Well, I'm back from Europe. Amsterdam, Utrecht and Vilnius were awesome places to visit. I finally got to meet in person all of my International Facebook dye and felt friends. Wonderful sights to see and food to eat. It was very, very heartwarming to see how friendly and giving people can be. Everything possible was done to make me feel welcome. For this I thank all of you. The weather was a bit chilly for a Floridian, but true to her nature, Ingrid Garrod made me a gift of a hand-felted Beret to keep my head warm. Fabienne Dorsman-Rey shared opening her bundles with me and her husband Peter fixed one of the finest Quiche Lorraines I have ever tasted. Several of my felting/dyeing friends made pages for a book with samples of the work they do in silk and wool. It was truly beautiful.
I was able to find a Yarn shop in Amsterdam that sold absolutely marvelous wool, silk and linen threads and yarns. What a find! Of course, I had to have some, and even stated stitching on my eco dyed shawl with one of the threads as I traveled around. A few trips to the Noordmarkt in Amsterdam, the Lapjesmarkt in Utrecht left me with a good supply of cottons and linen that will keep me in the dyepots for quite a while.
I landed in Vilnius, Lithuania on a dark snowy Easter night. Even though I had missed an earlier flight, I was met by Giedra Dagiliene at the airport and escorted to my hotel. I so appreciated being met by someone. Thank you so much Giedra.
The presentation of my work at the Seskines Secondary School to a group of Art teachers, students and artists, was wonderful. When it comes to art, language is not really a barrier at all. I'd like to thank all of the people to attended, giving up part of their Easter Holiday and some traveling pretty far, to come see my work and to share an interest in the natural dyeing and printing. My piece titled "Vilnius" was well received and many questions were asked about processes. It was another wonderful day of sharing of friendship, food and art. Thank you Giedra and Company.
It is good to be back home, with many memories and many photos to relive them. I wish all of you good dyeing.
