Art of the State, and the Susquehanna at Harrisburg

I went to Harrisburg, PA today to visit the State Museum of Pennsylvania and see the Art of the State exhibit, where my In Dreams I Learned to Swim is on display through September 13. I had missed the opening because I was traveling, so I didn’t have the thrill of the crowd, but it was nice to have the time and space to view the exhibit at my leisure.
This is a large art quilt, 60” x 80”, and it was such a pleasure to see it so well displayed and properly lit.  It had room to breath.
I hadn’t had the chance to view it from a distance before, and I was gratified to see that it held up well and commanded attention from afar. 
Even from the other side of the gallery it caught the eye.

As always it’s an excellent and interesting exhibit—do go if you are in the area.  One nice feature is in addition to the complete paper catalog, there are kiosks where it is easy to bring up an artist and read their statement.  The images are also available online here.

Afterwards we went to The Millworks for a late lunch. It’s a new restaurant, with an emphasis on local, sustainable food and craft beverages, combined with artist’s studios in a remodeled/repurposed industrial space.  Both the food and the ambiance were very good, and I plan to return.  On the way out I stopped in the communal gallery/gift shop, and bought a bag of roving to use in needlefelting.. I grew up near Halifax, and I was charmed by the mention by name of her angora bunny. 

We then went over to Front St., parked, and took the pedestrian bridge to City Island.  It was oppressively hot and humid, but I wanted to take photos for my new project, 52 Ways to Look at the River.  (Read about its inception here.)  The architecture of the bridge is wonderful through the fisheye lens:
And I liked the archways on the nearby bridges:

But for this week's inspiration photo I chose this shot, looking across from City Island to the city of Harrisburg:
I came home, cooled down, and used my new roving in the panel inspired by the photo.  The panel is 6” x 12”, on a base of rayon/wool felt.  I am trying to keep them simple, a sort of sketch in fiber, and not overwork them.  Even so, each one so far has taken about 90 minutes to make.  Fiber is a slow medium. 

A good day!