Dear Liza
This past Friday was the opening of a new show at SideStreet Arts Gallery. It features the work of a delightfully talented, sweetly quirky woman named Karen Thurman.
We saw her work last year at the Guardino Gallery, up in Alberta neighborhood, and just couldn’t stop looking at it. How does she make these odd, alien-but-adorable creatures? She makes them out of felt!
Yep, she uses needles and wool fibers and patiently creates these shrimp, spiders, and various floating and growing shapes. She used to make flat items, like scarves and table runners, but once she learned how to do 3-D, she says, “There was no turning back!”
Of course, it wouldn’t be a First Friday without treats and other artists, as well. I made a new kind of polka dot cookie to echo the dots in Karen’s work, and they turned out pretty and tasty.
There were also new works by Alicia Justice and Julia Janeway, and some fragile, lovely encaustic bowls by Frederick Swan.
There was a good turnout, even with the public health concerns of the Novel Coronavirus, and my cookies got eaten up!
It was a good evening for sales, too, with folks taking home jewelry, cards, and some small prints.
Hooray for art!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 