Ann Williamson

Handmade Designer Women's Apparel

travel

Smithsonian 2022

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What a way to return to in person shows! The Smithsonian’s 2022 craft show was a rousing success. A gala party on Wednesday night, followed by four days of the show. I wasn’t the only one who was happy to get out and back to seeing people in person with no computer screen between. We were all in celebratory mood, like long lost family members reunited.

My booth, in storage for over two years, went up without a problem. What a happy relief to see all my work out of my closets, hung up and ready for viewing.

And what a place for my first show, the Building Museum is a magnificent space.

The ceiling is well over 4 stories high. Fantastic!

The entire show is a fund raiser for the Smithsonian Institute. The gala party on the first night was the perfect way to start things off with a bang.

Then the show. People coming in with friends, family, alone, and in a few cases, with their sweet little dogs.

I was delighted to see my pieced trench coat, sold right at the beginning of the show, back again several days later.

I love that my clothes are out and about, worn and used!

Another one of my pieces in use just days after the show. Nina, on her way to the opera and wearing her brand new coat. Looking fantastic.

I had appliquéd strips onto a very cool kimono silk with bold, oversized, abstracted grass forms.

Gorgeous!

I admit, I do love to spend time in my studio, so I haven’t been too terribly unhappy during our covid isolation. But boy, I did miss the shows. The Smithsonian Show was the perfect medicine.

Whew! What a rush. At the end, we packed up and were ready to head home.

But we still had a day in the city, the plane was leaving at the end of the day. Perfect! There was time for a trip to the Smithsonian’s, fantastic, magnificent, amazing and glorious National Gallery of Art. As with all Smithsonian museums, free to everyone.

Free!

I am a proud museum nerd. I can spend days inside looking at whatever is up and on view. But, wow, they do have some gems.

How about this little grouping? 4 Vermeers in a row.

With only a few other people there at any one time, I cold move in close and look as long as I wanted.

Jan Van Eyck? Another of my favorite artists? Sure. The Annunciation, right over here in this other room.

Standing in front and studying it for as long as I wanted. Painted around 1435. Gabriel’s rainbow colored wings, the wooden floor painted with old testament stories, the lily, the interior of the gothic church, the depiction of the textiles, Gabriel’s beatific smile, Mary’s ultramarine blue gown [at the time, ounce per ounce, more expensive than gold,] all perfect.

Look at the colors in the one below! And the strong geometric shapes and forms. Glorious!

By the ‘Master of the Osservanza’ and painted in the first part of the 1430’s, a tryptic of Saint Anthony distributing his wealth to the poor, leaving his monastery and meeting Saint Paul.

The attention to detail, the quirkiness [can you see the funny little dog [pig?] on the far left? Or the centaur behind the trees at the upper right?], did I mention the colors???

I just about lost it when I saw ‘The Cornell Farm,’ painted in 1848 by Edward Hicks, more than 400 years after the one above.

All the cows and horses, with the landscape behind. I absolutely love it!

Detail, detail, detail, I see a theme here.

So many. So many paintings to see and analyze, study and admire. And I was in just one part of one floor of one museum. If you’ve never been, you must figure out a way to get there. If you’ve been, then return to see all that you’ve missed or forgotten.

At the end of the day, it was time to leave and head back home.

By chance, as I was heading out the door, I found myself in a room with a few paintings of women sewing.

The one above by Gilbert Stuart, painted in 1793. And the one below by Ellen Day Hale from 1893.

The third, by Joseph Rodefer Decamp from 1916.

The perfect way to end my visit to Washington, the whole reason I was there. All because of my journey with sewing, fabrics, clothing and love of art.

And how cool is this? So very, exactly, perfect. As I left the room with the paintings of women sewing, right outside, at the information desk, this woman was bent over, needle in hand, working on her embroidery.

Thank you Smithsonian Women’s Committee and everyone who came to support this wonderful organization! Not to mention all of the artists! We were finally, at long last, out and in public again!

Goodby Washington, I’m already looking forward to coming back again, whenever that may be.

Travel, Sew, Travel, Sew

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Instead of a trip to Italy or Japan, how about a trip around Oregon? One thing covid has taught us, we don’t always have to go far for adventure. During the last month or so, I was able to go back to some of my favorite places in my home state.

First stop, a visit to Mt Hood and a sweet little cabin by a roaring river.

Drive down a bumpy dirt road. Slowly, five miles per hour.

