I was gone longer than I had planned

but what a wonderful day I've had. 
What makes a good day?  Good food and  good conversations with people who speak your language and fiber art.

As I was looking into the exhibition hours at the Gateway Center in DeBary FL to see what time I should be leaving the house this morning I saw on their site that there was going to be a meeting of Gathering Thread today at the center along with lunch and a speaker.

Last year there were more than 50 fiber artist from across the state who came for the first Gathering Threads meeting and to view the exhibit that was at the Center then.  I did not know about Gathering Thread but I did make the trip to Debary to see the exhibit.  I did a blog entry about it last year.

I must say that Mary McBride did a wonderful job curating the one this year.  What a treat.  I got to see some of my favorite fiber artist.  I have missed the last two "Form Not Function" exhibits at the Carnegie where most of the artist at the Gateway Center have had works on exhibit.  This exhibit was the closest I've seen to the quality of FNF since I left the Louisville area.  There was a piece from Lisa Call that I liked very much.  Sorry no image or title.
It hung in the entry and is the first piece you see when you enter the center.
The work was hung in the main gallery and along three walls in the theater.  61 pieces in all.

When I look at an exhibit I do what my friend Marti Plager said she does when looking at any art exhibit.  Play a game with yourself and ask, "If they would let me have any piece in the show or museum or gallery I wanted and money wasn't the issue, what would I choose."  I did that today but I couldn't narrow it to one.  Here are my two  picks with Elizabeth Barton edging out the Knitted piece. The knitted piece I loved it for its whimsiness.  Elizabeth Bartons despite being non-organic with hard edges,  was in colors I could live with and never tire of and it is visually interesting.  The knitted piece made me smile and that is what I like about art moreso then art that tries to make me think.  As visual as I am I've often wondered why I much prefer words to images for making me pause and think.

As you can see by the giant knitting the exhibit was not limited to fiber in the form of quilts which in my opinion made for a really visually interesting experience.

There was a treasure chest full of small quilts and artist trading cards and other stuff an artist made out of threads and fibers. Sorry there were too many people around the display for me to get the title of the installation and the name of the artist.   There was a house made from cloth with cut outs of people hugging it.  I think the title was "Foreclosure".  There was also an iron covered with fabrics.  Didn't notice the collection of birds created with stiff cloth, an installation suspended from the ceiling in the main entry hallway until I was on my way out.  Did I say it was all just visually wonderful. 

  I got to meet a dozen or so other fiber art.  Quilters to doll makers.  Most of them lived nearer to the Gateway Center  than me, but there was one who came over from the Coco Beach area.
Introductions were made all around an eight foot table.  Show and tell  and technique sharing was the order of the day so I  took the two small pieces I just finished.   No not faced.
My fingers are going to be busy tomorrow.
Instead of ordering in lunch as had been planned, due to the smaller number attending  a lecture on the business of being a fiber artist was cancelled and we all decided to lunch at the Olive Garden where talk of fiber and exhibits and stuff continued.
I passed on the gluten free pasta this time and settled for the salmon, broccoli and salad.
And now, I'm off to the cutting table to cut facing strips... gotta go and get these fingers busy.