And the Prize Goes to...

DH and I recently joined the Paso Robles Art Association, mostly for additional opportunities to exhibit our work. The PRAA  has a small gallery space within a co-op art studio space in downtown Paso Robles. Each month, they mount a small exhibit of members' work that suits a predetermined theme. This show was entitled "Delicious" and could be any work that expressed that theme - maybe  a food still-life, maybe a sexy nude, maybe a beautiful sunset, whatever.

We each submitted one piece, and both were accepted. The opening reception for the exhibit was last night, and we made an appearance at the appointed time. It was worth the trip - I won Third Prize (they use a Viewer's Choice scheme to award prizes), which paid for a bottle of wine at dinner after the event.

There were a lot of questions of the "How in the world did you make that?" sort, for which the only possible answer is "One thread at a time, like all cloth is woven." I hope to do some textile education among the group over the next few exhibits - they need to know where cloth comes from and how!

The piece I entered was Pears, which you might remember from a post in April of this year.

DH submitted a beautiful bowl made from cocobolo, a hardwood that grows in Mexico around the Gulf of California. That area gets very little rainfall, probably less than 6 inches per year, so trees grow slowly. After counting the growth rings, DH determined that the tree was over 110 years old. It's very hard, dense, heavy wood that achieves a shiny surface without any finish:

The light color is the sap wood (the outer part of the tree, just under the bark) and the deep russet wood is the heart wood (the center of the tree). No prizes this time, which is a shame - it's a delicious bowl to handle!

BTW, the wood chips left over after DH turns a piece of cocobolo make great dye that gives a rich russet brown on wool and a lighter red-brown on silk. I haven't tried it on cellulose fibers yet, but will report the results when I do.