Mo'a Romig-Boyles

A Window for Wednesday

A Window for Wednesday

Sometimes it is not how the window looks, but what you find when you look at what decorates the window.  The children standing in this window are my grandchildren, waiting for our plane to land.

It is a tradition in Denmark to wave the national flag as a greeting when a visitor arrives.

A Window for Wednesday

I am a day late for A Window for Wednesday.  I have a valid excuse as I arrived back from Iceland on Tuesday and spent yesterday severely jet lagged.

This week I have chosen yet another window...actually a whole building made of windows The Harp or Harpa in Icelandic, a Concert Hall and Conference Center.

With all these windows and the sea breeze, there is a need for a crew of people to wash the windows every working day of the week.

Here is a view from the inside.  

I love the dappled light that falls on the diners at the restaurant called the Munnharpa (Mouthharp) A nice place to sit and have an open face sandwich and a cup of coffee.

Check out the links in this post they tell more of the story of this amazing building. The links appear in a light colored text. 

A Window for Wednesday

A window at Blumenschein Home & Museum, Taos, NM.

New Bedford and Newport

A couple of weeks ago we spent a few days in New Bedford, Ma and Newport, RI.  Ken is researching his ancestry. 

His second great-grandfather was a whaling captain

We  saw the log book from a three year voyage to Hawaii and the North West coast, that started in 1843. 

Here are a couple of pages from Captain Topham's log book that shows the whales sighted that day.

This is  photo of  New Bedford fishing boats.

In Newport, RI, we saw the home of Ken's sixth great-grandfather, Col. John Topham.

 A perfect little cottage garden on the other side of the house.

It is great fun to read the history of Ken's ancestors and to go to places where they lived and worked.  I see more trips to New England in our future.

Seattle and Dale Chihuly

We only spent a day and a half in Seattle, WA when we went to the North West last month.  We did what everyone does and should do, toured the Pike Place Market.  It was fun and delicious, and yes, we did see them toss the fish.

We saw some amazing things,  like blue trees.   Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos painted the trees to draw attention to deforestation problem.  We were relieved to see that painting the trees blue did not affect them adversely and that the pigeons were not worried.

Keeping company with the trees, are sculptures named "Borders" by Icelandic artist Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir.  I am familiar with these sculptures, as there is a permanent installation by this artist  at the Keflavik International Airport in Iceland...I visit them every time I go to Iceland.

I have been, for many years, a great admirer of Dale Chihuly's glass art.  He is really quite amazing and much to our delight we were able to go to the newly opened Chihuly Garden and Glass.  As we walked up to the gate of the museum,  we came up on this green tree like sculpture.

Once inside the magic began.  Here is a part of an all glass ceiling .

Once we left that room. We came into a quiet room containing glass sculptures inspired by Native American baskets and antique Pendleton blankets. 

Then into another room where there is a riot of color and shapes.

Then on to another room, where there was  a life sized boat full of balls.  I would love to have a smaller version of this on my coffee table.

As we were on our way out to the garden we noticed this ceiling sculpture and the Space Needle. Don't they look good together?

Once outside in the garden I picket this blue scene to show you.  How  would you like to  have a garden bed like this?

Or like this one.

On the way out, we were naturally guided through the Gift Shop, where I picket out a piece for you...to see.

To all my US friends...have a very Happy 4th of July.

Butchart Gardens

 As I promised in my last post I am going to take you for a short walk through the Butchart Gardens.

Let's go for a walk and admire the varieties of trees and bushes.

There is something new around every corner.

We need to remeber to look up, or else we will miss the sight of a beautiful Fuchsia....

....as well as to look down to see the just watered Tuberous Begonias...

...and to listen for water.

Speaking of water, here is one of my favorite water feature in the gardens...Yes, dogs are welcome and I saw many strolling through the gardens with their owners.

There were places to sit and enjoy the surroundings and to notice the play of light, shadow and reflection on the water. 

There were a number of Japanese lanterns in the Japanese Style Garden...this one was keeping company with the Blue Poppy.

An then as one walks around another corner, there is a vista of breathtaking proportions.

