Burning Basket – Homer, Alaska
Artist Mavis Muller Art Click for link to artist’s website ( see excerpt below )
Our friends drove us down to the beach on the Spit.
No ones spirit was dampened by the rain.
Earlier people had clipped notes and intentions to the woven basket. There were some fireworks that illuminated the sky, sh0t out from the basket.
“2004 Mavis began the Burning Basket Project as an experience of interactive, impermanent art. Gathered from her background in creating baskets and woven with the desire to engage the public in a unique, living art form, Mavis has facilitated burning baskets in many communities. The large, intricate basket is given as a gft to the people, infused with decoration and spirit by willing participants, and finally burned, dramatically and upwardly releasing positive messages and heartfelt sentiments.”- From the artist’s website
Two different short videos (with the same name) A jumpy little phone video I shot during the Burning Basket ceremony and after the basket their were individuals who lit hula hoops and twirled fire around
McKeesport Library -Knit in Public
World Wide Knit in Public Day–Better living through stitching together!
McKeesport Library hosted a Knitting in Public event Saturday June 18th and I drove over the Monongahela River and back to attend. I’m so glad I did. Everyone was so welcoming. It was a perfect summer day though sitting under the tree in the shade was just right.
I was invited to join the group for a picnic lunch, which was delicious and generous of them to include me.
Jody, visiting family in McKeesport but now living in Gainesville FL, reads the history of World Wide Knit in Public Day telling the group how it was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes with just 25 events and now it’s over 850 around the world.”
Jody’s daughter Ellie, going into Fifth grade, was the youngest member of the Knit in Public Event.
Many of the women knit hats, blankets and or shawls for Chemotherapy patients and donate them to several hospitals including Magee and Veterans.They get together throughout the year on Thursdays.
Another Ruth just started knitting but she has crocheted beautiful Butterfly shawls and blankets. Some of the women knit at the Magee Hospital group which hosted a KIP event today, too. There were events at Mt. Lebanon Library and Steel City Fiber, too. And if you go to the site, you will see there was KIP in the Arctic Circle, too.
Kim’s two color knitted hat matched both her shirt and pants!
Weaving by Judith G, hostessing the KIP event. The weaving is for a class she’s going to be teaching this summer.
Picnic Lunch- BBQ chipped ham is a Pittsburgh specialty
The library was built in 1902
Architect was William J. East and is a National Historic Landmark
from the front- what a lawn to mow!
One of the women, Pat, mentioned she was on her way to the McKeesport Heritage Center for another event.
Acquiring Art from Art All Night
To say Art All Night in Lawrenceville is a happening, would be an understatement. Over a thousand pieces of art are hung and displayed for 24 hours.
No jury, any medium- just ONE piece per artist. No exceptions.
It takes a ton of volunteers to organize, create and support this community event. Check all the art in, check all the art out. Make sure the artists get back their artwork.
There’s lots of music, comedy, yoga, mosaic making, live art, children’s activities and T-shirts for sale to wear until next year which will be the twentieth year.
Here’s the great part- thousands of people attend the show. This year Steve and I went on the peaceful Sunday morning instead of the wild and crazy and heavily populated Saturday night. An artist friend had taken in my Mill at Night photograph along with his painting. He’d encouraged me to participate again this year.
When I saw the piece below on one of the panels, it spoke to me. I got the contact information off the tag and called the artist right away. This afternoon we met at the bookstore in the Waterfront and check out how she packaged her art.
Thanks Jill. I am thrilled to have your “Corona” in my home.
We exchanged email and contact information and hope to knit together sometime soon.
A gallery from Art All Night so you can get the feel for the event. Remember my visit was early Sunday morning so it was sparse as far as viewers go but there were plenty of volunteers.
Yep I Impressed My Mom’s Quilting Group by Wendy Coester
Painting by Bill Pfahl
What we saw when we left the exhibit
Pop des Fleurs -Pittsburgh- Guest Blog
My friend Roberta saw this colorful display in front of the Carnegie Library in Oakland and sent me these photos. I didn’t get to see them in person but I’m pretty sure I saw some blooms being created at the Knit and Crochet Festival.
Pop, is right! Although the real flowers are beginning to come up, this art installation brightens up the city.
Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh says, “Pop des Fleurs is an outdoor installation planned for the winters of 2015 and 2016, designed to bring delight and color during the dark season through handmade, pop-up flower gardens”
Thanks for sharing Pop des Fleurs on the blog today.
How about the close-up of these gorgeous sunflowers?
Joan Used to Teach at Larimer School- Slated to Become Affordable Housing
The school has been closed since 1980. Joan taught art there.
Built in 1896 and two additions- 1904 and 1931 for the auditorium.
My friend Joan drove me over to Larimer neighborhood to see it Sunday morning. Here she’s looking out the driver’s window at the property.
Joan emailed me an article about the future development of Larimer School.
Larimer School is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Although it seems next to impossible, it is slated to be developed into affordable housing.
We spoke with a neighbor who lives across the street from the property and her niece went to Kindergarten there.
