Yet another busy week!

(Above:  Mandala CXCVIII.  Custom framed:  15" x 15".  Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a utilitarian, wood quilt.  Objects include: A silver belt buckle on which a sun shaped disc was stitched; tear-drop glass lamp prisms; red paper clips; plastic snowflakes from a string of old Christmas lights; external toothed lock washers; red Monopoly hotels; red and white plastic lids; wooden toy wheels; and assorted buttons and beads.  $295. Click on any image to enlarge.)

Steve and I have had several visitors this past week.  It is so much fun to show off our new home and especially my sanctuary-sized fiber arts studio.  If you are reading this and ever in our area (the Upstate of South Carolina ... between Clemson and Greenville), please do come! In the meantime, I've been working on several projects and finished two Found Object Mandalas including the one above with its six plastic snowflakes.  They came off a string of old Christmas lights.  I worked hard to remove the tiny electrical components and grind down the plastic surrounding these unneeded parts.  I'm so happy that I own a little grinder for exactly this purpose.

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXCVIII.)

Ordinarily, I don't glue my objects to the underlying quilt but I did this time.  The glass prisms did have a flat backside but I worried that the few stitches wouldn't be sufficient to keep them in place.  I dab of hot glue can be seen through the prisms.  Also, I didn't like the photos I took in which the rustic white frame is shown.  Thus, only the red painted inner liner is included in the image.

 

(Above:  Mandala CXCIX.  Custom-framed: 29" x 29".  Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage hexie quilt.  Objects include:  A straw trivet; bluish-green binders; little, neon yellow plastic spoons; beer bottle caps; a collection of vintage/antique bottle openers; green golf tees with the word Hawai'i; four colorful, wooden bird ornaments; and assorted buttons and beads.)

I also finished this Found Object Mandala.  I have a similar trivet on my dining room table.  I could have used it but ... well ... it's mine!  This one came from the Pickens County flea market for a dollar.  The little, neon yellow plastic spoons came from there too.  I have no idea what they were meant for ... surely not ice cream! They really aren't sturdy enough for anything frozen hard.  I have hundreds of them in assorted colors.

 

(Above:  Selfie at one of two Brasstown waterfalls.)

I'm nearly finished with another mandala and have one more started.  Soon, all six of the In Box pieces I started more than a week ago will be in their frames and ready to go to the Grovewood Gallery.  Plus, I am stitching a little every day on my Lace Forest Installation.  While we retired from custom picture framing and moved to South Carolina's Upstate so that I could be this productive and have so many projects in production, we didn't want to ignore other goals ... like hiking to waterfalls in the area.  It's been too hot for weeks but this Sunday was GORGEOUS.  Most of the day was spent enjoying nature including both the upper and lower Brasstown waterfalls ...

... and the large timber rattlesnake who apparently thought basking on the road's sunshine was a good idea!  We were thankfully safe in our car!  I've seen a fair number of rattlesnakes "out west" but never one as large as this one!

We also visited Reedy Branch Falls before going to ...

...Bull Sluice along the Chattooga River.  This river is for a short distance the state line between South Carolina and Georgia.  It is the main tributary to the Tugaloo River which, along with the lower Savannah River, separate the two states.  It is best known for its use in the filming of the 1972 film Deliverance.  In that movie, as in the 1970 book Deliverance by James Dickey, it is fictionalized and called the Cahulawassee River.  Bull Sluice is further north from Tallulah Falls where the movie was set.  We've been there ... years ago ... and hope to return.  Yet, Bull Sluice is popular with white water rafters.  We saw two groups navigate this narrow passageway ... all wearing life vests and head gear with an experienced guide.  Maybe one day, Steve and I will take a white water rafting adventure!  It sure looked exciting!

We drove into Georgia ... just for the fun of it ... and stopped at the little Warwoman Falls on our way back to South Carolina.

A couple months ago, we'd driven past the entrance to Oconee State park's section that included the Stumphouse Tunnel.  This time we stopped.  The tunnel is DARK.  I have no idea how people visited before having a flashlight function on their cell phones!  It is just over 1,600 feet into the mountain side.  It was started in the 1850s for a railroad line connecting South Carolina to the Ohio River valley.  High costs and the civil war ended construction before completion.  A century later, Clemson University used the the constant 50 degree/85% humidity tunnel to ripen blue cheese.  After the 1970s, the tunnel became part of the Oconee State Park. 

 Nearby is the Issaqueena Falls.  Most of the trail is flat and very well maintained.  Strolls and wheelchairs have no problems, but the lower part of the trail is ... well ... what is called "scrambling".  Exposed tree roots helped us climb up and down over the boulders!  It was fun!  I'd do it again and probably will ... though there are so many more waterfalls for us to find and explore!