GLENDA'S ANCESTOR ART

On day two of our visit to Ohio, Priscilla and I spent the whole morning at Java Johnny's, where she has her weekly meet-up with her own Muse-like tribe/knitting gang/support group. From there we then dashed back downtown to the Pendleton Art Center, where we grabbed a quick bite to eat in their lovely cafe before joining her friend Glenda Miles in studio #103 for one of her "Ancestor Art" workshops.

A Couple of Glenda's Projects

Our job was to find an "evocative" photograph of one of our ancestors -- something that would inspire us to "tell its story." I chose this one of my mother-in-law Theda, who was a genuine character, if ever there was one, and something of a role model to me. We could use the original photograph itself, a copy of it, or we could send a jpeg to Glenda and she would make a sheer tissue transfer of it for us. That's what I chose.

First thing on the agenda? Digging through two vintage suitcases filled with vintage papers, maps, dictionaries, etc., and pulling out anything related to Theda's "story", then playing around with their arrangement on our wooden panels. The digging was fun, but the arranging can be a tad stressful as you battle your inner perfectionist!

Once that was all glued down we added our sheer tissue overlays and any flat trinkets we wanted to include. Then we topped it all off with a layer of encaustic wax, et voila!

We had barely arrived back at the house to drop our artsy stuff off before we were headed back downtown for Middletown's Broad Street Bash, which I think is held on a regular basis throughout the temperate months. One of the first times Mike and Priscilla attended, they noticed a bunch of guys walking around in plaid skirts. It wasn't until a cover band called The Menus came on stage that they realized those were all their groupies in the audience. The lead singer changed outfits at least five times during the performance.

Turns out that night was officially "Tutu Night", which explains why Priscilla tried so hard to get my hubby to borrow Nate's tutu and bring it with him.

And, because Pris still hadn't managed to use up all her energy for the day, we went to a lovely wine bar after that. What a day!