Fours Days Until Thanksgiving!

Around here the first sign of the approaching holiday season is the lighting of the Boulder Star, a string of lights put up on Flagstaff Mountain in the shape of a star.  This is the 70th anniversary of the lighting of the star,  a "symbol of hope that can be seen for miles during the long winter nights," according to the Chamber of Commerce which is now responsible for its care and upkeep. 

We love spotting it from various places in the city and on our drives home from nearby cities, like Longmont and Louisville.  Isn't it captivating?

When we hiked up Flagstaff the other day we could see the strings of lights close-up. You can just see the lights forming the top of the star in this photo I took. 

Apparently some people hike up at night, but we haven't.   Maybe we'll drive up one night this year and check it out while we also enjoy the view of Boulder.   

 (Press photo from the Chamber of Commerce.)

Around here Paul was quite busy last week running the microphones for a musical at the Arts Hub in Louisville.   He had a great time.  Not only was he in his element, but he got paid.  Pretty sweet.  So sweet, in fact, that he let me take his picture.

Paul the photographer critiqued the photo and declared it "not so good."  Yes, well, at least I snapped it before he jumped up and was on the move again.  I guess the Arts Hub liked his work because they've asked him back to do the microphones for a kids show in early December AND they gave him a raise!

I've been pretty busy myself.  As chair of the high school's music parents group I had to speak at three concerts last week and chair the monthly parent's meeting.  That was interesting and useful, but not exactly fun.  And some repairs were made to the ceiling and a wall in my studio which meant I had to move lots of stuff out of it for a couple days while the sanding and painting was done, and then move everything back in, none of which was exactly fun.  And then there was the clean up of the yard after the siding work was finished.   As Ben likes to say, "It's always something."

For fun I took a two-day quilting workshop about a different way to make a fabric collage.  This way involved using gel medium, a glue-like substance, to actually glue down pieces of fabric onto a background and make an image.  The trick is to thin it considerably with water. 

I had a great time making this wall hanging, which is about 16 x 20".  I hope you notice how the binding around the edge changes color to go with the image.  What a pain that was to do and I ended up with corners that were wonkier than I like.  But the effect is cool, I think.  

If you recognize the subject matter you must have worked in the photographic collections at the Library of Congress.   It's a photograph by Marion Post Wolcott, a photographer for the U.S.  Farm Security Administration, taken in North Carolina in 1939.  I used to work with the FSA collection and I always liked this image.   It was a lot of fun to simplify it and add color.   The red tablecloth, which I just love, was the suggestion of my teacher.  (Just giving credit where credit is due!) 

I'm pretty sure that using a glue-like medium on fabric is not such a good idea if you're making something you hope will last forever, but it sure is a fast way and fun way to assemble a picture quickly, especially a background like you see here.  Gluing down fabric strips is a lot faster than using an iron-on fusible (glue), and honestly, it will be a miracle if any of my artwork is around five years after I'm gone.  I can just see poor Paul wondering what to do with everything. 

Time continues to fly by and Thanksgiving is in just four days.  We're hosting and cooking, which will be fun.  No turkey here; the menu is fondue as the first course followed by a scallop gratin, a salad, Brussels sprouts and carrots.  Paula is making two of her fabulous pies;  I believe the debate over which types is still underway. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday!