An Evening Out At The Museum

 Welcome to the Dennos Museum

This museum is part of our local community college (Northwestern Michigan College).

 Dan's sister Celia invited us to this Members & Guest Reception for the Northwest Michigan Regional Juried Exhibition with entries from Northwest Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.  This is her entry this year and you are welcome to check out another one that I posted about "here" in Jan. of 2014.  

This is "Belle" 

A family member's pet 

 We all thought it was interesting how her portrait was located near this one of the white Labrador retriever because she had one that looked very much like this that lived for 18 years.

I took random pictures as I made my way through.  I had to snap quickly before someone would walk in front of me so they are pretty good but sometimes the people in the background look a little awkward.

 This was a mixed-media presentation so there is quite a variety of things to see.

 There were just over 300 entries submitted.  They whittled it to 199 and then to 96 for the exhibition.

 Can you imagine how many hours went into creating this beaded tapestry?

 Without looking at the tag below can you guess who this portrait is of?  The minute I saw it I guessed because of his "fame" from the books he wrote.  He is associated with an area up north where he summered as a young man.

Ernest Hemingway

 I didn't capture it well but her golden hair is actually textured and stands off the canvas.

 This one is made with tiles- the artist is known for mosaics

This is actually a working ferris wheel. 

 I really liked this.  The fish head is made of two old rusted saws and the eye is a lid from a pan.  The dorsal fin is comprised of many screw drivers. 

I zoomed in to show more detail.  So creative!

 I thought this was a lovely piece.  

I got a kick out of this one!

 Dan did too.  He said when he was a teenager his Dad told him he had "too many wires" in his head!  LOL.... that's because Dan became an electronics expert at an early age and never wanted to be the dairy farmer that his dad was.   They were definitely two people "wired" differently!

 Lot's of symbolism all over! 

 This one won 2nd place 

 I overheard the artist (man with the glasses) talking to other people so I snuck a shot!

 Isn't that a cool ship- made of skeletal remains!

 There is a lot more to see and this will all be available to see through May 5th

OOPS who put this here! LOL 

Sunday morning we had breakfast at a local family restaurant called The Cottage.  Since we are regulars the manager insisted we have a picture taken with their sweetheart mosaic!

Well this is a good way to segue into this weeks Valentine's Day Blog-hop.  

Starting Monday there will be 24 bloggers sharing their Valentine's Day tablescapes!

I hope you'll join us all...my feature day is Thursday.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed my "Evening Out At the Museum"

I will be joining:
Dishing It & Digging It

Celebrate Your Story #166

Reclaiming the living space after the holidays!

I finally got all the Christmas deco put away.  I always use the dining table to stage things and help me get organized (with a padding on top of course) so it was nice to see it freed up once again! The day after Christmas I found these new finials and the deco ball back in my hometown before we headed home.  I intended to make an arrangement on the coffee table but they just didn't look good there so I gave them a home on the dining table!  They look so much better here especially with the fabric table runner.  I had the birds and decided they fit in too.

As soon as the plastic tubs were all put away I got the vacuum out and decided to move some of the furniture around.  As you can see I use those furniture movers and it makes the whole process so much easier.  

This etagere in the corner got a bit of a makeover this time too.

I emptied it and played around with different things even the new finials, but that was a big flop!

I wanted to see some more color on it so I decided on a fern and my cast iron urn.  I removed a few of the items that had been there a while and added family pictures along with a few other things. It's been the same way since I got it 3 years ago so it was due for a new look!

I mentioned a while back that I had a picture to hang above the tv.  It's not in keeping with the room's general decorating but it's important to me to display it since Dan's sister had created it.   I did a post about how her picture was among 250 pictures that were submitted and also ended up in a book called The Art of Sleeping Bear Dunes.  Please visit this link to see the full story "here". 

We had it custom framed last year but I couldn't decide on where to hang it.  After we moved the tv to this wall I finally saw a spot for it. 

This is pretty much the same as before. 

This area got a little updating.  I just like to move my deco items around to new spots and see it from a different point of view! 

It's been bitter cold here 7 deg. this morning but the sun came out briefly in the afternoon which psychologically makes it seem so much warmer! 

I brought my "plum" colored pillows back out and will enjoy them until spring I imagine!

I put the game table at the end of the sofa near the wall which I haven't done before.  A few things from the etagere ended up on the top and I like it! 

A panoramic view of the room. 

Next up is the kitchen dining area!

Joining:
Dishing It & Digging It 

The Art of Sleeping Bear Dunes

My husband's sister Celia is an artist.  

  With no formal training I've always been impressed with her abilities and so proud for her for this recent accomplishment.

250 artists from around the country submitted their art and after being juried 108 were chosen and hers was one of them!  There was also a book created called "Art of Sleeping Bear Dunes" .  It is published by The Leelanau Press which is dedicated to publishing books about the art and history of the Leelanau County area of northern Michigan.

"Her picture is titled "Imaginary Trail"

All of the artists that were included in this book have their work on display at the Dennos Museum, located here in Traverse City, Michigan. We took a walk through the museum over the Christmas holiday with our daughter and I took a few pictures.

Her picture

This one was at least 8 ft. wide

Some are whimsical

The one on the left looked like melted candle wax

This picture created with quilted fabrics

A closer view of the sky from the quilted picture

It was very interesting to see all the different art work and various techniques and materials each artist uses to create their vision.

This is a link to the Sleeping Bear Dunes visitors bureau in case you'd like to know more about the area. 

I'm joining
The Tablescaper
for
Oh the Places I've Been

and
The Dedicated House
for
Anything Blue Friday