Watching it be restored will please her greatly, as she is tired of looking at the heaps of trash and old tires that have accumulated.
Joan is an artist and is using her iPad to catch images – maybe she will paint from them later
The bas relief is very beautiful
Joan taught in the Art Room on the second floor. You could see an open window around the corner,
Detail of stone faces
When Joan dropped me off at home, I was glad to see the Eastern Redbud tree in bloom in my backyard.
(Thanks Ginny for planting this beautiful tree in memory of my parents, Roy and Marian,)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Community
Knit the Bridge is All Over the News
I went to a Knit-In this morning.
You might have seen the Knit the Bridge project on or in the news. Start time was at 6AM and was to go to at least 6PM.
I got some coffee and grabbed a chair and a blanket to pad the wooden seat. The group was on the North Side of the Bridge stitching while the teams who were trained ( insurance requirement) donned hard hats and sore fingers, using zip ties and floss like string to attach the pieces.
One hundred twenty more black railing covers were needed (12×75″) to cover the bottom rails in black, too.
It was fun and I met some nice knitters, crocheters and encouragers who came down to check it all out. The organizers headed by Amanda Gross and her team are working long and hard hours to get all the colorful panels installed on the Seventh Street Bridge AKA the Andy Warhol Bridge. I did hear someone say they were feeling a bit frazzled. I can only imagine.
There were boxes of bagels and supportive and interesting conversation as we stitched. A woman next to me, Sue, has made 35 afghans this year for soldiers in Afghanistan. There was a PR team documenting the project on film. They interviewed her and she showed them photos of her work. That’s a lot of stitching.
Then Veronica arrived. Told me she had been crocheting for 80 years. No kidding!! She made two panels for the bridge and lots of railing covers, too. Christina showed me how to double crochet so I could get finished faster. She was patient and a good teacher so I zipped along until I had to leave.
Thanks Leah for inviting me down, getting the word out!
Bringing people together from many communities- the Knit-In in progress on the North Side of the Bridge
the Bridge is closed to traffic except for these riggers arriving.
Sue( sporting her son’s old bicycle shirt) being interviewed by the PR team filming a documentary about the Knit the Bridge project
Installing one of the panels. Note the black railing covers and the zip ties. And the volunteer workers!
About to Pop and Professional Wrestling on Grant Avenue
You might remember the post where I wrote how I knew I should ALWAYS carry my camera with me. ALWAYS
Friday night Steve asked if I wanted to grab a bite to eat. It was a long day at school. Sure.
We drove down to Park Brugges and the line was out the door. Plan B. We drove to BRGR and at least a 1/2 hour wait. Spoon, no reservation? A table might open up at nine. Okay.
Plan C. Let’s drive to Millvale and eat at Grant Avenue Bar.
We got to the front of the place and it was Millvale Days! Who knew? There was a wrestling ring and ropes and a referee and oh my goodness a Ferris Wheel and games and booths and bands and people. People all over the place. Snack stands and cotton candy trailers and NO camera. Well the phone.
We walked around and of course, I’d left my camera in my school bag. At home. Oh no.
These were shot with an iPhone with about 13% battery left.
Shammy and Sean at the Corn Festival
Last Saturday I went to the Carrick Corn Festival at Phillips Park, across the street from the high school where I’d just started my new position (digital photography teacher) the day before. Our principal had invited us to attend and get to know the community plus it was a chance to see the Marching Band perform and shoot some photos of the event. There were Irish Step Dancers and Bhutanese Dancers and I’ve quite a few views of the corn being shucked and boiled, dripping in butter but this is the photo of the day.
At one of the booths, this man was writing people’s names and telling their meaning. I asked if I could photograph his dog (Shammy) who was by his side with a bowl of water on the grass. Sean told me that I should have seen her at the St. Patrick’s Day parade and he shared some snaps of her in her outfit. Here he’s picked her up for another pose. Even though I was short on cash, this generous gentleman wrote the meaning of my name Ruth (a friend to all) on the back of a prayer card, using a calligraphy pen in neat writing.
Not just any prayer card but the patron saint of photographers.
He’d asked me if I knew who the patron saint of photographers was and I ‘d no idea.
He told me the story of St. Veronica and her capturing the image of Jesus’ face in the cloth she offered to him.
Receiving this unexpected gift felt like a special blessing at the start of of the new school year. Thank you Sean.
Classic Cars – Grand Parade- Kick Off St. Raphael’s Bazaar
A police car. The Bomb Squad. A trolley. About 8 classic cars. Catch some candy and Mardi Gras beads. The Boy Scouts marched, then a Bagpipe and Drum group, the Morningside Cheerleaders.We had a lot of fun watching the parade in the Morningside neighborhood, not too far from home.
We went to the festival and the man in the information booth was a colleague from the first school I taught in the city -1989. Small world. We had a lot of fun and the grandkids loved the spin art and crafts in the Kid Zone. They loved jumping the bouncy house.
On the way home we drove to Giant Eagle and got ice cream and cones to eat at home. Fresh berries. Summer!
Scroll down for the slideshow.
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