Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Aside from the Edward Hopper exhibit, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was beyond impressive. We had no idea how huge it is and only saw about a third of its collection. It definitely calls for another trip!

The Faberge flowers were exquisite.

Ancient art from east and west.

This was a huge piece of art "painted" entirely with pins. I would not have the patience!

This painting was equally large and painted in layers with resin in between, which gave it a lot of depth.

 The details in this piece were stunning as well!

As we were eating lunch we watched this bridal party taking photos. They must have been freezing as it was not a warm day!

We were lucky in the timing of our trip. Just three days before, this statue was moved from Times Square in New York City to it's new permanent location at the VMFA.

A magnificent work of art!

Hopefully you enjoyed this little stroll through the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It's definitely worth a visit! I know we'll be back...

I wish you all a relaxing Sunday! We are getting ready for the start of school tomorrow. Let the fun begin! :)

❧ Silke

Pinckney Island

While I was at work yesterday helping incoming graduate students with all their many questions - it was fun having all the students trickle back into town - Daniel was enjoying his last vacation day on Pinckney Island. 

Pinckney Island is located on the way to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. As the crow flies, it's not very far from where we live. However, by car it takes about an hour to get there as you have to drive west through Savannah along the Savannah River and then back on the other side of the river toward the Atlantic ocean again.

Daniel kept sending me photos throughout the day and I thought they were too beautiful not to share with you all.

My next post will take us back to Richmond, Virginia. In the meantime, have a wonderful Saturday!

❧ Silke

Edward Hopper Exhibit

A few weeks ago we drove to Richmond, VA especially to see this Edward Hopper exhibit. We are both great fans of this magnificent artist.

I have much more to share of Richmond, but first I wanted to show you some photos I took at the exhibit.

They aren't the best photos. Even though it was allowed to photograph the art, I always feel like I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing.

What I found most fascinating were seeing some of his preliminary sketches next to the final artwork and the changes he ended up making. 

Now, here we have an actual hotel room (below) that was recreated from the painting above. 

What we found out just this morning from a radio interview, you could book this hotel room for $150 a night. There would be guards around at night, but we could have slept in a Hopper painting! If only we had known...

❧ Silke

Happy New Year!

I still remember when we were all worried the world might end with January 1, 2000 because of Y2K. Our neighbors back then stocked up on firewood just in case, which they gave to us after midnight came and went and nothing happened. We didn't have to buy firewood for years!

And now it's 2020. Hard to believe that 20 years have passed. Especially since none of us are getting any older, right?!

This last year has been really wonderful at my new job. I really, really love what I do and I finally feel settled enough with working full-time after so many years of not working in a "regular" job that I am finding time and the frame of mind for other things. 

 

The Christmas season was cozy and quiet for us. We both seemed to want to cocoon rather than entertain or be out and about. We did travel to Richmond, Virginia one weekend to see a fantastic Edward Hopper exhibit, which was so inspiring!

Speaking of cocooning ... our year ended with this minor miracle in our garden. We got to watch a monarch butterfly transform from a caterpillar to butterfly in five weeks. I think it took so long because it's not so warm at the moment.

 Isn't the cocoon gorgeous? A little work of art!

And then one day you can see the butterfly through the now translucent cocoon and you know it will hatch that night.

The next morning, I got to watch it unfold. Nature is nothing short of amazing! 

Even though I haven't been in my studio yet (there's still hope I will get back there... :)), I have been doing a lot of knitting. Right now I am finishing up another entrelac scarf with gorgeous Noro yarn. It's such a fun pattern and I finally don't have to look at the instructions anymore while knitting!

I found a link on another blog of a site in Scandinavia, where you can create your own calendar/planner and use your own photo/artwork on the front cover. It arrived just in time for 2020! Let the planning begin! 

On Monday, the quarter starts for our students and things will get much busier at work. It's been nice to have it a little quieter to get caught up on a few things, but I'm looking forward to seeing the students and professors again.

I hope your 2020 is starting out well and wish you health, joy and happy surprises for the next year!

❧ Silke