Another Day of Beauty!!

Today was a running around day.  I went to the nursing home, picked up a form and had to run it downtown... While I was there, I decided to give myself a beauty break.  Uh, no, I'm not talking about a day at the salon. I'm talking about a visit to the Art Museum.  I went to the museum for that talk with Ohio artist, Susan Shie, a couple weeks ago.  She's amazing. I wanted to see the full Earth Stories exhibit.  Here are a few pics in no particular order...

 And here's Susan Shie's piece in the collection.  Uh, if you read my first Day of Beauty, you'll remember how much I like making myself part of the art (see my shadow?).

After the visit, I went next door to Glass Growers.  If you've never been...go.  I drop in every time I'm down that way because they always have something new and cool.  I've mentioned before that I love to collect Erie stuff.  We have a number of prints.  Well, today I bought a cool picture of Beach 10 on Presque Isle by Jason Floyd Lewis.  (You can see my reflection in it as well! LOL)

If you're one of my Erie friends, head down to the Art Museum and then stop in and check out Glass Growers.

This isn't a paid endorsement...I just love my city! If you're not in the area, I hope you enjoy visiting through my books and blog.  And if you're in the area, drop in for a real visit!!

Holly

Confessions of a Party Crasher

Everything But a Groom

PS.
Confessions of a Party Crasher is live on Amazon for pre-order and if you haven't heard, the Everything But... series is going to audio and the first sample's up!

The Art of Writing

I went to a wonderful lecture about quilting tonight called Earth Stories at the Erie Art Museum with Susan Shie.   I've made a few quilts.  Not good ones.  But I made them with enthusiasm.  The family favorites are jeans quilts.  They're super heavy and warm.  But tonight's presentation was by an artist.

When I started writing I kept hearing about "the rules of writing." (Susan Gable and I have done workshops together called We Don't Need No Stinkin' Rules...so yes you can imagine how I felt about those rules.  LOL)  One of the rules was no writers or artists heroes/heroines.  Pip in Carry Her Heart was a writer, and Lexie in Just One Thing was an artist, though she didn't think of herself as such.  I think what fascinated me last night was both storyteller and artist so tangible in Susan's quilts. She mixes quilting, sewing, painting, writing, journaling into something beautiful and memorable.

I wrote about My Day Of Beauty a few months ago.  It's rare that I take a day off from work and family obligations but that day inspired me then and now.  Well, tonight inspired me as well.  Like Lexie in Just One Thing, I feel presumptuous saying I'm an artist, but if writing is my art, then words are the medium with which I express it.  And I loved that I put art into Just One Thing...blurring the lines a bit like Susan Shei's quilts. She takes both cotton, thread and paint and weaves words into them, producing something hybrid and unique. 

Oh, it was a lovely night.

By the way, as a remembrance of My Day of Beauty, I took another shadow picture as I walked back to the car last night!  I love that art can be found anywhere and we all have the opportunity to become part of it.

My life has been crazy again lately. Writing and life keep bumping into each other and I have to scramble to juggle it all.  I found an hour for this lecture and am so glad I did.  Sometimes we just need to take a moment, surround ourselves with beauty and just breathe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Holly

Cooks and Books with Author Holly Jacobs, Pi Day!

It's Pi Day!!  And it's time for another Cooks and Books video!  Hope you're celebrating my favorite math holiday of the year...and I hope you're eating some pie!!

Holly

Nook
Kobo
Kindle