Then just as you catch your breath and turn around and look up....there is the majestic red wood.

There are things to smile at...a tree, tree helper, made from cement.

There are questions...Is this a Scabiosa aka Pincushion Flower ? Please tell me if you know.

Then there is time for a delicious Afternoon Tea in the former Butchart residence.

I hope you enjoyed our garden walk.  Next time I will take you to a different garden...one that is mostly glass.

 

 

Gardens And The Blue Poppy

Those of you who know me and have followed my blog, may have noticed that I am wild for gardens and plants.

My favorites are white flowers and interesting leave textures and shapes.  I have noticed lately, that I am becoming more and more passionate for blue flowers...the rarest flower color...and the blue poppy in particular.

Forty one years ago the summer after we got married Ken and I went to Iceland for a visit.  One of the things from this trip that I remember so well, were flower borders filled with blue poppies, flanking a walk up to a church.  There was a flash in my mind to my childhood when I fell in love with the blue poppy. My mother who is an avid gardener and lover of gardens, must have shown it to me.  There it is imprinted on my mind like the smell of ones first rose and the taste of the first apple. 

I am hopelessly in love with this flower...the blue poppy,  Meconopsis betonicifolia or the Himalayan blue poppy...It is the national flower of Bhutan.  I say hopelessly as in my area it is too hot for this beauty.   Here in the US it grows in Alaska, Northern New England and the Pacific North West.  It also grows in Eastern and North West Canada and Scandinavia.

So what to do?  Travel to where they are grown.  And we have done just that. Several years ago we traveled to Reford Garden in Quebec also known as Jardins de Metis.

A couple of weeks ago Ken and I went to Seattle and Victoria BC in search of the blue poppy which is a feature of The Butchart Gardens located near Victoria BC.  Below is the banner for one of their restaurants...aptly named The Blue Poppy.

The Buchard Gardens are one of the most amazing gardens that I have ever visited and needs a separate post in the near future.  All the photos in this post were taken there by Ken and me.  I wanted to show you just a few more blue flower photos.

I would love to go back to Buchard Gardens again. I picture myself dancing through the garden searching for the blue poppy wearing this dress...I just hope it does not rain as the dress is made up of blue poppy paper napkings.

Do you have a favorite garden?

 

 

Make Do And Mend

...is the name of an exhibit at the Þjóðminjasafn Íslands...Iceland's National Museum in Reykjavik.  I actually like the Icelandic name of this exhibit, "Stoppað Í Fat" that translates to "A Stitched Bowl". 

I saw this exhibit in Iceland, while I was there for ten days. I just got back yesterday. Here is the premise of the exhibit.

I have been taking a class from Jude Hill of "Spirit Cloth", Contemporary Woven Boro.  The premise of this is the same as the exhibit in Iceland...Make Do and Mend.  The word Boro is Japanese for mended and patched textiles...here is a web site "Siri Threads" that explains Japanese Boro.

I remember a tool that was especially made to mend socks and mittens...that looked like a mushroom with a long stem, in which needles were kept.  I must ask my mother if she stil has such a tool.

As a young girl in Icelandic school,I learned not only knitting, crocheting and embroidering, but,  also mending. Mittens, the heel and toe of knitted socks, and elbows and button holes of sweater, had to be tended to on a regular basis.

My friend Katrin and I agreed that our mothers and teachers, would not have been pleased had we mended our sweater like the one below.

So important was good mending, that we did small samplers demonstrating our mending techniques. Here are some samples from the museum.

It seems that everything was mended and handed down...even a babies hand knit jumper and Christening dress.

...and a priests vestments.
We also saw, a beautiful Gobelin Embroidered wall hanging, that was lovingly mended.

Now we come to the mended bowl...and other household items that were mended and polished.

The photo bottom right is of shoes, made of soft leather, that were mended again and again and a sock that had been patched with a knitted piece.

There is an exhibit at the The Textile Museum in Washington, DC  called "Second Lives: the Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles", one I am sure is worth seeing, if you live in the area. You can read more about this exhibit in the on line magazine "HandEye".

Click on photos for a closer look.

Do you use recycled items in your art?   Have you mended and patched?