Art in the afternoon

I’m still en route to Alaska. We’ve stopped in Wisconsin to visit family and we’re spending a week at our family’s cottage in northern Wisconsin. We’ve had a wonderful convergence of family members–my brother and his family, and his wife Sara’s parents, my parents, my Aunt Carole, Uncle Jack and cousin Johanna.

If you’ve read the blog for a long time, you’ll remember Johanna. She was my intern in 2006 when she was completing her degree in textile design. Since then, she has been working in costume design and haberdashery primarily for the Kansas City opera, but has also had stints with the Rockettes and she recently co-designed a line of swimwear that debuted in a Kansas City fashion show.

Aunt Carole is an artist and former elementary art teacher. She also contributed an essay on color theory to my book The Color Book of Felted Crochet.

Yesterday afternoon, while much of our crowd was having cocktails on the screened in porch, Carole and Johanna decided to take advantage of the great light and do some painting. They invited Selma and me to join them, and while Selma worked on some watercolors, I wasn’t feeling like painting so I gave my new Goldings spindle a spin and tried out the Buffalo Gold fiber I picked up at TNNA. The fiber has a very short staple, so it was a little tricky to spin, it’s so soft, it’s worth the trouble. The spindle is one I ordered after a phone conversation with Mr. Golding himself where he answered lots of newbie spindle questions for me. It worked like a dream.

After a bit of spinning, I did a little drawing which made me feel like I need a bit of a refresher art course. Maybe I’ll find one in Alaska!

Related posts:

1. Johanna’s Summer Adventure
2. I’ll be home for Christmas
3. Three more days…
4. Needlepoint Revival
5. Thank you, Aunt Rose