Past a rustic fence made with sticks, so cool.

And a yellow ‘Dirt Bike Xing’ warning sign.

At the end of the road, up stone stairs, to a beautiful old cabin. You can just see the roof and chimney. Gorgeous!

I was there for a whole week, plenty of time for hikes through the dense forest and past gorgeous rivers.

And trees so thick with moss, they looked as though they had been covered with fuzzy green pom-poms.

After seven days of long breakfasts, then relaxing, followed by lunch, maybe a nap, a slow walk through the woods and ending with a leisurely dinner, it was time to move on.

I packed up and headed to one of my favorite places, Astoria, not too far from where Lewis and Clark wintered after their long trek across the continent.

Astoria is a sweet little town right on the Columbia River, just before it empties into the Pacific.

The picture above was taken at the top of the Astoria Column. 164 steps up a spiral staircase to the observation deck and this amazing view.

Confession, these photos were taken during another visit. The day I was there it was raining sideways so not too good for photos. Still it was amazing! And I am happy I went up, even though I was soaked to the bone after I came down.

Later, when back down in town, a picture taken next to the Astoria-Megler Bridge. On the other side of the river, four miles away, you can see the state of Washington.

After my week on Mt Hood and four days in Astoria, I headed back home and my studio where I finished some jackets for a lovely mother of the groom.

Below, a gorgeous silvery tsumugi kimono silk over a sweet pink top with cherry blossoms. Pink and silver, I love that combination.

And another jacket, this one sewn from a fantastic blue silk jacquard, woven with traditional Japanese flower and leaf designs. Under, you can see the blue and navy top printed with villages, hills and forests.

A closeup shot to show off the beautiful fabrics.

And a hitoe, my unlined jacket/ blouse, this time in a black and white kimono silk with a design of fans. I used an abstracted pink and black landscape silk inside the collar.

And then! I had one more trip.

I turned around and headed to Oregon’s beautiful coastline for a couple of days in lovely Cannon Beach.

The place I stayed had this view! Amazing! It was cloudy and stormy, my favorite weather at the coast.

The view in the other direction.

This place was beyond spectacular.

Whew! Such a wonderful series of trips.

Back home in my studio, I was fresh and ready to work on new projects.

Such as cutting out new jackets.

And designing new pieces.

Sometimes I start with a sketch or a specific idea, other times I lay out fabrics and see where they take me. I’m thinking a full skirt and jacket appliquéd with little red bits.

And especially during covid times, when my online shop is so very important, I took some time to tidy it up. I removed sold pieces, added new, especially new scarves, and I rearranged and adjusted so that each piece would highlight the one next to it. It’s fun, not quite like arranging my work in a booth at a show, but the same idea.

If you haven’t been to my shop for a while, please check it out here.

We also added both of my little 30 second videos to my website. If you haven’t seen them, check them out at my website under ‘Videos.’

Fish Cleaning Table

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From Astoria, Oregon, across the mouth of the wide Columbia River, you can see the state of Washington. Huge cargo ships wait their turn to go up river to inland ports.

You can get to the Washington side by driving over the 4 mile Astoria-Megler Bridge. Once there, turn left and continue on to where you’ll find the entrance to Cape Disappointment Park. ‘Disappointment’ because in 1788, Captain John Meares could not find the entrance to the river. But not a disappointment to any visitor to the park today. It’s gorgeous.

There are lots of beautiful sites in the park, including the now non-operational North Head light house.

With gorgeous and impressive ocean views.

And dramatic cliff edges.

So beautiful.

But I had a destination, which was to see Maya Lin’s Fish Cleaning Table.

It is the first of a series of pieces that Lin designed for the Confluence Project, an impressive series of art landscape sites laid out over 438 miles along the river. Each one is designed to educate the public about the river’s significance to the tribes who lived and continue to live there now.

The Fish Cleaning Table is a beautiful and quiet piece of basalt, sitting in an unassuming spot, next to a boat launch. Cut into one end is a trough for people to clean and wash their fish.

It is inscribed with an origin story told by the Chinook and Chehalis tribes that was recorded by James Swan in 1857.

It is so beautiful and quiet and subtle, sitting in a gorgeous landscape, you could almost pass it by. But stop and spend a moment here for a gentle reminder of the people who, for centuries, were here before and who knew this land in a deep and reverential way.

For more information about the Fish Cleaning Table go here. For a recent article in the New York Times about the Confluence project, go here.