New exhibit at Glencairn with my new friend Terry

Say hello to Teresita Pointer - Terry! - my new friend from the acrylics painting class. She drove over from her Glenside home and, since my car knows the way, I drove us to Glencairn.

It's the former home of Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn and their nine children. It was built during the Great Depression from 1928 to 1939.


Wiki - It houses a collection of about 8,000 mostly religious artwork from many cultures as diverse as ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek and Roman, medieval Christian, Islamic, Asian, and Native American.

The castle-like building was the former house of billionaire businessman Raymond Pitcairn (1885–1966) and his wife, Mildred Glenn (died 1979). It consists of more than 90 rooms on 10 floors, adjacent to Ralph Adams Cram's Gothic Revival Bryn Athyn Cathedral (1913–19) and his father's home Cairnwood.

The Pitcairn fortune derived from control of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, of which his father John Pitcairn, Jr. (1841-1916), was director, 1896-1906. The name of the museum is a combined form of Raymond's last name and Mildred's maiden name.

 Terry was astonished by the beauty of the building, deep in the heart of a Philadelphia suburb.

 I once spoke to the man who fashioned many of the doors from Monel.

Where does one start taking pictures?

I suppose I visit Glencairn once every six months.

 Terry took a 'hip shot' of Chris Alp and me. Chris attends Bryn Athyn College and is a senior majoring in history. There's a job opening at Glencairn he hopes to get after graduating. Teaching kids right here at the Castle.

From Eden to Eternity, from the website.

This exhibition features textiles hand-stitched by the Cuna Indians along the Caribbean coast of Panama, esp the San Blas Islands.

Molas are reverse appliqué panels made for the front and back of blouses worn by Cuna women. Each mola in this exhibition illustrates a story from the Bible—from the Garden of Eden to the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. Molas probably originated with the custom of body painting, traditionally done by Cuna women as early as the 17th century. By the 19th century this painting was replaced by textiles, perhaps because Christian missionaries insisted that the Cuna wear clothing.

Molas are made by women and female children, using only a needle, scissors and thimble. The Cuna have selectively adopted certain aspects of Western civilization, but continue to maintain their indigenous lifestyle and traditions. Many belong to thriving Christian congregations, and biblical themes are often depicted in their textiles.

The molas in this exhibition are on loan from the collection of Sandra and Bob Bowden. And what a collection it is!  

Shoot it Ruthie.... straight from the hip....

 The above embroidery is about Moses shooing away serpents. Did you ever hear of this? It's from Numbers in the Bible.

I was so excited to see nuns dressed in real habits. I MUST find out where they hail from. Dyou think Little Tongue-Tied Ruthie will have the nerve?

Ukraine. Sister Elisabeth and Sister Couldn't Catch her Name. They've been here two years and now are at a Russian Orthodox Catholic Church downtown.

The handsome gentleman who accompanied them did not wanna be photographed.

Glencairn has such loving people working there that the atmosphere was ripe to talk to perfect strangers.

 Veronica at the front desk was very helpful and put us on the Mailing List. Their next show, also from the Bowden collection, is by Marc Chagall.

I saw his work at the Maltz Museum in Cleveland. Read my fascinating blog.



 I loved the idea that Phoenix was the doorman. He was wearing a swell pair of sneaks.

Terry and I bought some nice gifts in the shoppe. Hmmm, wonder who will get postcards from me?

Terry is a nature-lover and gardens at her home in Glenside, where she lives with hubby Mohammed ("Mo") who is also an RN - he's at Jeane's Hospital, she's at Temple U - and their 10-yo son Nicholas. Nick sings in the choir at his North Penn school.

 I'd never noticed this courtyard until Terry pointed it out. This is the advantage of having two heads instead of one. As we bounded down a hill - why take the stairs when a hill awaits, Jack - Terry asked about my diabetes numbers.

Oh, I'm fine, I said. We were headed toward a new restaurant, two doors down from the excellent Allways Cafe.

 In the mail I got a coupon for a new Asian rest. which opened two months ago in Bethayres.

 Here's Yang, the Chinese owner, of Panda. 

The tea was delicious as was the Buddhist delight seafood platter. Enough for three servings. I injected 8, which was the perfect amount. I'm really good at estimating.

Just injected another 8 for our Saturday night pizza.

 We sat for a while at Panda and Terry worked w me on using my iPhone.

You simply TAP TAP TAP, she said.

I did!

Instead of going directly home, I asked Terry if she wanted a lil tour of the wonderful sights around Bryn Athyn.

Talk about entering Medieval Europe, which is the style of Cairnwood and the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, which we drove through. Here's another denomination of The Lord's New Church.

Drive through the cobblestone road and you'll get to a food commune. There also used to be NA meetings here.

Off on the road of life.