My Donation to Fiberart for a Cause

I’m so excited to once again support Virginia Spiegel and the Fiberart For A Cause team as they fund raise for the American Cancer Society.

This year’s event, Foto/Fiber 2012, opens February 15. I have donated two (2) Fiber BONUSES. I hope you will join me and 35 other fiber artists to help us meet our goal of raising $7000 to add to the $215,000 we have already donated to the ACS. Everything you need to know to participate in the event (and win my Fiber BONUSES) is here:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/FotoFiberHowItWorks.html

I posted teasers about my donations earlier. Check it out here

Nancy

Seed Play on Exhibit in Chapel Hill NC at the NC Botanical Gardens

Beauty of a Berry 24" x 24"

Eighteen pieces from my series, Seed Play, are in a solo exhibit at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill NC. This is such a delightful exhibition gallery in the Education Center specifically dedicated to botanical art. The exhibition is open to the public and free, although donations are welcome. The exhibition runs through February 26.

I have both large and a selection of small pieces in the exhibition.

They have a lovely gift shop that is well stocked for the garden lover. They also have a collection of quilts done specially for the Education Center and wonderful outdoor sculpture and art.

Please let me know if you can see the exhibit. Would love some feedback on it.

Nancy

Fiber for A Cause

Packet one with Sue Benner fabric Packet 2 with Lunn Fabric shibori and Els van Baarle fabrics

Virginia Spiegel is at it again, raising money for the American Cancer Society for cancer research. I have contributed two packets that donators will have the chance to either select (Day One) or be randomly selected to receive (Day Two).

Thought my readers might want to see a sneak preview of my packets. I went into my stash of very special fabrics and embellishments and pulled together two packets of color coordinated "stuff" from hand dyed and painted silk fabric from Sue Benner to some hand dyed cheese cloth from Els van Baarle and a scrap of Lunn Fabric double dyed shibori. Both contain silk cocoons and a silk rod to play with.

Pop on over to Foto Fiber to see how the donation process and your chance to select one of great art works and packets works. Click here.

Excitement Builds

Just got word today that Sandra Sider's new book, The Studio Quilt, No. 6, State of the Art, is being shipped to the included artists today. Can't wait to see the book.

Given my case of CRS, I cannot recall what artwork I selected to send to Sandra for inclusion. The book is being sold on Amazon, so if you are interested, you can go to Amazon and just put in Sider Studio Quilt and it will bring up the book.

Nancy

What I Love About the South

Today I went walking with camera around my yard to see the wonders. Snowdrops are already blooming with many more to come.

The native azaleas are still showing some colorful leaves and the fat buds of blooms for next year.



In the side garden there are more snowdrops peaking up through the leaves. Love these cheerful flowers that bloom throughout the winter for me in mild years.

Here they are peaking out under Italian Arum, the mossy rock is snuggled up tight to a Lenten Rose, that will also bloom about Christmas and keep on blooming until spring arrives.

Next to the driveway are Burford Holly berries. Robins, mockingbirds and others are beginning to feast on them already.

This i a little Japanese ground cover that sports red berries. They are great in floral arrangements.

One of my favorite tree/shrubs is this pink camellia. It blooms in early October and keeps going until killed by a hard frost.



These are Nandina berries that the birds love. They have already lost berries to marauding flocks.

The Burkwood Viburnum has a few lovely leaves left. Some will remain all winter until the new leaves push them off.




The privet bush has wonderful dark blue berries that the birds love. They make great additions to the winter arrangements.


Coming along the right side of the house is what we call Kroll Stroll. You can see two of our favorite camellias -- Misty Moon -- blooming here in front of the house.

My favorite camellia is Misty Moon. It is blooming early this year. Usually the other two camellias are bloomed out before M Moon begins. And often it is hit by the cold weather and we get little blossom for all its wonderful buds. This year it is spectacular.

It starts a fairly dark pink and then opens to a more delicate hue.



Here are a few pictures of Misty Moon flowers and buds. Love the open face of this camellia.








From the back deck a couple of blooming trees brighten the winter.









At the back deck another favorite tree blooms periodically through out late fall and winter in any warm spell. It is a Japanese plum tree called: Prunus Autumnalis. The buds are dark pink and open to almost white.







These are our earliest camellias to bloom. This is a view looking down from our upper deck.

Today, as my DH and I left for church in light weight tops, he pointed out the blooming snowdrops beside the driveway. What a joy! I grew up in the South, then spent 25 years in Iowa and Ohio before returning to Charlotte. At this time of year, I would have had ice on my driveway for more than a month, maybe two, in Iowa. I learned to love the snow, but I always missed being able to go outside and see flowers in bloom.

So I took a walk around my yard today and I found lots to enjoy. Hope these photos will brighten your day as well.

Nancy

12 by 12 Book Give Away

I wrote a review of this book on the Fiber Art Options blog awhile back. You can see it here .

This is a delightful book that I am giving away on my blog. Just leave a comment by December 3. Be sure to get back to this blog on December 4 to find out who won. If I don't hear from the winner by December 7, the book will go to the next person on the list. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving for those who celebrate in November.

Nancy

Self Critiquing

Robert Genn has a terrific suggestion about self critiquing our own artwork on his twice weekly newsletter.

You can get a copy by contacting him here.

"Robert Genn Twice-Weekly Letter"

Genn suggests that we should develop our own list of questions to ask about our art, and then he gives some of the questions he asks. The questions vary from concept questions to technique questions to show the range.

I particularly liked the question about interesting subject matter. I realized that my own questions are very rudimentary and lack artistic depth. They are mainly about perspective, center of interest, repetition, rhythm. Developing a good list of questions is a growth area for me.

Do you ask questions of your art to help in self critiquing? If so, would you share them with my readers? If you blog about it, would you share your link to your blog?

Thanks.

Nancy