By the sea

This temple of Poseidon is on a rocky headland and reached after a drive along the coastline from Athens. Lovely vistas of blue, blue sea and sky to admire on the drive out.

The temple has been visited for many years and some famous visitors have scratched their names or initials into the base. I could not find Lord Byron's scratchings.

 

 

The stadium

We stopped at the Stadium in Athens, to see one of the Olympic highlight venues.

There wasn't enough time for us to go in and stand on the winners podiums but it certainly gave us a taste of what the atmosphere must be like when an event is held here. Athens surprised us with it's relatively low rise buildings, Bitter Orange tree lined streets and number of harbours.

 

Athens

A quick one day visit to Athens and a whirlwind tour to the Parthenon and other ancient sites.

Reconstruction work continues and the tourists come in droves- it is an amazing site especially when seen from other parts of Athens. It exudes energy and power from it's hill top position.

 

 

Athens....Ohio

Last month I was in Athens, Ohio for the SAQA conference Art & Excellence. It was held at the Baker Centre at Ohio University & the student accommodation was nearby in very old impressive buildings. Not the log cabin!! at the bottom of this post though, circa 1805.

Some of the students graffiti signs were amusing.

Met Alyson Stanfield author of 'I'd Rather be in the Studio' at the Saturday lunch where she was our key note speaker. Alyson writes an inspirational easy to read e-newsletter each week for artists to get us focused on the business & marketing side of things- things I need help with. You can sign up for these on her website & I'll put her blog on my blog list so we can all share her words of wisdom.

Caught my eye at Quilt National 09 #2

In an exhibition the size of Quilt National it is not easy to pick a favourite, so here are a few more of the details which caught my eye for their colour, composition & skillful execution. L is a detail of 'Suzhou Street Scene' by Mathea Daunheimer who also signs her name in Mandarin characters.

Bonnie M Bucknam used large hand stitches on her piece 'Reflection'.

Sue Ackerman was awarded the Most Innovative Use of the Medium for 'Africa Scarified IV' left which used tea bags, organza, beads & hand & machine embroidery.

Britt Friedman won the Heartland Award for 'Grey Grasses IV' a beautifully subtle piece with enormous presence in the photographic images of grasses on the blue background.

Pam RuBert always delights the imagination & brings a smile, the Eiffel Tower making an appearance in 'Paris- Wish You Were Hair'.

Caught my eye at Quilt National 09

There are many pieces which caught my eye & drew me in for a closer look at Quilt National 09. The few I'm sharing with you in this post & the next are by no means the extent of the wonderful work on display which ranges from quirky to sophisticated with the full range of today's art quilt techniques & execution being explored.

Ginny Smith caught my eye with the bold yellow & black of her naive styled design.

Sue Cavanaugh uses shibori in 'Ori-kume#1' right & was awarded the Lynn Goodwin Borgman Award for Surface Design.
Kathy York's 'Little Fish in a Big City' below, had the novelty factor with it's dimensionality & you can read more about the construction on her blog.

The Dairy Barn

Quilt National is held at the Diary Barn in Athens, Ohio. It is a lovely old barn restored & used as an arts centre. The upper section is divided into various workshop rooms & offices. The downstairs gallery houses the 83 quilts from Quilt National. Lorraine & I are standing in front of Carol Taylor's quilt 'Abundance'.

Home Down Under

I am finally home after many delayed flights & one that was cancelled. I started travelling home from Athens, Ohio at 8am on Sunday & got to sleep in my own bed on Tuesday night.
While waiting for our delayed flight in Columbus Ohio, Lorraine Carthew & I met the delightful Yvonne Porcella founder & first President of Studio Art Quilt Associates. She was also attending the SAQA conference Art & Excellence in Athens.
I'm a big fan of Yvonne's as it was her colourful quilts that I first saw when beginning my quilt making journey in 1990. We passed the hours in delightful conversation with a generous, knowledgeable & interesting woman.
As I still have many images from the conference & my trip I'll be sharing these with you over the coming weeks. Thank you to everyone who has been following the blog & passing on comments to me. It's nice to know you care.

Homeward bound

Farewell Athens & New York, the long journey home begins. Things to look forward to- my own bed, jet lag, family, friends & vegemite! Not necessarily in that order!
Having gained a day on the way to NYC I now lose it coming back.

Quilt National 09 opening

Well, you meet the most interesting artists at a

Quilt National opening & some have worked their fingers to the bone! Susan Else produced 'Nothing to Fear' left.

Other artists below with their work are Australians Ruth deVos & Alison Schwabe, Canadian Anna Hergert & American Regina Benson.

While Beth Carney, another exhibitor & I just had a great time at the dinner catching up after seeing each other in New York earlier in the month.

Lunn fabrics Lancaster

It was a beautiful warm sunny day for our drive to Lancaster Ohio to the studio of Lunn Fabrics, the home of Debra & Michael. And they were having a sale! The fabric was sold by the pound! I have admired their textile designs for as long as I can remember & now they produce their designs in batik manufactured in Java, Indonesia. As an added bonus we took a short walk uptown past many historic homes & discovered the birthplace of General Sherman of the Civil War.

New friends

Workshops are great to learn new techniques & expand the possibilities of quilt making.
Another nice thing is meeting quilters from other countries & making new friends. I'm here in Athens with Lorraine Carthew, work above & we have met Ellen Lindner from Florida, work to the right.

Carol Ann Waugh has heavily stitched her piece from the workshop & it has taken on wonderful dimension & mystery.

Debbie Bein of the colourful socks has used her own printed fabric & what started as a teapot has taken on a very sophisticated quality.