Finished

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Wendy Ward

I have finished my “Shaded Face” from the workshop I did with Anna Williams She is a great teacher and if you ever get the chance to take a class with her go for it. This class was done at the Picton Mini symposium at Anzac Weekend.

COOTS at Kinloch

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Wendy Ward

A couple of weeks ago the Coots (Central Otago Outside the Square) ladies went to Kinoch Lodge for the weekend. We made Felt (wet felt). Here is of my pieces, a book Cover front and back. It was a fabulous weekend and we achieved alot. Some of us used an embellisher machine and as a result three ladies put their order in to purchase one.

After Sassaman

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Wendy Ward

John Gehl – Metal Artist

Ruth Gehl Sunflowers

Fiona McArthur Honouring Peonies

Doris Schoen Nasturtium

Jenny Tayler Tomatoes

Merilyn Williams Dandelions Galore

Dorota Fraser Artichoke

Sheila Emslie A Quilted Garden I and II

Anne Carter Magnolias

Heather Munro La Royale

Robyn Van Reenan – Kowhai

Jenny Taylor – Hallucinogenic Poppies

Wendy Ward – Hellebores

Alison Naylor – Singapore Orchid

We have finally finished our pieces from a Jane Sassaman Workshop in January 2007. The finished quilts are being exhibited at the Cloakroom Gallery in Queenstown until Monday 2 June. Here are some pics of the quilts.

Dubai

Posted on July 3, 2007 by Wendy Ward

Dubai is unbelievably hot. The air is so thick and moist it is like breathing soup.

We are waiting at the airport for the long flight home. Yesterday we went to see the biggest hotel and then went to the biggest shopping mall – it was huge.

Last day in Venice

Posted on July 3, 2007 by Wendy Ward

Today we were up and away on a tour to the Islands Murano, Burano and Torcello

The first stop was the island of Murano famous for Venetian Glass.We watched some glass making and toured the showroom and it was back on the boat again and off to Burano

Burano is famous for Lace. It is also a colourful fishing village. We loved this island and we only had 30 minutes here. We went back to the boat to tell the tour guide that we weren’t going on with the tour and that we wanted to stay there. She said that was fine she was bring another tour through there at 4:00pm so we could catch the boat again then. Great.

We wandered around the island, watched them making the lace (well I did), and generally enjoyed the slower pace. Had a very enjoyable day.

We rejoined the tour and went on to Torcello. This was a basically deserted island (only 15 residents) but with a big bascillica and bell tower. Then we were back to the hustle and bustle of Venice.

We had a lovely last Italian dinner and are now waiting to go to the airport and on to Dubai.

Venice

Posted on June 30, 2007 by Wendy Ward

We arrived to a beautiful day in Venice. We got a boat from the Train Station to our hotel. Our room is tiny. Below our window is a major Gondola point and we hear them taking passengers and singing as they go past our window – very nice.

Today we went to the Cathedral in St Marco square. It is awesome with lots of gold mosaics and the mosaic floor is really interesting.

Trevor went to the top of the bell tower and had amazing views of Venice from there.

Venice is extremely busy with people – it has been the busiest place we have been to by far. Tomorrow we are going for a tour to three Islands Murano (where they make the beautiful glass), Burano (where they make lace) and Torcello.

It is quite humid here but it cools a bit at night. We are ready to get away from all the people.

Last Day in Florence

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Wendy Ward

Today Trevor and I went our separate ways – I went to the Galleries and he went walking to find motorbike shops.

I was up early to queue for the Uffizi Gallery. At 8:15 in the morning there was already a large queue. It was an hour and a half before I got in. But it was well worth the wait – it is totally mind blowing. The Rembrandt room was closed for renovation but I still got to see many other famous artists – Michaelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli to name a few very, very impressive. This collection belonged to the Medici Family (Florence’s royalty) They built the Uffizi Gallery to house their collection. The building is three floor and U shaped – its huge.

