Vivid Vacation #1

Hello! We were on vacation last week, a trip that took us to central Kentucky, western Pennsylvania, southern Ohio and Indiana. The photos I took are heavy on vivid art works and gardens, so that's what I'll be showing off here. 

First up, an art quilt show at the Berea (KY) Arts Council. The show was sponsored in part by the Lexington-based Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society. The theme of the show was food. 

One of the quilt show exhibitors was on hand, I suppose to answer questions people may have had about the quilts, so she graciously posed with her masterpiece. It's made from silks she had hand-dyed, and she had added a plethora of beads and quilted detailing. The face in her quilt is a self-portrait. Alas, she didn't win a ribbon (the one shown in the photo is for the quilt displayed next to hers), but I thought she deserved one. She said she typically spends a few hours per night working on her quilts. That's patience, though she referred to it as a passion. 

Being a squirrel lover, I was taken with the lower right-hand corner of her quilt:

There's delicate shading on the squirrel's body, and each acorn cap is adorned with several hand-sewn beads. Beautiful work! Unfortunately, I didn't get the artist's name, but I certainly respected her talent, and the talents behind the other quilts in the show as well.  

Berea seems to be quite into sustainability, so I saw a number of raised bed gardens affiliated with area businesses, like in front of a dentist's office:

and the public library:

A few of the several raised beds sponsored by the library are shown.

The next day we visited the Arboretum/State Botanical Garden of Kentucky, on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Free admission, other than the children's garden, so that was a bonus. We enjoyed our visit, and wouldn't have minded paying to view the plantings. 

I should have taken more photos, but I was so busy taking in the plantings that I didn't do so. There were a number of display gardens, plus the arboretum. I was also impressed by the Walk Across Kentucky: 
 
The Walk Across Kentucky
The Walk Across Kentucky was first planted in 1991 after extensive plant collection efforts in the 1980’s, which sought to secure the botanical diversity from across the commonwealth, and cultivate it in a common location for research and conservation efforts.  The collection currently exists as a two-mile paved pathway that meanders through over 80 acres of native plantings representing the 7 physiographic regions of the state.  The collection is constantly expanding, and as of 2015 includes over 520 native species from 99 plant families.   There are 2500 trees and shrubs on the Walk Across Kentucky, showing the great diversity of woody plants found in the state.  More recently, efforts have been made to further develop the interesting ecosystems found across Kentucky, including tallgrass prairies, wetlands, savannahs, and glades. 

(the above info is from the Arboretum/State Botanical Garden of Kentucky website, which can be found here.)

For dinner that evening in Lexington, we visited Smithtown Seafood and West Sixth Brewing. The two businesses are in the same building: if you want something to eat along with your brews, you head over to the Smithtown side of things to order up your meal. When it's ready, it'll be brought over to your table at the brewery side. 

And you sidle up to the bar to order beer:

Wall of souvenir t-shirts:

My husband liked his beers, and we all liked our seafood dinners. I had the Cape Codder (a fish sandwich). But despite our orders and the name of the restaurant, vegetarian, burger and salad options are also available. 

We thought West Sixth Brewery had a fun, funky vibe, and we appreciated the brewery's mission as a home to several community events, like running and cycling clubs, science talks and game nights. 

All in all it was a fun and busy two days in Kentucky. Next post: I'll show off a combination of art works and gardens together.