not go on forever!  And, unrealistic as my student classes were, I really enjoyed my kids.

Book Reviews

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” 
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

     Reading the above quote gave me a chuckle!  I inherited this trait from my mother...don't leave the house with out a book, you never know when you will have five minutes to read!  And I have passed it on to my children and to my grandchildren, especially my granddaughter who has followed this habit since she could read!

     For my Villas Bookclub this month we read "Hillbilly Elegy".  Here is a very brief description from Goodreads. " In Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hanging around your neck. The Vance family story began with hope in postwar America."  The reading of this book brought about a very good discussion at our meeting!  I do recommend reading it; it is not extremely well written, but it is very eye-opening about  a specific life style that prevails our country...and not just in the area that Vance describes.  And I have heard it is to be made into a movie...I don't quite see the appeal for that but who knows.

    Last month, April, the Villas read "The Secrets of Mary Bowser" by Lois Leveen, a historical fiction about Mary Bowser, a freed slave who worked with the Spymistress, Elizabeth Van Lew, a book by Jennifer Chiaverini and where we first met Mary Bowser.  It was really interesting to read the same story with the same characters from the perspective of the exslave girl who certainly put her life in jeopardy many times serving as a spy for the North in the Civil War.

     I also belong to a book club at my UU church and last month we read "The Tiger's Wife" by Tea Obreht.  A war torn country in the Balkans, a young female doctor is giving aid to children in a poor village while also trying to find out more of her dear grandfather's recent death. The book incorporates several folklore stories and the strange thing is to me...one of the stories within the story is The Tiger's Wife..and I have the weirdest idea that I have read this one story in some other circumstance, but I cannot think where or how!  Very good, I do recommend it.

     Then I have finished a few audio books...I download audio books from my library onto my phone and just have it running all the time while I am doing daily stuff...so I can get through a book in two or three days.  Audio books I read are usually of the lighter variety...mysteries, humor, etc..  "Deliver Us From Evil", a detective mystery by David Baldacci; "Surrender, NY" by Caleb Carr, another detective story...I have read a couple others by Caleb Carr which I enjoyed more, but this was a good audio. And I have started the audio version of a book entitled "1234" by Paul Auster, and although it is very good listening, it is very long! Books downloaded from the library are for two weeks and if not "returned" by then Poof, they are automatically gone!  I will need to download it again to finish it!

    
       And my last book that I finished recently is "Good Harbor" by Anita Diamant.  If you are a fan of  Diamant, you will enjoy this book too.  I have read several of hers, "The Red Tent", "The Last Days of Dogtown", and "Day After Night" and have loved them all!  In fact, I read "Day After Night" a few years ago, and liked it so well I have chosen it for my turn to review for both the Villas and UU book clubs.

Memory Monday

There ain't nothing that breaks up homes, country, and nations like somebody publishing their memoirs. 

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist and actor.

     Several years ago I wrote a regular, every Monday  blog entitled "Memory Monday".  I started with my first year of memory and had gotten as far as my Junior year in college....then I kind of had a lapse and quit writing that particular theme.  I've decided to renew my memories, picking up with my college years!  Now for those of you who have just been following me for the past year, and if you are really bored and in need of something to read, and are curious about me, you can click on a link to the left on a year and should be able to find past memories.

The Columns

     I attended the University of Missouri; these are the columns which were part of the first buildings of the original college built in 1840.  They have become a symbol for the college..link to it if that is something you would like to know more about.  I am writing about the summer of 1961, the summer between my Junior and Senior year.  I was living in the dorms...still with hours (times we had to be in at night).  I had a couple of girl friends who had an apartment off campus so I would frequently sign out to stay with them if I wanted to stay out later than allowed.
     The most memorable thing that happened that summer was meeting my future husband!  At the time, I was dating another guy who was a friend of his so we were often thrown together in the group.  One of my girl friends had a big crush on Dick (future husband ) so every night when I would get back to the dorm, I would have to call her and report on what he was doing!  He was dating a girl from Stephens College, an elite girl's school also in Columbia.

     On to fall of 1961...my Senior Year!!! Again, I am living in the dorm. I have by now taken all my required courses and am concentrating on my majors...English and Art in the school of Education.  I actually hadn't planned on majoring in art because I had never had a single art class until I went to college, but I loved it and had accumulated enough hours that I could count it as a major too.
      By now future husband is not in the picture; I am not dating his friend and my girl friend has also moved on to greener pastures. Football is still taking front and center in fall activities...Mizzou had been to the Orange Bowl the two previous years and was doing pretty well this year too. (I went to the Orange Bowl with some friends in 1960 and wrote about it in a memory Monday). I am now dating a guy who worked at the Italian Village, a favorite hangout ...Italian food and cold beer.

The Italian Village

      A great second semester...light classes...not much pressure...looking to the future.  I had gone to a job fair with people from all over the US interviewing potential teachers.  One guy I interviewed with was from California...LA I think.  When he asked me about my background, I told him all about my little Illinois town of 4000 and my experience with travel etc. to  date (none!)   He kindly told me he didn't think teaching in inner-city LA would be something that would make me happy!  Well, I thought that was pretty nervy of him!  I believed  living in sunny California would be a dream come true!  Now with many years of experience under my belt, not just teaching but traveling and exposure to many cultures I believe he had given me the best advice possible!  And....I forgive him!!!

