Yesterday I put the final context words onto the Summer of Love collage for the Midland Theater 's Friday auction. Cloth, papers, stamps , spurts of colors and lace bits from the 1960's all encompassed into a bright pink and green and orange day glow colors. Today another gallery talk to about 25 and for 90 minutes I shared my inspirations and my women's stories. Then I hit the thrift stores for a variety of vintage items to use for attractive storage. I am also looking for a large electric skillet to melt soy wax to stamp my hand made stencils out of interfacing and hand cut sponges. I love finding vintage clear jars with lids to hold my delicate buttons and assortment of ribbons, trims and zippers. I found a five foot tall wooden rack to hang my sample printed fabrics and rescued bits of laces and raw edges from embroidery table cloths and small odds and ends of fading lace networks. I bought a roll of vintage drawer papers for 25cents to be employed in collages and assemblages. At Goodwill I bough a plastic bag with Iris linen...a full meter for originally $23.00 and about five other samplings of Irish fabrics and cross-stitch cloth all for.... an amazing $3.00...I felt as if I was shop lifting :O). I found several large handmade ceramic vessels to hold my numerous and varieties of brushes I use in several of my different processes. I am exhausted just retelling you of my thrift store treasures... I will spend the rest of the evening cleaning fabrics, sorting odds and ends of sewing implements, a large Diego Rivera ceramic cup that I will display with some of my sculptures and carvings from Mexico. I need to finish my small grant application and set up a time to visit the panel for my presentation at the end of the month. I had better return to my duties so I can finish the final coat on top of the collage work that is on a 16 by 20 canvas. Pray that the rains let up and the humidity abates so every aspect will dry properly...rain rain go away come again on another day. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
