Another visit to the Appleton Museum

I had another amazing afternoon today...Marcia,Peggy & I went to see the exhibit, Industrial Nature:  Work by Michelle  Stitzlein   at the Appleton museum.  Talk about amazing!!  If you are in the Ocala or surrounding area, do head out to the Appleton Museum to see this exhibit!  It's well worth the trip and $4 charge (if you're mature person!).  Yes, you can go to her web site to see her sculptures/art work but it doesn't compare to seeing this work in person.  Michelle uses old license plates (that's what is wrapped around this butterfly & other pieces!), old bowls, piano keys....you name it and you'll see it in her work.  She even had some old computer mouse pieces creating the curve shape in on of her butterfly's!

We kept looking closely at each piece trying to identify all the different objects Michelle uses in her art!  And you have to look closely!!!  I even found a toy gorilla in one piece!!   Plus, you don't realize the size of her artwork by just looking at the pictures.  Check out this exhibit picture on her web page to get a better perspective on how large some of these pieces are!

This next picture shows flashers, light bulbs, piano keys, etc.  to make up the art work!

In this piece, Michelle used old slide carrousel's , along with toy railroad tracks for the background!

I would love to see her work room!!!  And her supply room/shed!!!  I'm going to google to find out more about Michelle.

Again, if you're in the area, stop by the Appleton and take your time looking at each piece of Michelle's work...you'll be amazed at what you'll see she used to create her art!!!   The exhibit is on until July 6.

 And yes, we did stop for lunch at Heart's Desire...fantastic chicken salad and of course we each had some cake!!  But we each, also, brought cake home.  We were so good...now to see how long the cake lasts!

Appleton Museum

Today, Marcia and I headed to the Appleton Museum to check out some of the exhibits.  First off was the Canconstruction exhibit!  Locals created pieces of art using canned goods.  There weren't as many large sculptures as we thought but they were still interesting.  You aren't suppose to take pics inside the museum, which I didn't know until I just read the back of the brochure I brought home!  Oops!  Anyway, this is one of the larger pieces..all of the canned goods will be donated to local shelters.

The rest of these are center pieces which were made by a group of volunteers,  one of which is my friend, Peg (she's the arm knitter I posted about here!).  Some of these were quite clever.  I love the cat and dog!

This owl was really cute

  So next up was the Tablecloth - A Gathering of Legends.

  This was really cool...it's a linen tablecloth the wife of a motion picture salesman collected famous signatures on.  She would then embroider over each signature to preserve it.  There was an entire room with pictures of all the famous folks who signed the tablecloth.  And the tablecloth was in the center of the room on a large table.  So interesting to see the signatures of some of the old motion picture stars on this tablecloth (Dorothy Lamour was one!).  You can see the entire list here.  From that web link you can also read more about the tablecloth...it was interesting and great that the woman's son is carrying on the tradition.  

You can go to the Appleton web site to see the other exhibits we saw or those you might be interested in seeing if you're in the Ocala area!   Oh, we also went outside to see the Bonsai exhibit but just as we started to look at the plants the rain came!  Time for lunch!  We headed off to the Ivy House and had a great lunch!  We had a fun and educating afternoon!!!   What more could you ask for!   Thanks, Marcia!!  Look forward to our next adventure!  I'm trying to talk her into zip lining with me!