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

Inspiration Sketches

My work is done directly from live specimens, augmented by photography and sketches. Since the timing for live seeds and berries may not be the same as when I want to create a piece, I like to document specimens throughout the year with sketches and photos. Here are a couple of cuties that I really like.

The little red berries are sketches of Partridge Berries. This is a very diminutive ground cover found in the Piedmont area of the Carolinas. What I find fascinating about this little plant is that the little white flowers are always twin flowers coming out of the same spot on the stem. And the berry that results from the 2 flowers is one berry with two "belly buttons". Anyone know of any other flower that does this?


The three cones are actually clusters of seeds that are tightly bound together looking like a weirdly marked berry until it begins ripening and splits begin around the individual seeds. Initially they look a bit like little pine cones, but pine cones have seeds inside the petals of the cones. Here the "petals' are actually the seeds. These seed clusters can occur in a string of these strange little balls that shatter. They are from the Bald Cyrus trees that are planted around Charlotte and turning brown at this time. This is a deciduous tree that looks evergreen in the summer, but browns and drops its needles in the fall.

Are you sketching? Please share a link to what you are doing.

Nancy

Fall in Charlotte

The fall colors have never seemed brighter than this year. DH and I spent sunny hours driving around and taking photos to remember through the winter months. I will share some here and some on my Facebook page.

Please let me know if I should share more.

Nancy

Art Work by Meadowood Stitched Workshop Participants

Participants in my Meadowood Stitched workshop created some lovely pieces on Saturday at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens.

We worked with a large variety of specimens collected by staff from the wonderful gardens. Making choices among all the wonderful seeds, berries and leaves was really difficult.

The first photo is of a buckeye seed pod and dogwood leaves. The next one is a real play with colors to add some intrigue to the pecan and its outer husk.

The next are persimmons with their lush colors just as they begin ripening.

The first set of leaves are from the fothergila shrub in my garden that turns many different shades in the fall.

And the last lovely piece is a compound sumac leaf.

It was a glorious day, we sat outside for a picnic lunch on the veranda.

If you have a chance to take a class at DSBG, the set up is lovely, and you are bound to enjoy it.

Please leave a comment and let the ladies know how much you enjoyed their work.

Nancy

Meadwood Stitched Workshop at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens Nov 5

Meadowood Stitched: Meadow Plants on Fabric

Date & Time: Saturday Nov 05, 2011
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Location: Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, Belmont NC

Cost: $80 (members), $90 (non-members), $20 (materials)

Registration: Call 704-829-1252 to Register

Supplies: Lunch, #2 mechanical pencil, kneaded eraser, small rotary cutting mat, utility knife with renewable small blades

With demonstrations and step by step exercises, you will create unique images of nature on fabric. All special supplies will be furnished. Come have fun, see a beautiful garden and go home with your own creation celebrating the wonders of the fall meadow and woodland. This is tailored for beginner to advanced participants. No experience necessary.

Directions:
Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is located just west of Charlotte at the N.C./S.C. state line, outside the town of Belmont. The Garden is easily accessible from Interstates 85 and 77.

Seed Play at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

Google alerted me to this nice piece of coverage of my exhibition at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. You can see it here.
If you are in the Richmond VA area, please check it out. You can see more of the work in the show on my website.

Nancy

Setting Up Fiber Art Options at Barnful of Quilts

Today four of us spent the morning setting up multiple quilts in the show ring at Fox Family Farm in Waxhaw NC for the annual one-day Barnful of Quilts exhibition and sale to raise money for charity.


This year the money is going to Samaritan's Purse to help the many areas in the world devastated by natural disasters. Here are some of the photos of the set up.

If you are in the area, come on out tomorrow from 10 - 4. Lots of fun for all.Nancy

Fiber Aert Options at Barnful of Quilts Saturday October 8

Fiber Art Options artists are participating in this annual show of quilts in Waxhaw NC. In addition, there are a number of vendors with fiber related arts, a great bake sale and all for a very good cause: Samaritan's Purse. Show open from 10 - 5 all day Saturday.

For directions check out Fox Family Farms. Entry fee is small and all goes to the supported charity.

Nancy