I did escape the class/work/homework/sleep cycle on Tuesday to attend the opening night of The Dog in the Manger at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. This is when I learned that no matter how fashion savvy a man may be, still don't listen to him about wardrobe advice. It was my first visit to this theatre, so I relied on the "people really get dressed up for these things" clue. I ran late at work and then pulled a grunge-to-glam miracle in about 20 minutes to make it to there (relatively) on time. Surprised was I when I looked around and saw khakis and even jeans. Wow, glad I opted to not go for the up-do. I wouldn't say that me and my Jackie O dress did a lot of blending that night, but the play was good and the evening lovely.
Wednesday morning it was back to the daily with a morning spent at the Design Center. Until now my only exposure to this mecca of the interiors world has been Top Design (I know, I'm sufficiently embarrassed). We spent some quality time with the cloth at Schumacher, Donghia, and Lee Jofa/Kravet and got the general feel for the Center. It's pretty amazing. Here are some suzani fabrics from Donghia:
Saturday class (oh yes, you read that right. Whilst others were out frolicking in the sun and playing with friends, I was in class at the Textile Museum. It's a good thing I'm such a freak for all things fiber or else this might get old very quickly) we went a little more in depth about some other kinds of fibers. We learned a lot about hand-knotted rugs, and even fondled an incredible silk rug that was 1,500 knots per inch. (1,500. That's insane. A fine quality rug is usually about 300-400 knots per inch, good quality probably around 200 or so) There was also an amazing Afghani bed covering hung up for their "trunk show". This was a traditional piece made by a woman's family and friends for her to lay on on her wedding night. It is constructed in panels and then all sewn together as one piece - usually only used once and then kept as a memento or used as a wall hanging. These are some images of the fine silk-on-silk embroidery:
There were a number of other decorative textile pieces with intricate weaving patterns and embroidery details.
I came home to draw for a few minutes, before turning around and heading back out to continue the art-full day at a gallery opening. This one came at the recommendation of one of my professors, so I thought I'd check it out (even if it was in NoVa...) It was at a tiny little (amazing) space called the AHM Gallery in Old Town Alexandria. The artist: Robert Cantwell, medium: photography.
The show was quiet and intimate, with small groups gathering around the space talking like old friends. Did we just bust into a private party? The work was beautiful. A little straight-forward for my taste, but it was interesting to see how he made the prints. It looked like a simple digital print (maaaybe giclee? but there was no conclusive evidence) onto a textured watercolor paper. It made for an interesting effect on most, but kind of blurred the detail on some. With this one in particular, the print-on-texture created a beautiful painterly effect, especially in the lower center region.
Sunday I ventured "back home" to Takoma Park - the first place I moved to when I came to this area. Back to the farmer's market for some great meat, cheese, bread and (my favorite!) asian pears. A quick stop-off for an extra skein of Malabrigo silky in creme from Now and Then. "brunch" with a friend at Mark's Kitchen. And a swing through Magic Carpet for these two fun antique necklaces. A scarab in a coral kind of color:
and this bronzy-brassy circular number:
And then back to the homework for a bit before a hurricane of knitting to take my 2" of scarf and turn it into a finished and wrapped birthday gift for today.
I knit so furiously for so long that my collarbones actually hurt. I didn't know that that was even possible. Occasionally I'd peek in my room to find Ringo being his adorable self.
Happy Birthday, Martha!
Happy Birthday Eric!!!
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