Regular readers will have seen the invitation I posted to the joint exhibition of my work with gold jeweller Petra Eberl. this first photo shows her her work is displayed and the organic finish she achieves in her designs. As it was taken with the glass cover in place, DH caught the two reflections, but look past those to wsee the gold. I’ll try to replace it some time without the glass.

Beginning our rental period at 8 am and opening to the public all set up at 2pm, we did very well considering the wedding from the night before went until 5 am and the cleaning up had barely been started when we arrived… but we all pitched in to help despite the staff ‘s protests – we wanted them and their mops out of the way pronto so we could really get moving on our transformation of the space.

UL shows how the 2.8m cream fabric we bought was hung from existing battens on the ceiling (nails ) and two helpers using the steam vaporiser thing to de-wrinkle the fabric. Compare these pics with the ones below which show the completed installation – Caco and his assistant put up the fabric and all the lights in a masterly well coordinated operation between, effectively 9am and 2pm. It was amazing, all well planned out, I saw his working diagrams – he had been there the week before, thought about things, bought electrical cable and the light fittings, measured and assembled them according to his plan as he went. LL shows Petra filling her containers with paper on which she put fine white gravel – see picture above -and on that surface she then put slices of travertine marble with pieces of jewellery on each – several pieces to each of these large shallow bowls – they are assembled in LR – and each with a round sheet of glass over the top and a small light suspended over each. UR is showing the last quilt to go up, at which time Mike and I left, rushed back to our house, changed into some better clothes and got back just before our first visitors arrived – and giving me time to add a few stitches, LR, to the quilt I had finished only the night before leaving an unquilted area 2″ x 2″ bang smack in the middle at the classical eye height!!!

Our first visitors arrived shortly after we opened, figuratively speaking, for in fact the doors were open all day and all night – we were blessed with warm dry weather, which was kind – at this time of year it is often hot and very humid, and and therefore rather difficult to endure in a non-airconditioned venue like this, with many of the windows cut off by the false walls!

One party of early visitors, some rels of one of my closest friends here, sailed through the show en masse, and, as if swooping in on a department store sale, picked up the hem of every quilt pulled it up and looked behind at the each of my quilts. If they had been paintings I wonder if they would have done that? (well maybe they might have …) I was a bit gobsmacked – but didn’t say anything, out of deference to my friend – and once satisfied they settled to some wine and nibblies. I couldn’t think of anything witty or clever to say, but, I’ll be ready for these particular people next time we do this kind of thing….interestingly, they were the only ones I think, who did that. And, although I had alerted everyone in case we were blessed with children sucking sticky lollies or icecreams and sporting itchy little fingers, there were almost no children to be on the alert for.