My friend and fiber buddy John Mullarkey arrived Sunday evening, fresh from the New England Weavers Seminar conference. He was full of stories, and it made me really glad I was still a bit on vacation, and not heavily subscribed to the summer conference scene this year. I have enough on my plate.
But whenever I’m with John, I have great fiber adventures, and when my daughter is along, the sparks turn into fireworks. (That’s a good thing).
Because my daughter Brianna had a day off from her job at the vet hospital, we all loaded into the car and drove into Manhattan to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Truly one of my favorite places on earth. If I ever had to leave NJ, I’d miss this museum the most. Each exhibition I see there pushes beyond anything I could possibly imagine.
The main reason for going, besides an outing for John and my daughter, was to see the current exhibition, “China through the Looking Glass”, which has been extended to September 7th. This exhibit is actually worth getting on a plane for, I was completely blown away by the “more than 140 examples of haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear alongside Chinese art. Filmic representations of China are incorporated throughout to reveal how our visions of China are framed by narratives that draw upon popular culture, and also to recognize the importance of cinema as a medium through which to understand the richness of Chinese history.” (If nothing else, spend some time looking at the images from the exhibition on the MET website.)
I grabbed a couple of photos, these do not in any way do justice to this huge installation.
The Chinese silk embroideries along would have been worth the trip.
We grabbed something to eat, saw a couple of additional exhibits, and headed back to the car park. On the way we stopped by my two favorite galleries, the Roman Sculpture plaza and the Oceana wing. The pieces in this wing always make me smile.
Back home John showed an interest in learning bobbin lace after looking at a couple of pillows with work in progress in my living room. Of course I’m always set up to teach just about anything, and I pulled out Pillow 1, which John mastered in about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, Brianna wanted to learn card weaving, so he set her up and she caught on in about 5 minutes. I just sat watching the two of them. Like minds.
I pulled out Pillow 2, and John got the hang of it pretty quickly, though found a couple of areas tricky and there was a lot of frustrating un-lacing going on. I predict he will master this pattern and move onto Pillow 3 just after breakfast. The dog wanted to learn as well.
And me, while all this fiber stuff was happening in my dining room, I finished up my newest sweater. J’adore. Pima cotton and tencel. Premiere from Classic Elite Yarns. Pattern is the Zoe Tee from C 2 Knits.
Stay tuned…
Sounds like fun. I enjoyed meeting John for the first time at NEWS and took one of his card weaving classes. I told him I was interested in learning card weaving but also really wanted to meet him after all your stories of fiber fun with him. John is delightful and a wonderful teacher, as you are, ……feeling grateful to have shared time with you both.
Love that sweater! And you’ve inspired me to get to the Met! Thanks, Daryl.
John and I and 4 family members will be in New York on September 28-October 1. If you hear of any fabulous fiber exhibits that will be open during that week, please let me know.
I love the sweater and you so inspired me I actually purchased the pattern and some yarn. I am doing my best to keep focused on my current project, to completion, before I move on to your sweater.
Thank you for continuing to inspire me!
I hope to take classes from both you (in person) and John one day! Thank you for giving us a glimpse into that moment in time! The thought of such artistic talent in one place gives me the vapors!
Fun, your house turns into a classroom in a heartbeat. Angi and ‘the vapors’ is too true.
Going to have to take some time to go to the Met!
Spent Saturday and Sunday in John’s tablet weaving classes. Sunday fried my brain and unweaving the tablets is not so easy. Could this be like leaning to “weave” bobbin lace! Two great teachers in the same room!! Thanks for the tip on the Met exhibit.