What better way to start the day than with the pure voice of a boy soprano hitting a high G in an English cathedral or college chapel? Sharon has requested this, for her son Geoff, the second part of Mendelssohn's "Hear my Prayer" - particularly the solo " O for the wings, the wings of a dove! Far away would I rove . . ." I lucked out finding a photograph of a white dove in flight, seen from above and from from the back. Couldn't you just crawl on that back and be lifted aloft and go to a place where there are no problems and no one is asking you to do something!
Or - you could go to live with your friends the Beatles, and "sail into the sun" beneath the waves. The water is one of Kathy's brilliant fabric choices, and I painted the yellow submarine after the image on the old album cover. Remember it? What were they thinking, when they recorded this song?
And now for something completely different. Chosen not only because we like the music, but also because Kathy brought over a UFO (unfinished object) which involved this wonderful Japanese-inspired fabric.
My children were involved in a production of The Mikado at school. Our daughter played and sang the role of Katisha, and I will never forget her entrance. The make-up lady had done a brilliant job of making her look really crabby, and she jumped onto the stage in such a jealous-looking rage everyone in the audience shrank back in their seats with a gasp. It was a wonderful production, and as silly as most of the G&S operettas!
That reminds me - you have a chance to be entertained by this silliness in the upcoming concert performance of The Mikado at the Elora Festival. It's on August 3rd in the Gambrel Barn, and Jean Stilwell is playing Katisha (well, of course that's my favourite part!) David Curry is Nanki-Poo, and Michael Cressman plays the Mikado. See you there!
And then, from another Japanese print, how could we not include one of the most often performed operas of all time, Madama Butterfly. Another Japanese inspired print which actually included dragonflies, not butterflies. But it also happened to include a shade of green and something very close to our coral colour. So using Setacolor paints, I changed the dragonfly into a butterfly. Maybe it's a cop-out, just doing a play on the name, and not focusing on the music, but I wanted you to be reminded of it instantly.
We've got four more squares in the works, but they all involve hand-stitching. Maybe there'll be something good on TV tonight!
See you soon,
Susan
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