Conservatory aglow!

Wednesday 21 December
Today promised to be a pleasant dry day with some sunshine, and with the big storm heading our way, late tomorrow evening, we got out to make the most of it, heading up to the state Capitol Columbus for the day. We first went to the Art Museum, where they had a couple of special exhibitions. The first as entitled Wild Things are happening, featuring the life and art of the famous book illustrator, Maurice Sendak, best known for his book Where the Wild Things are. This is the first major retrospective exhibition of Sendak since his death in 2012. I first came across the work of Maurice Sendak, when I was a cataloguer for juvenile materials at Hamilton Public Library when we first came to the States in 1979. The exhibition was most interesting - I hadn’t realised for example that later in his life he became very active in set design for operas and other productions. The second exhibition was Raphael - The Power of Renaissance Images: The Dresden Tapestries and their Impact. These monumental tapestries were woven directly from “cartoons” (painted compositions) by the Renaissance master Raphael. The tapestries depict scenes from the New Testament, most from the book Acts of the Apostles, focused on the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul. The exhibition also features paintings by other artists influenced by Rafael’s work.
We had some time left over to see some of the regular collection of the museum before leaving for the Conservatory Aglow event at Franklin Conservatory, with the interior including the various works by Dale Chihuly, as well as the gardens outside being turned into a festive wonderland. By the time we had finished there, after taking many photographs (!), it was time for dinner, which we enjoyed at a well known local German restaurant Schmidt’s, before driving home.
Later in the evening, Laura arrived home from Wisconsin. for the Christmas holiday. She was supposed to have been coming home Thursday afternoon and evening - it’s a 9 hour drive, but with the impending storm, which was looking as if it would hit southern Wisconsin quite hard, with blizzard conditions likely, Roger recommended her to leave today if possible. Fortunately much of her work can be done remotely, and her boss is very flexible and understanding, so she left work about 1 pm, and with the time change, arrived home about 11:pm.