A sight for sore eyes . . . and a sight that made my eyes sore. But that's forgotten now, of course --

  

Sure, I've used this illustration before,

but I've decided it is probably one of the all-purpose type:

For today's purposes, it will be a picture of me when I first laid eyes on Hannah's room (which was supposed to have been packed prior to our arrival -- only someone who didn't raise Hannah would have believed such a preposterous promise, so I should have been prepared)

Hannah's exceptionally large and exceptionally messy un-packed room

I got the fun of de-constructing the collages on the closet doors

Luckily she had already given away all her housewares -- except for her brand new set of mint condition pyrex bowls (score!) -- so what we were looking at was only the necessities that would have to be packed and transported home.

We should have known we were in trouble when, coming through the halls, we encountered several girls who asked, "Are you Hannah's parents?  You have to move Hannah??!!", accompanied by giggles and eye rolling.  (But the job was a small price to pay to have our littlest graduate back in her basement bedroom where she belongs.)

The graduation was lovely -- a perfectly beautiful day on the quirky little campus where the southern Virginia spring was greener than green and everything was just the way you'd order it.

The beautiful main hall at Southern Virginia University

The happy grad and her delighted dad

But the best part of the trip was, of course, Hannah's Sr. Show -- as her mother (and as an art lover, of course) I couldn't get enough of her delightful work . . . *sigh. 

 

Hannah's card from her show

Good day to be Hannah's mother.

Her show consisted of 5 paintings, 4 stitched works and a moleskine sketchbook -- 

 The piece on the bottom right is framed in a hoop, and Hannah added paint to the background after it was stitched.  The effect was very unique and so charming! All of her stitched pieces are on re-purposed pieces of old needlework, giving them an added resonance while bringing the domestic needlework tradition to a completely contemporary context

 Hannah's mixed-media paintings are very textural -- "cloud 'fro" (Hannah's working title), for instance,  incorporates doilies under the layers of paint, providing wonderful depth and visual interest . . . which you could see if my photos did this work ANY justice at all . . .  so sorry!

This stitched piece is simply amazing -- a showstopper done on a piece of old quilt -- Hannah stitches free-hand, making it all up as she goes and the result feels so organic and un-forced -- her work and my work share a common thread, and yet are exact opposites in some ways, a fact I find to be delightful and fascinating

9 pieces of  Hannah wonderfulness, accompanied by a wondrous sketchbook that provided a more in-depth glimpse into her creative genius.

 A favorite page from Hannah's sketchbook

Hannah has graciously agreed to let me publish her remarkable sketchbook, which I will do in full tomorrow.  You'll definitely want to stop by and get acquainted.

Congratulations, Hannah! 

Welcome home to the studio.  

We've been waiting for you.