Thursday, September 17, 2015

Blog Hiaitus

I feel like I'm caught in limbo right now. In two weeks I'm retiring from working at the University of Chicago for the past 27 years. And I'm looking forward to it. 

My first task will be to have some revision surgery on my replacement hip.  I just can't seem to get past that, to see what else the future will bring. 
I'm looking forward to having time to clean and clear out. In the long term that will mean I'll have better access to my supplies, know what I have and where it is, get rid of things I know I will not do, and I'll be able to do better work, I hope. Perhaps move in new directions.

In the short term, I suspect it all means that actual stitching by me will be in short supply. I'm not sure what kind of routine and schedule I'll work out in the end.  So, for now I'm going to take a blog break and give myself time to work through the transition and see where I end up.

I suspect it's likely to be back here.

Thank you very much for reading my blog and for all of your comments and support. 
I began this blog in May 2010 and this is the 1018th post.

Monday, September 7, 2015

EGA 2015 Challenge Wrap-Up

As was my experince last year, my finished challenge piece came back quickly with a lovely note.
I'm already looking foward to next year's challenge.

Visiting Galleries

Since I sent off the EGA Challenge piece, I've not been working seriously on anything. We have been having fun vising local galleries on weekends.  Last weekend we visited the Illinois State Gallery in Lockport.  There's a really exciting show there, thanks to local artists and the city of Lockport. And No Thanks to the Illinois state government.  

Governor Rauner wants to close all of the Illinois State Museums.  A few short years ago when this issue came up, there was huge public outcry and they did not close. This time--silence!  

The show is really wonderful. The state cancelled the insurance for the galleries, which means they had to take down the (just installed) regular show.  Lockport's mayor stepped in and added the gallery building to the city's insurance. A call went out to artists for works and, as you can see below, they got wonderful response.
This flier explains about the show.
Here's another photo.  The gallery is set to "go dark" on September 30th; the employees have been sent layoff notices.  The show is full of such good energy and well worth a visit.
This weekend we headed east instead of west and visited Valparaiso University's Brauer gallery.  They have a thought provoking exhibit on friendship dolls that were exchanged between America and Japan both before WWII and continued more recently.  The dolls are very sweet and the descriptions had me looking at them very carefully.  The exhibit documentation also discussed issues in care and conservation of material objects from different perspectives.
 My husband is enjoying the friendship dolls. They are surprisingly large. The little things in the case to his right are the doll's accessories--including a full tea set, hand-made fans, shoes, lacquer trunks, and sweet sewing boxes.
This is a traditional display of dolls set up for Girl's Day each year---the Emperor and Empress are at the top, and each layer is a bit lower in status.  The third layer is musicians with instruments.  The display explores dolls in Japanese culture and Japanese culture in the west.
This sculpture display is also at Brauer.  The exhibits close December 13.