Art

Today was the last day of the annual Fall Art Tour in our area, and I felt recuperated enough to go with Tom on an excursion through the hills and dales of Sauk County to visit about a dozen artists in their studios. These ranged from a man who makes stained glass panels -- one of which we bought a few years back and installed next to Tom's reading spot in the library area of the house -- to a truly macabre woman who made strange pieces from cast beeswax and dead insects. Yes, actual dead insects. They looked like something you would find in the parlor at the Addams Family mansion.

It was a beautiful day to be out for the drive, cool but not cold, rather windy but dry. Besides seeing some intriguing art and furniture, we met a charming orange kitten who had shown up on the front porch of one of the studios this morning and whom the artists were trying to keep outside, hoping a warm-hearted visitor would take it home and adopt it. While Tom chatted with one of the artists inside for a while, I sat on the porch and held the cat, telling each new arrival that they were the 100th visitor and had won a new pet. Everyone laughed but no one took the kitten home. When we left, it was sitting on the bench in front of the studio, nibbling on a piece of fancy cheese one of the other visitors had snagged from the refreshment tables for it.

At the first place we stopped, besides the stained glass maker, there was a woman who does batik designs and also makes prints of her pieces. I bought a red dragon (for Wales, of course) and it now hangs next to my reading spot in my bedroom.

All in all, a good day. (With a few sniffles still, I admit, but not too bad.)