A new year begins

Good wishes to all for a great 2019. I wonder how long it will take me to remember to write 2019...
What will it bring? I have been stitching yesterday and today - postcards and journal covers, but hopefully a good start to a creative year. Travel wise, apart from visiting Rachel in Tassie, I have nothing planned. I think I need to finish off detailing the last one here, before I think of any new trips.

So, back to Poland and Krakow. We stayed near the splendid Old Town in a lovely hotel called the Art and Garden Residence. That had an enclosed garden, and works of art in every room.

Thought the folk in this fine sculpture at the entrance might feel a little chilly in winter.

We had a little rain here, but not enough to spoil anything.

 Wawel Castle

  - gold topped dome on part of the Church

 - interesting paintings under the verandahs

Around the Old Town and Square

 

 

 - beautiful horse drawn coaches for the touists (didn't take one)

 

 - somebody startled the pigeons

 

 

 

 

 Us making traditional pierogi in a specialist pierogi shop/restaurant

 

 

 The Jewish quarter and the old Synagogue

 

 

We visited the class rooms of paper specialist Professor Buczek-Sledzinska at the Krakow Fine Art Academy and saw her students' final year work. It is all paper, but the techniques apply equally to fabric. These are sections of two works

 

 We did a Mark Making workshop with her, using stamps. I'll be trying it on fabric...

We visited the home and studio of mixed media artist Dorota Pietrzyk.

and painted icons and then enjoyed a superb traditional meal.

Next stop Zakopane. It is a popular resort for skiing in winter or walking othertimes. We were meant to visit one of the mineral spring resorts but it was closed for some refurbishment. We substituted with a great cable car ride to a snow topped peak in the Tatra aMountains.

 

 

 Around Zakopane - local cheeses with decorative moulds

 - timber fence tops

 - interesting fibre works in an exhibition

 

 - a huge hotel

 - nearby point to view the mountains. All the white lines are aircraft con trails!

 - my linen/burlap and lace find at the viewing spot - obviously a local parking spot. The bottle was empty

Lublin
- a superb public park designated about 1836 - as old as Adelaide!

 - beautiful autumn colouring

 - the Castle Museum

 - exhibition of East Poland crafts - included costumes

 - flaming icecream at a restaurant

 - restaurant decor

 - Ethnographic Park where we saw linen processing, spinning, thread and rope (made from the fibres discarded when preparing for spinning) making

 - thatch, Polish style

 - baskets hanging on the fences for waste bins

 - traditional costume

 In Lublin, an interesting Cultural Centre building has a garden and beehives on the top floor. This is a traditional bee hive

 Visited Lublin Catholic University to meet academic Pawel Adamiec - to see the fibre art learning space for the courses he takes - this is a joint student work using just seeds -

 and then to hear from Pawel about his own work as landscape architect, designer, photographer, wearable art and costume designer. One of his headdresses.

We then attended an exhibition opening of his photographs from an interesting cooperative venture with a group of seniors.

 Renaissance town of Kazimierz-Dolny

 

 - scene shows the town close to the river. The town survived the war unscathed, when soldiers turned back at the river. It is now home to many artists.

 

 - wooden flowers for sale

 

- close up from the building facade above

 

 

 chimney tops

That's it. Just a glimpse really, of a fabulous trip. Re-living it while selecting these photos, it probably won't be too long before I start dreaming of the next one...