     I still had my student teaching to do which I did in summer school previous to my August, 1962 graduation....fodder for next Memory Monday!

May Meeting

"Have no fear of perfection; you'll never reach it." Salvador Dali

     Yesterday my art buddies and I met at my house.  The first thing we did was to show our challenges given to us by Kay last meeting.  This is a very appropriate challenge because the Kimbell is hosting an exhibit of Louis Kahn's work until June sometime.

A picture of the Kimbell Art Gallery of Fort Worth

Our challenges are to be inspired by the work either by color or some element to design.  This one screams out to something in neutrals with strong perspective.

Step one of my challenge

I am inspired by a picture I took last week of windows at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum that I visited in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

On my design wall

Making more sections

Back to the "drawing board" as they say!

My final with the picture that I took

I still have some hand stitching to do...turn the binding over and sew down and a bit more on the art itself.

Here are the challenges that others made.

Heather's

Wendy"s

Michelle's

Kay's

Bethany's

Then we spent the rest of the day making a small art quilt collage using a technique inspired by Deborah Boschert who has a book out about many other techniques for Art Quilt Collages.  

Deborah's Book

     We first painted the edges of our 4 X 4 canvases (an example of one of the painted canvases is the the top of the picture). Then we created our backgrounds and added to it, using fused fabric which we ironed on. Then we began doing some embellishments with hand stitching.  Here are the ones we worked on....none of them are finished...one of our "assignments" for our next meeting is to bring them back, finished. When all the stitching is done, they will be glued to the canvases then can be hung up using just a straight pin.

Our mini art collages...4" x 4"

 

SAQA Conference 2017

Asking an art quilter to mend is like asking Michelangelo to paint your garage. 
~Author Unknown

Last week, Thursday,  my daughter Andrea and I went to the annual Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska.  We flew into Omaha and rented a car...an hour drive from Lincoln..no direct flights into Lincoln. We got to our hotel about 4:30...ate a bite then hit the vendors who were only going to be open until 6:00. And, of course, we did find a couple of pieces of fabric that we just had to have!

Friday morning we met in the large room of the Hilton...the conference began with Lightening Talks...each speaker had 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide to talk about their art.  This technique was started last year and was so successful, it will be continued for other conferences. Lunch, break out sessions....just so much information and inspiration filling my head.

Saturday we were bussed to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum where we were given an extensive tour of several of the collections, archives, and a very good lunch.

IQSCM Building

A Sculpture outside the IQSCM building

It is a beautiful building..interesting architecture and we decided this sculpture looked like a wad of thread taken out of a  sewing machine!  We were divided up into four groups and had tours all day with the same group.  Our group first took another bus over to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln to the School of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design. There we had a fascinating tour of the School...a great experience for me as I had no idea about the workings of a Design School.  And Michael James, a fiber artist, is an instructor there; I have been such an admirer of him and his work for longer than I have been doing fiber arts myself!

Michael James was our first tour guide explaining about the designs..

The wall behind him is a slide show that constantly changes showing student designs for fabric. This particular display is a show of a competition among the students. Then we saw other classrooms where the students learned to make designs and patterns, etc..We saw the archives where they have a collection of clothes from the nineteenth century to modern times. And were bussed back to the Center where we had three more tours.

     One of  the tours was to see the Japanese quilt installation which held some beautiful works...here is one of my favorites.

The feathers are embroidered on.

a close up

Then we went to the archives where they keep quilts from all ages and all styles. It was really interesting to hear all about how they care for the quilts and restore them.

An early Nancy Crow quilt

An early Michael James archived

A recent  Michael James archived

An archived quilt made entirely of buttons!

One of many archival storage rooms

     Then our last tour was of a quilt display by a current quilter, Luke Haynes, who had an unusual installation of his Log Cabin Quilts.

A poster of all Haynes' Log Cabin Quilts

These are just three of over fifty quilts of his

Saturday night we had our banquet where the silent auction of donated quilts was also held.

My quilt, one of 120+ is on the back row, center.

The last day of the Conference, we had our keynote speaker who happened to be Michael James!  It was so  great to hear about how he developed his style and how his career grew and changed through the years.

Introductory slide

His early works

His more current work.

     After the conference ended, Andrea and I drove back to Omaha to fly home the next day.  We were staying in a Best Western, and when I pulled out the receipt to put the directions into our GPS, the address was for a Best Western in Iowa!  I panicked!  I thought I had really messed up, so I called and our motel was in Iowa but I didn't realize until I talked to them that Omaha is on the Nebraska/Iowa line!! As it turned out, it was a very nice motel.  See what met us!

The cruises have nothing on BW in Carter Lake, Iowa!

As we had a little time to kill before going to the airport on Monday, we checked out Omaha and discovered a Lewis and Clark National Historical Park there. 

Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail

The Missouri River at the Lewis and Clark Trail

     A great trip!  And next year the conference will be in San Antonio so we will be sure to be there!!!