sagrada familia, barcelona

Things seem to be happening slowly slowly here lately. I was in Barcelona towards the end of February and these are some shots of La Sagrada Familia cathedral designed by Gaudi. It is still in construction so it was interesting to see how things are coming together.

The chapel was blocked off so I lifted my camera over the barriers so I could see what was back there.

I loved that most of the stained glass windows were unfinished so the interior was filled with light.

picking back up

Well hello darlings! I have been away from the blog for way too long. Thanks for sticking around! Ive been back in the states for a month now and I have finally been able to recuperate and process my trip. I still have so many photos to go through so I’ll upload in stages so as not to overwhelm you too. I left off after our trip to Paris I believe, but first, why didnt I buy this whole suitcase full of buttons at the antiques market in Paris!?

Shortly after we got back we drove over to Rousillon, a town near Lacoste, where they process (or used to process) the ochre pigment from the earth. The hillsides are covered in beautiful earthy golds and reds.

So here I am in Rousillon.

And all of us.

The stained shirts of the workers from years ago.

We got to experiment with some pigment in the workshop and I bought a wooden box with 12 little jars of gorgeous pigments.

Rousillon was beautiful but I still have to show you photos of Barcelona and Vernissage, our gallery opening, from the end of the quarter! So much to catch you up on! I hope you all have been well!

second round in paris

My second trip to Paris was very exciting. We went non-stop the entire time going to museums and site visits and just walking around the city.

As a disclaimer, the wordpress editor does not want to separate my pictures when I try to put space in between them, which is why everything is going to be a little close this time. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt, its a very fickle thing this wordpress editor. Anyways, on to the photos…..

Our first stop was Prell. They are a 5th generation weaving company.

They created the fabrics used in the Marie Antoinette movie from the original fabrics in their archives. All of the fabrics they produce now come from their archives. Their current exhibition is their Art Nouveau fabrics.

The Pompidu Center was having an Alberto Giacometti exhibit, one of my favorite artists.

He mostly used plaster but his figures look like they have been rusted.

Giacometti used his studio walls to work out his ideas. They are like pages from his sketchbook, he would draw and write all over the plaster walls. After he died, his studio landlord wouldnt renew the lease, so his wife had the walls removed so they could be preserved.

We also went to the Christian Lacroix exhibit at the Louvre. They had his pieces separated by color and pattern. My favorites were the Blancs.

The Greens.

Polka dot dress with lace.

A Paris metro station with beautiful painted graffiti on the walls.

Thats me freezing my tush off in front of Notre Dame.

Prayer candles inside Notre Dame. We happened to be there during mass so we sat for a little while and took communion. It was a very nice experience.

We went to Li Edelkoort, which is a trend forecasting studio. I wasnt allowed to take photos in the studio, so I took one in the bathroom. I liked the trough sink. We watched a presentation on trends and color forecasting for summer 2009. The studio and the trend books were amazing, I wish I couldve photographed them to show you.

A Paris street.

My feet on a Paris street.

After the rain, the trees had so many gorgeous colors.

On our last day we went to an antiques market. I got scolded a few times for taking photos. Oh well.

I couldnt read what the letters said, but I imagined them to be old love letters.

A suitcase full of buttons.

This was the sink in the Avignon train station. The left nozzle is the automatic soap dispenser, the middle is the automatic sink, and the right is the automatic hand dryer. Genius.

the lace lady

By the time I got to the studio today to take photos of my work it was too dark to get any good shots so it will have to wait till I get back from Paris. In the meantime, I wanted to show pics of the lace lady’s booth at the market in L’Isle sur la Sorgue. This is one of my favorite markets and she is an expert on antique handmade lace and embroidery and had so many things to show us. Enjoy!

Handmade lace is made using a template, pins and bobbins of string. They would pin the template into this pillow, then wrap the pins with the bobbins to create the pattern.

 

 

This is the template she gave me as a gift when I bought 3 of the small bobbins. Its paper but almost looks like leather.

 

 

 

 

Notice there is no “W” on the embroidery sampler. From what I understand, the English brought “W” to the language and it is not used in French.

I will be back in 4 days hopefully with new inspiration and lots of photos to share!

quarry graffiti

One of my favorite spots in LaCoste so far is the quarry. It is beautiful and peaceful down there and also a nice walk. I was really inspired by the graffiti. A lot of it is really old, from the early 1900’s.

Christy

 

Sharon

 

 

These vessels inspired a stitching I did for my Stitch Diary class. I think they will also be a theme in my work here.

 

I am.

 

 

We had such a busy first week and I am exhausted. We had a very interesting workshop with Matali Crasset, a brilliant designer. It was a challenge working in groups to create a cohesive piece but I learned a lot from the experience. I will post photos of the (imaginary) world we created tomorrow, along with photos of the rest of the weekend and some of my work so far as well. I will really try to keep the blog updated better, Ive just been trying to settle in and find the time to do it. I hope you all had a great weekend!

scad lacoste

I havent mentioned this yet because I didnt want to jinx myself, but I just found out that I am officially accepted to the SCAD LaCoste program during winter quarter!! SCAD has a campus there and my teacher Pamela is taking the Fibers girls. Chris (and Alia!) was the driving force in this decision. I didnt think it was feasible for me to do this because I have a boyfriend/dog/house/job/responsibilities etc… so I am very grateful that he has encouraged me to take this opportunity. Im a little nervous but so excited to be immersed in French culture for 2 months! We will also take trips to Paris and Barcelona for 5 days! We leave January 10 and return March 11. This is going to be a long time to be away from my pup and my man, but I really cant wait!

weekend in asheville

Our trip to Asheville, NC this weekend was so much fun. The minute Chris and I stepped out of the car we looked at each other and said, “Yeah, we should live here.” It is such a cool city. I think we are seriously considering moving after I graduate, we absolutely loved it! We met our friends big Chris and Jessica (he’s big Chris because he’s taller than my Chris) and stayed in a cabin about 5 minutes from downtown. I was pleasantly surprised that the cabin had quilts on the beds since Im trying to get inspired for my quilting class.

We went to a gallery called Blue Spiral 1 and it was one of the largest galleries Ive ever seen! And filled with the most beautiful art. One of my favorites was David Eichelberger’s ceramics.

I love his simple lines and drawings on the surface.

I was very interested in Bryant Holsenbeck’s animals. He wrapped them in strips of fabric, wire and twine.

One of my other favorites was Alice Ballards ceramics. So beautiful. She also created large acorns and leaves from white stoneware that were simple and graceful.

Lisa Clague’s ceramic sculptures were amazing. From what I could tell, even the base of this piece is ceramic. It looks like wire but I dont think it is, I couldnt touch it so I guess I cant be sure, but if it is ceramic she is a genius. How did she get it to support that much weight?! I also love that little skirt.

There were three floors of incredible art at Blue Spiral and I was just blown away and totally inspired.

A warning: be wary of Asheville cab drivers. Our first cabbie almost ran off the side of the mountain because he was trying to show big Chris a picture on his phone where he looked pregnant, and the second one missed our exit, slammed on the breaks and reversed on the highway. I was not impressed. But overall the trip was great, we did some shopping and checked out some local music and had so much fun with our friends. I’ll be back soon to post pics of a few things I got in Asheville. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hostel part two

 

Archway to the Dragons Lair.

 

 

They feed the egg shells to the chickens.

 

 

One of the chickens that woke us up in the morning.

 

 

Making S’mores.

 

 

 

Sorry it has taken me so long to finish this post but almost as soon as I got back I had to get to work. Finals are in two weeks and this weekend it was nice to get recharged for the work I have to do.

So, the Hostel in the Forest is an amazing place. They grow their own food, have free roaming chickens, and sleep in the trees. Chris and I had a great tree house called the Dragons Lair. It was off on its own and was screened all the way around. The lake was so refreshing and they built a floating dock with a net in the middle so you can relax in the water. The staff there cooked a delicious organic, vegetarian, gluten free dinner! And we roasted marshmallows for s’mores. Instead of graham crackers I used gluten free gingersnaps and it was awesome.

One of my favorite things about the hostel was the chickens. Early in the morning, they came to our tree house to dig around, for worms I guess, and they were clucking and calling to each other. It was a great way to wake up. They just roamed wherever they wanted then at night they went to their coop. Ive never seen so many different kinds of chickens. Some of them were spotted, some were fluffy and furry and some looked like they had crazy wigs on.

I was also able to spend some time outside of the glass house and just look at the pond and write. I definitely needed some time for reflection. I have more pics on my flickr page if you want to check it out. I will be back soon to post pics of some work in progress. I hope everyone is doing well!

 

 

 

 

hostel photoset one

The Dragons Lair

Chicken

The lake is crystal clear. You’d think you were in the Bahamas.

More chickens

Me and Chris

Just a little preview of the weekend…. more to come.

 

ps. I desperately need some photo uploading advice. Ive been trying to use Flickr but I can only upload one photo at a time. I have used the uploader in WordPress also, but then I have to resize the photo, which is annoying. Is there a better way?