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If you have to run errands…

If you have to run errands, take time to smell the roses on the way. This photo is for Jacquie, with a detail below:

At Portland Architectural Salvage I saw this fireplace piece with the owl andirons and had to take a picture for Jacquie, who loves owls!  (Waving over to Vermont!)

At Portland Architectural Salvage I saw this fireplace piece with the owl andirons and had to take a picture for Jacquie, who loves owls! (Waving over to Vermont!)

OR, in the case of doctor’s appointments in far-away cities, do fun stuff!   Last Monday I had to drive to Brunswick (75 minutes) for a 20 minute appointment.  But it is right near Freeport, home to L.L. Bean.  So I did some Christmas shopping and thanks to MANY credit card points, got a couple great bargains.  The next day, I had another longer drive:  nearly 2 hours each way to Portland for a final check-up on my feet (a year ago I had arthritis in my big toe joints removed and can now bend my feet again!).   So I visited Portland Architectural Salvage, Micucci’s Grocery, the Old Port Specialty Tile store and the Portland Museum of Art, and finally Whole Foods (the Key Lime cheesecake is awesome).

Jacquie:  isn't this a fine owl!  He looks a lot like my sketch that I posted a few days ago.

Jacquie: isn’t this a fine owl! He looks a lot like my sketch that I posted a few days ago.

There weren’t any great deals at the Salvage shop; it has clearly been discovered by the young 20-somethings fixing up their cool downtown Portland apartments and condos!  But there was plenty of free inspiration.   I just LOVED looking at the lines of doors stacked up and the abstract strata design in this close up:

Love the patterning in the peeling paint on these doors.

Love the patterning in the peeling paint on these doors.

There were several ogival panels, too, that I am guessing came from a church.  What awesome quilting or applique designs these would make:

There were several of these panels (which I think cost about $400 each!).   This is a perfect example of my fill-the-space exercise in my quilting designs class!

There were several of these panels (which I think cost about $400 each!). This is a perfect example of my fill-the-space exercise in my quilting designs class!

And more inspiration in the form of old heat registers:  you know how we have ugly rectangles with straight lines through which dry air blows heat at us?  Well, a century ago those openings for the heat to reach you were much more interesting:

An old heat register.  This would actually make a cool "window" in a garden gate, or a custom door with an arched top, wouldn't it?

An old heat register. This would actually make a cool “window” in a garden gate, or in a custom door with an arched top, wouldn’t it?  All that rasty old paint would need to get stripped off, but what a beautiful design!

Next I went to find Micucci’s, an Italian grocery that also wholesales gourmet foods to various places around the state, including Megunticook Market in Camden where Joshua works in catering.  I found a jar of chestnuts, torrona, and other delectables, and I also discovered the tile store was two doors away.  I had seen ads for this place, and OH MY.  Now, to win that lottery so I can re-do the bathrooms….

At the Old Port Specialty Tile store, I saw this mosaic by New Ravenna Tiles.  I WANT.  I want Want WANT!

At the Old Port Specialty Tile store, I saw this mosaic by New Ravenna Tiles. I WANT. I want Want WANT!

Then before I went to Whole Foods on the way home (I call that place the hundred-dollar-a-bag store, my foot doc says locally it is called Whole Paycheck, but my they have good food and stuff you can’t find unless you order on the internet), I treated myself to visiting the PieceWork exhibit at Portland Museum of Art. I joined the museum when I signed up to visit the Winslow Homer house at Prout’s Neck, and I promise I WILL share pics from that visit a while back.  I was beyond thrilled to see at least EIGHT textile works of art as well as several mixed media.

I first saw this installation piece—it is easily 9 feet tall and much wider–at a gallery in nearby Belfast, Maine.  I was thrilled it made the cut for the biennial exhibit, which is of works by people living in or with other significant ties to Maine.

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Library by Abbie Read

The signage for the mixed media work above

The signage for the mixed media work above

You could spend an hour or more poring over the artworks within the artworks.  I kept taking pictures, fascinated by the materials and messages.  Here is just one of the detail photos:

Detail from Abbie Read's Library

Detail from Abbie Read’s Library.  I love the start chart with which she has lined the box, the carefully cut twig and the niche she has created within the box.

I left SO inspired…all I wanted to do was head to my studio!

And a slide from my Adult Ed class on the Native Peoples of Maine, the Wabanaki

And a slide from my Adult Ed class on the Native Peoples of Maine, the Wabanaki, looking at how they lived both before and after the arrival of Europeans in the early 1600s.

So you can see, I am VERY BUSY.  Can someone please find me another 27 hours a day so I can make some art??????

 

 

 

 

 

2 Responses to “If you have to run errands…”

  1. Robin Parton Says:

    Thank you for sharing you inspirational photos, you obviously made this trip before your latest snow storm. How much snow did you get this time?

    If you are snowed in perhaps you are in your studio making art.

  2. Dorothy Karman Says:

    Thanks for sending these wonderful photos. They are beautiful and inspiring. I love the owls. Have a great Christmas. Dorothy.