piecedgoods

Everyday Trash Everyday Art

Posted on September 4, 2011 by piecedgoods

The star of Open Sea exhibit in the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the great white shark at the moment, but there’s an area with an artistic bent where there are displays and explanations of artwork that are both beautiful and awareness raising.

I was fascinated by Alison McDonald’s installation, ‘Message in a Bottle’…perhaps because of our recent visit to the Marin Marine Mammal Washed Ashore Exhibit and it’s similar message about disposable things, but also because the and the carved out forms are lovely and evocative of the live things swimming in the tanks.

Posted in Art Thoughts, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Alison McDonald, conservation, Kelp forest, Leafy Sea Dragon, Monterey, Monterey Bay Aquarium, PET, Plastic, Plastic Bottles | 2 Comments

Tessuti Zoo

Posted on September 3, 2011 by piecedgoods

Whimsical and fun doesn’t even start to describe this place. Tessuti Zoo is a store in Pacific Grove that has me grinning every time I go. Emily Owens designs, makes, and merchandises here. Don’t go if you want to be grumpy and if you don’t think googly eyes are funny.

It’s around the corner from Back Porch Fabrics which has one of the best selections of Kaffe Fassett fabrics around which is how I found it. (Go to both if you like fabric and things in bright colors. )

Tessuti Zoo displays are not to be missed. Emily creates brilliant creatures like these stuffed fish, but there are many other discoveries as well. She finds and reupholsters wonderful chairs in riotous colors, merchandises aprons, pajamas, mermaids, butterflies, quilts, paintings, clocks, rubber chickens, and area rugs to name a few things.

Make this a detour if you’re in the vicinity of Monterey, California.

Posted in Art Thoughts, Sewing, Travel | Tagged Emily Owen, fish, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Tessuti Zoo | 2 Comments

Monterey

Posted on September 2, 2011 by piecedgoods

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been a family refuge as long we can remember.

We’ve been turning sea stars over and poking their bellies since our kids were infants. We’ve watched the kelp tank talk enough times that we could do it ourselves. Our kids were both thrilled and terrified by the wave action exhibit where torrents of water crash overhead while observers stay dry underneath the watertight acrylic dome. They grew up mesmerized by the jellyfish, tuna, sharks, and octopus.

The aquarium gives us a whole different world of creatures to appreciate.

There’s a juvenile great white shark in the largest of their tanks right now. He’s only 43 lbs. at the moment and less than a year old, but it’s interesting how much clearance his fellow tank-mates are giving him despite his size and inexperience. If you’re a fish/ocean/shark fan like we are, go check him out.

As terrifying as sharks are made out to be (Shark Week!) they are fascinating. Great white sharks do not sound the two note tune (E and F if you want to duplicate it) that indicated an approach in Jaws, but great white sharks can detect the electrical impulses made by heart beats from 100 feet away.