The Adventure Begins!

At the airport (which seems to be where I do much of my blogging) on my way to Milwaukee to attend the 40th Anniversary Gala of the International Crane Foundation. I am excited beyond words. I have checked my large package which is the 4' x 2' artwork I am donating at the auction. My host will meet me at the Pfister Hotel and we will walk over to Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin to display the work for tonight's bidding.

So many highlights over the next few days! The absolute highlight of this adventure will be tonight - when I will meet Jane Goodall - my hero - in person. The piece to the right, "Upon Reflection," will be auctioned off to raise funds for the organization, so it will be exciting to be there to watch the bidding live!

And then on Sunday, I will be in Baraboo, taking photographs for my upcoming piece for the "Earth Stories" exhibition - pictures of cranes, pictures of the founder George Archibald, and pictures of the marshy environment. I have the layout planned in my mind, and now just need the photos so I can work from them to create the cheesecloth sculptures. I had to wait till now for the photos so October will see me in the studio every day - the deadline for the piece is November 1.



I have had cranes on the brain for quite awhile now, and I took advantage of becoming what they call a "craniac" by designing a small thank you piece for my hosts. I call it "Wildness and Wet" based on a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, highlighting the necessity to preserve the environment for these magnificent birds.

Time to make my way to the gate. Next stop, Milwaukee. Hope I can post some photos of the gala tonight. Or very soon.


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Location:Chicago

Blogging News

Regular subscribers will note a sleek new appearance to this blog.  It matches my updated website which took me only two years to finally redesign.

In time, I will move all my blogging activities over to the new website, marypaldesigns.com, but I will retain this blog for now as I figure out all the bells and whistles of the new one.

I understand that the busy, image-jammed online aesthetic is very outdated so am trying to keep my finger on the pulse and simplify. Any viewer comments greatly appreciated!

I have been working on a journal to accompany my submission to the Radical Elements exhibition. It is so named because we were to create works, based on one of the elements in the Periodic Table of Elements, that are suggestive of quilts yet not using actual fabric or thread.  (!)  My element was Einsteinium and in my research of this element, I discovered it is radioactive (though we aren't allowed to incorporate actual radioactive elements for obvious reasons!) and was discovered as a component of the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952. It is named after the great thinker but he was a peace-loving man who would want no association with the threat of world destruction that this particular element might be associated with, so I used that as my theme for the piece. The selected artists are not permitted to post full pictures of their final work, but this is a sneak peek of the cheesecloth sculpted portion.  The full piece is 36 x 22."

I am also working on my submission to the Earth Stories exhibition, though the images are not due until the end of October.  But it is six feet square (!) so that adds all kinds of challenges. Thankfully, I am able to use my regular medium of fabric and thread, so I am happily working out much simpler challenges than Einsteinium presented: like how to make lutradur stick to packing foam!