Virginia A. Spiegel

Pink

Oriental lilies! Short-lived, but such exuberance. It is so seldom that you take a photo and there is nothing needed in Photoshop. I held this bloom up against my front door on the way in from the garden.

A note for newsletter editors: I happily had my blogpost on working in a series reprinted in the current issue of Contemporary Quilt, the newsletter of Contemporary Quilt Special Interest Group of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. Thank you to Irene MacWilliam for contacting me and making all the arrangements. It’s a great newsletter; I learned I need a Bernina foot #2.

If you are the editor of a fiber newsletter and would like to reprint an essay, technique talk, book review or any other item from my blog, send me a note. There’s no charge, but I do ask that you:
1. Ask.
2. Credit me and include links to my website and blog.
3. Print it one time only.

Of course, there’s a new post today on The Garbage Day Report. It’s an inadvertent self-portrait.

Red

I had a field day in big open yard full of unused Coast Guard equipment. This is part of a giant navigation buoy.

Of course, a new post is up today in The Garbage Day Project.

Untitled by Miriam Deutschle.

Miriam is an amazing person - artist, business owner, outdoor enthusiast. She is at this moment out camping on the tundra. This monotype is from her Landscapes Series. Miriam’s business is Local Showcase: Knives and Art on the Spit in Homer. Both this and the next piece of art were scouted out as perfect for me (correct!) by my sister in places I wouldn’t have thought to look for original art.

Spirit of the Walrus Hunter by Bowhan Kealiher

This small sculpture was carved from soapstone and cottonwood bark by Native Alaskan artist Bowhan Kealiher. The piece was signed and dated was only three days before I acquired it. The artist is from the village of Stebins.

Alaska by Elias

This is my favorite piece of art and is from the Tenana Valley Farmers’ Market in Fairbanks. The young artist (about five, I would guess) was very serious (he had his own cash box) and said he was saving for a skateboard. I asked him to sign the postcard and he obviously is famous enough to go by one name.

Abhaya Mudra by Anda Saylor

Go to breakfast, buy some art. Actually I had to think about it for a bit as I was hoping to stick to distinctly Alaskan art, but this artwork will be coming to me when the Snow City Cafe exhibit closes at the end of this month. Anda says via e-mail, “The Abhaya Mudra is a portrait of one of my dearest friends and has a lot to do with healing energy.” Check out all the work in the Bubbles of Consciousness series on Anda’s website.

This was one of the most interesting shop/galleries run by an artist as …

we selected and paid for our pottery (great mugs and rice bowls) on the honor system as there was no one home except:

The Keeper of the Gallery.

If you have a good sense of humor, check out the great postcards and posters from Ravens Brew Coffee. Be sure to click and make the images larger. I could only find postcards, but plan on framing them up anyway. Good for a smile every day.

Even the bottle caps are worth keeping.

And, last on my whirlwind summary of Alaska, is a great book, Found and Assembled in Alaska. The editor is Julie Decker. It is from the shop at the Museum of the Far North at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

I have looked for a source for this book for you, but am unable to find one. Perhaps you could contact the shop for a copy or if you find a source, just post it as a comment. It’s a great book due to its wit, its wry comments on humanity in general and life in the Far North in particular, and its use of local materials for assemblage.

Dance

I had to go and check on the prairie flowers and found the coneflowers just past their peak. Milkweed is in bloom in my yard and on the prairie.

Yes, The Garbage Day Project is back with a new photo today and a link to a garbage video.

Alaska bills itself as “The Last Frontier.” I would say that they need to exclude java as they are in the vanguard of availability and quality of their coffee. Way out in the middle of nowhere there would be a drive-up coffee hut and the coffee from it would be the best I had ever tasted. i said that all the way across Alaska. The explanation I heard is that coffee is a necessity of life in Alaska’s dark winters.

Most of the coffee huts weren’t plain old sheds. They had themes and decorations. The hut above had carved animals on all three roof corners and a moose looking out a “window” in the back.

Here’s another lovely piece of folkart from Seward:

Of course, if want you want is just a great cup of plain coffee, then this is your best bet: