Another weekend of heavy rain, so Ward and I decided that since we couldn't get to our outside chores, we shouldn't do the inside ones either. (Like our logic?) So off we went to see an exhibit of kaleidoscopes. The exhibit was celebrating the 200th anniversary of when Sir David Brewster first displayed one.
The exhibit was held in an old mansion and featured major kaleidoscope artists from around the world. The pieces were beautiful from both the inside and on the outside. As well as the kaleidoscopes themselves, we saw paintings and quilts with kaleidoscope themes. Below are some pictures of what we saw. I tried to take photos of what we saw through the eyepieces with limited success, but you'll see a few of those anyway.
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| The design in each square of this quilt was made by individual pieces that were pieced with amazing precision. |
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| These were made from gourds. |
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| This was a kaleidoscope wagon with a big kaleidoscope in the middle and other ones around. |
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| Ward checking out the view in the wagon. |
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| The majority of the works were for sale and ranged in price from $95 to $28,000. But you could still pickup most of them and look inside. |
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| Look closely to see what this picture is made up of. |
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| There was only a light rain, so we also walked around the grounds of the mansion. |
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| A sculpture dedicated to the arts. |
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| And how lucky are we that this whole afternoon was free. |
Wow! Very cool. I never would've imagined a $28,000 kaleidoscope but I guess ya learn something new everyday. Looks like a lovely afternoon adventure. Thanks for taking me on that tour! :o)
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely afternoon. Also, we found a place to park and it was not too crowded--icing on the cake for a fun exhibit.
DeleteI love your theory about the rain and work! I am going to use it soon!
ReplyDeleteI love your photos of the various kaleidoscopes. Thank you for sharing!
Now that we've tried it, I think we may be returning to that logic. Not sure if that's a good thing or not so it needs more experimentation to find out. :)
DeleteI loved those as a kid, they seemed so magical. I think I would have liked that place. Glad you got to go.
ReplyDeleteMagical is a good word to describe kaleidoscopes. I think you would have liked it. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't.
DeleteWow, what mansion is that? Glad you are finding fun stuff to do in the rain. I'm afraid of what our lawn is going to look like when we get back. It was already long when we left. :(
ReplyDeleteStrathmore in Montgomery County. It used to a summer home for some rich people from Washington, D.C.
DeleteWe still haven't had a chance to cut our grass. Yesterday was good during the day, but there was a thunderstorm before we got home from work that made the grass, once again, too wet to cut. Soon we won't be cutting grassing, we'll be haying.