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<\/a><\/p>\nI planted my first real garden.<\/p>\n
I amused myself by taking photos of each\u00a0day’s harvest.<\/p>\n Then, I had to learn how to can all of what my garden grew.<\/p>\n I have managed to avoid contracting the disease, and that is a Good Thing.<\/p>\n I am healthy. I am vaccinated. I am rarin’ to go! But, what to do about all those adventures I had in 2019? I am going to see how many I can reasonably record, and then declare a victory.<\/p>\n First things first: How much of what I did can I even remember? And, can I even remember how to write a post that anyone will want to read?<\/p>\n I guess we shall see.<\/p>\n Well, when I left off, I had just visited Frank and Debbie in Asheville, NC. My next goal was to visit the state capitol in Raleigh. I ended up camping at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n It felt like old home week! Here I was, nestled in with all the Airstreams! In fact, one of the ‘Streamers was a person I had worked with at Amazon back in 2014. What a small world!<\/p>\n My first activity was a visit to the North Carolina Museum of Art<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the exterior was a bit austere, the collections were outstanding.<\/p>\n I snapped a lot<\/strong><\/em> of photos while I was there. In going through them to decide what would help tell the story of my visit, I have to admit I was overwhelmed. I’ll share a few, but if you are at all interested in art, I recommend that you make time for a visit if you find yourself in North Carolina.<\/p>\n (Actually, I’m sharing a few more than a few. But, there are so many more that I still have in my files.)<\/p>\n I mean, I was taken by their attention to details – like the trash and recycling receptacles.<\/p>\n And how the trash receptacles complemented the chairs, which complemented the walkway with complemented the building.<\/p>\n Even the drizzle added an artistic feature!<\/p>\n Anyway, the first building I entered was dedicated to African art.<\/p>\n There were the things you expect to see when you visit a museum of African art, like this\u00a019th century prestige vessel from Ghana,<\/p>\n or this piece of jewelry,<\/p>\n or this mid 20th century women’s ceremonial skirt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/p>\n But they had some textiles I had never seen before, like this velvet from the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From what I understand, the base cloth is woven by the men and the decorative elements are added by the women using an embroidery technique that adds a looped pile. The ends are cut leaving dense areas that are similar to velvet.<\/p>\n This photo taken the edge gives you a different view of the work.<\/p>\n Incidentally, the ceremonial skirt and the velvet are both made from raffia palm leaves. I would love to know how they process those fibers!<\/p>\n They had more recent textile-like work, as well. This piece is called “Lines that Link Humanity<\/a>” and is by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui<\/a>. It’s made from discarded\u00a0bottle caps and liquor packaging. You all know how I love recycled things. Some day I’ll do a post about my sculptures made from plastic bags, videos, \u00a0newspapers, minutes from meetings and magazines.<\/p>\n Oh, what the heck! No time like the present. Here are some of my works of art.<\/p>\n And now we return to the North Carolina Museum of Art.<\/p>\n This is a work of art by Ethiopian artist Elias Sime. It’s made from recycled materials, such as buttons, batteries, bottle caps, clothes, dismembered computers and cell phones. This waste is shipped from all around the world to Addis Ababa and it is sold in huge open air markets.<\/p>\n This work of art is actually quite large. It’s made up of six panels and overall measures about\u00a05’3″ by 20′.<\/p>\n This work of art is by Senegalese artist Viy\u00e9 Diba. According to the artist, blue is the symbol space and liberty. It’s created from recycled wood and cotton strip-woven cloth.<\/p>\n I have to admit, though, my favorite part of this part of the museum was the children’s section. And, luckily for me, there weren’t any children there that day.<\/p>\n I didn’t have to share!<\/p>\n The system worked kind of like a kaleidoscope. You\u00a0selected the pieces that interested you and then played around with them until you liked the results.<\/p>\n And play I did!<\/p>\n I was so glad no one else wanted to use it.<\/p>\n It was just mesmerizing!<\/p>\n I could easily see myself wearing some of these designs.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
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