I then went to the Pitti Palace – which was the home of the Medici Family. The Pitti Palace is at one end of the Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery is at the other – the family built a corridor on top of the Ponte Vecchio (bridge) so they could walk between the two without having

to mix with the commoners!

The palace is extremely opulent and is also full of art. The ceilings, doors etc are all very decorated. There are five different museums in the palace – art, some of the rooms of the Medici family, costume, modern art, porcelain, silver and treasures from around the world – this family was seriously mega rich!

The Palace also has extensive gardens – here is a small part of them.
That was my day filled in well and truly. Trevor said the motorbike shops were crap – not much in them. He did heaps of walking a even a wee bit of shopping!!!

We went more into the centre of Florence tonight for dinner and came across some students doing street art and musicians playing – lovely atmosphere.
We were a packed up now and heading to Venice.

Siena

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Wendy Ward

We got up early this morning to go to Siena. Trevor decided to navigate the way to the train station to get the train there. Well after about 20 minutes of walking I decided that I would navigate with the map. We got to the station with minutes to spare thank goodness there weren’t any queues for tickets.
One and a half hours of train journey through Tuscany was lovely. Have I mentioned that so far where ever we have been you have to pay to use the toilet! And they are few and far between. It was a bit cooler today (about 18 degrees) and in Siena it was spitting.
Siena is a hilly gothic style, town with walls around the inner part. Lovely narrow streets and it seems that motor vehicles are not allowed in the centre most part. The shops appear to be larger than Rome and very very nice – it seemed a bit like Queenstown in that it was bustling with tourists but there is only 50,000 people that live there. They were getting ready for a big festival- Il Palio – some pageantry and a horse race around the centre square, which is on next week.

Had a lovely lunch – have I mentioned that the Italian food is very nice – simple and fresh – very tasty.

Got back to Florence around 5:00pm and went to the Uffizi Gallery to see if I could get tickets to visit tomorrow – they had sold all the reservations so I have to get up early to queue – it opens at 8:15 – so another early day tomorrow.

Sightseeing and Shopping

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Wendy Ward

This morning we got the open topped bus around the area of Florence on the other side of the Arno River. Very beautiful. The city centre itself is quite compact and outside the city the houses seem to have good sized gardens.

Then we went to find the markets – lots of leather – bagsw, handbags, belts etc very exciting – made a couple of purchases!!

All the galleries and museums are closed in Florence on a Monday but we found the Cezanne exhibition was open so we visited that – Trevor really enjoyed it 🙂

Not far from our hotel are THE SHOPS – all the label ones – I wasn’t allowed in those – although I sneaked into Save the Queen.

Then it was time for more mundane stuff – laundry – it is way too expensive to have it done at the Hotel.
Today it was 36 degrees – very hot – thank god for our air conditioned hotel.

Here is a shopping basket to carry home all the purchases! It is about the size of those “Little Tykes” cars for toddlers.
Tomorrow we are off to Siena for a day trip.

Pisa

Posted on June 25, 2007 by Wendy Ward

We left Monterosso this morning and headed for Pisa – about a hour by train. Upon arrival we stored our bags and set off. On all the maps we have been given – what looks like a really long way turns out to be about ten minutes – its very encouraging. We walked to the Leaning Tower. You have to book to go up the Tower – we had about an hour and a half to fill in so we had a look around the other buildings there. The Tower was originally built as the Bell Tower to the Cathedral and was started in 1173! There are approximately 300 steps to climb. Our bodies were still sore from the big walk yesterday.

Then we went on to Florence about another hour by train. Our hotel room is quite roomy by European standards and the bed is big and comfy. We set off for a walk from our Hotel. We are staying not far from the Ponte Vecchio Bridge

This bridge is lined with Jewellery shops (Teresa you would love it). I get the feeling that Florence is a shopping mecca. We had a look around – there was a special madri gras type night where the streets were closed off and the restaurants put their tables out into the street, there was live music playing very nice and festive

There was a lovely sunset and we stood on the bridge listening to a great guy singing and watched the sun go down. Very beautiful

The Tactile Journey

Life is a tactile journey