The Silk Farming Process (Sericulture)

I recently connected with Annette Laing who has a Non-Boring History distribution. In her latest email, there was a link to one of her podcasts. The two-part podcast is about why silkworms were so important to Early Spanish America and why we should care.

Along with the podcast information, she sent this video link. It's about how silk is cultivated from silkworms...a process called sericulture. It is a fascinating process, but it also means that each silkworm (that produces a single cocoon) dies in the process. That single cocoon is harvested and joins thousands of others in order to produce silk threads that can then be woven into silk fabric. I found the story impressive and sad at the same time.

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Movie Review: Four Hands, Two Sonatas

Netflix has been advertising this limited Korean series recently added to the site's line-up. The title peaked my interest. So, I started watching it with no expectation other than knowing it was about two pianists. I really liked how this Korean production was dubbed in English. The English speakers (voice sound/tone/character) were terrifically cast as well as the timing of the spoken words' consistency with the mouthing of the Korean actors on-screen dialogue. This series' storyline has a number of facets: bullying, wealth vs poverty and access to arts training, musicianship, stage fright, competition, friendship, rivalry, sabotage, lack of confidence, revenge, etc. The music is primarily classical and is lovely. Four Hands, Two Sonatas is an off-beat show. That said, I really enjoyed it (and the piano playing is terrific too)! As a prior musician--there are many topics it brought up that I understand. Overall, the...

Free Online Creative Retreat: Art Oasis 2026

I haven't participated in this retreat series before. But I learned about it through an artist I follow, and she will be leading one of the sessions. The retreat starts October 17th and runs through October 23rd (2026). If you're interested in an opportunity to play artistically, here is the link for more information and where you can sign-up: https://jessicaswift.com/pages/art-oasis

New Project in Progress

I'm working on a new project with multiple layers and shapes of different colored organzas. It is an interpretation of lighting on an ice rink...from a show I recently saw. There is a lot more stitching to do, but I like how its coming along. I'm learning organzas are not easy to work with especially when you layer them and have overlaid edges. The fabric also tends to ravel easily. This post also linked to http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com .

Cay Denise

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