Two Parties in one Week!

Tuesday November 13, 2018

Art Quilt Alliance gallery opening

Tonight after work my husband, Andrew and I attended the gallery opening at the Dublin Arts Council for the local Art Quilt Alliance. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what an art quilt was, size-wise or otherwise. Most were small enough (smaller than a meter) to be hung on the wall. According to an internet definition I found, “An art quilt is an original exploration of a concept or idea rather than the handing down of a “pattern”. It experiments with textile manipulation, color, texture and/or a diversity of mixed media. An Art Quilt often pushes quilt world boundaries.”

These were some very beautiful, creative and inspiring works of art. I doubt I have the patience, rather than the skill to ever create anything a fraction as nice as what I saw. However, I think I might have a go (someday) at trying to do something more like this:

This being a gallery (as opposed to a museum), most of the quilts were for sale, and the prices were fairly reasonable starting at about $150. I saw a couple I quite like, but haven’t yet decided whether to pull the trigger and make a purchase.

Kudos to the Dublin Arts Council for laying on quite a nice spread and offering a free glass of wine to its patrons. My husband and I ate enough that we only had a light snack when we got home. Also, let’s face it, it feels classy to walk around and look at art with a wine glass in your hand (it also influences your feelings about the art).

Thursday November 15, 2018

Party with the Pets

This was party night #2 where we were invited (to purchase tickets) to attend a building and animal show-off party of sorts. In December 2016 the local humane society, Columbus Area Humane Society, suffered a frozen pipe that burst causing thousands of dollars of damage to the veterinary area of the shelter as well as a few other areas.

I asked Rachel Finney, the director, whether the damage to shelter was the impetus to remodel. She said funnily enough there were plans to remodel before the burst pipe occurred, but there were no immediate plans to renovate the veterinary area, so that actually had to be added to the plan. Two years and about $3 million dollars later, the new Columbus Humane (as it’s called now) is an impressive structure designed with the animals’ comfort in mind. The cats now have multi-tiered villas with plenty of room to move around between naps and meals, and the dogs have bigger enclosures as well (though we didn’t actually check out that area).

Of course we window-shopped the cats and kittens and even introduced ourselves to a few, without the intention of taking any home. Probably my favorite was George (though he was already spoken for), a tortoiseshell tabby like our own fur baby, Tamsin. Then there was Lilly, who was also a tortie.

I think Andrew fancied a pair of black kittens.

My friend said, “Everyone should be owned by a pair of kittens.” Not just yet I think.

We left knowing that the felines there are in good hands, and the euthanasia rate is fairly low these days I believe.

Thanks to all the local businesses that donated food and made financial contributions for the renovations. Besides all the donors like ourselves, the shelter would be all the poorer without your significant contributions. It goes without saying that we ate and drank enough to feel quite satiated and perhaps a little tipsy (me). After we got home we made sure to smother our  own little fur baby with lots of kisses and cuddles for all the happiness she’s brought us since we adopted her there 12 years ago.

Outtakes:

When we were at the Gallery Opening, I heard a man utter, "There's no one here under 60." I said, "I beg your pardon?" He then noticed me and apologized, though he was mostly right. There were probably only a handful of us "youngsters" there. : )

While attending the Party with the Pets, a Pug mix (who I must have offended when I asked what kind of dog THAT was) tried to pee on me, but fortunately I moved fast enough to avoid the stream of pee that soon landed on the floor. : )