My sister friends in Vermont were making a plan to get together for a lunch, half-way between Craftsbury and Pawlett, about a two-hour drive for each of them. One of them came up with the brilliant idea to invite me to join in. So I hopped on the Amtrak to Albany and Beth drove over to scoop me up. Next day we met up with Martha in a cafe in Bristol.

Martha is a fabric artist who was prepping a project for a slow stitching class that she is teaching. Beth and I attempted to follow the instructions to create the little chickadees the class will make. We spent three hours talking and stitching. It was a glorious winter visit.

Beth has a new puppy. Her name is Kitty, and she is truly a sweetie girl.

Mama and Baby donkey, and Aspen, the horse, are all lucky enough to have landed at Beth’s place. They were awaiting breakfast here, and hoping I had more carrots in my pocket.

I really needed a visit to the country, since the Coronavirus was still kicking New York City’s butt. It’s been difficult to remain happy and content in my small apartment as we struggle along with the second year of this pandemic.

Another day, Beth and I lunched and then spent the afternoon at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. The exhibits were most excellent, all about Japanese woodblock prints. In the past I’d seen Hiroshige’s“100 views of Edo” and Hokusai’s “100 Views of Fuji” too, for that matter. But I am always grateful to be able to be in the presence of—to stand in front of the work.

There were many types of Mokuhanga, as well as a few galleries of Hiroshige’s work and works by artists inspired by him.

The images above were printed on multiple layers of thin paper, sandwiched together, sometimes with a design stitched through all the layers. These photos honestly do not do the work justice.

The SVAC is a work of art in its own right. Gorgeous view out most windows. The curators know how to get the most out of this setting.

The three images just below this text look like Sashiko designs to me.

I had just seen a revival of the Jane Wagner/Lilly Tomlin play, “The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe” at The Shed on the Highline in NYC, so you’ll understand why I was reminded of the line, “The play was soup, but the audience was art.” The views outside the windows were at least as stunning as the artworks hung around the galleries.

The images below were created in traditional styles but of contemporary local views. Just gorgeous!

This sandhill crane was sculpted by Porter and Mary Brown. Each feather was individually carved by Porter and painted by Mary prior to being attached.