Collecting Specimens- What Fun!!

Collecting specimens is loads of fun with good company in a beautiful place.


Bur Oak Acorn

Last Friday, Cindy Klemmer, Director of Education at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, took me for a ride around the grounds to collect seed specimens for my workshop there on Saturday. It was a rare privilege and delight.

That charmer above is an acorn that I have long wanted to work with. It looks like a small child in an overly large winter hat. There were lots of these acorns under a tree along the road going to the Visitors Center.



Beauty Berry

These colorful berries are a native plant that grows in my garden, but never as lush as these beauties. Easy to see where it got its name.


Bald Cypress Seed Clusters

This interesting cluster of seeds simply falls apart when ripe. I was delighted to find this seed cluster. I had never seen one before. These are the same trees we see along the coast with knees growing up in the swamp.



Rose Hips

These interesting berries have a star at their tip. The banks of roses were full of hips. Will all hips make tea?


Paw paw

This rather small pod was full of seeds and some were still available under the fallen leaves from a cluster of trees near the Education Center.


Hyacinthe Bean

This bean is on a vine, like string beans. Very colorful.

Cindy was knowledgeable and a congenial hostess for the garden. We had a great time on a lovely fall day. These collected seeds will be great specimens for the workshop on Saturday. Thanks, Cindy.

Nancy

Workshop at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens Saturday 11/6

Inspiration: Crepe Myrtle Seed Pods

Wish me luck. I am teaching my first workshop on my techniques and processes at DSBG in Belmont NC. I love teaching, especially adults who are interested in the subject matter. Did lots of it in my former employment as an HR consultant for Duke Energy. Have done some in the quilting realm, so it is not totally unfamiliar. This time, I am teaching processes I use and am very familiar with, but do not have a good feel for how quickly others will grasp the materials. The challenge is always how to keep it simple enough for beginners to grasp and sophisticated enough to keep the old hands interested.
It is both a process and a product class. So everyone should be able to go away with a small piece of nature inspired art of their own creation based on the techniques taught.
I have begun developing the actual course curriculum and materials. I will have a pretty complete kit of materials and extra materials for participants to experiment with. The workshop is limited to 15 people maximum to provide good space and time for each person to ask questions.


Please, if you are interested in the workshop, contact DSBG or register on line.

Nancy

Be Still My Heart

This is the first piece.

Just got my newest batch of Heidi Stoll Weber fabrics. As usual they are luscious and she sent lots for me to chose from.

I use her hand dyed cotton sateen fabrics exclusively for my current series: Seed Play. Her fabrics are both luscious with rich colors but soft enough that I can ink my designs onto them with semi transparent inks.

My next group will be on native plants and I wanted enough that I can do a group of 3 coordinated pieces. So Heidi sent me lots of luscious fabric to choose from. Her fabrics always put me in a dilemma of wanting more than I can justify buying.

SeedPlay Exhibition Hung!

Kousa: Another Dogwood's in Town

Wednesday my DH and I, with many of the staff at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, hung my solo show. I am delighted with how it looks at the venue. The galleries are to the right and left of the entry on the hall where the restrooms are. So many people will walk by them on the way to the necessaries. I have several new pieces in the show that have not been exhibited previously. I will show details of some of them here. Hope you enjoy. (Yes, they were my Quilt National entries.)

The top photo is of the Asian dogwood that is finding its way into our landscapes as a recommended replacement for our beautiful native dogwoods, as the natives are dying from a fungal disease. It blooms later and the berry is very different.


Mockingbird's Larder

The detail above is from a piece that celebrates the joyous color that the deciduous hollies provide throughout our gray winters. The berries ripen late so the birds find them welcome food for the late winter when other food is gone.


Echoes of Tulip's Summer

The tulip poplar is one of my favorite trees. It sheds its seeds for more than a year thereby better ensuring that some of them will find suitable soil and weather conditions to germinate and grow.

For me, the multiple ways that tree seeds use for reproduction provide a metaphor for the importance of diversity for a species' survival as conditions change. The lesson it teaches us about the importance of diversity for humans is one that we need to learn in the depths of our hearts, minds and souls.

Please wish me luck for my show that runs until November 14 and come see it if you are any where nearby Belmont NC.

Nancy

SeedPlay - Solo Show at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

My Seed Play series will be featured in a solo show at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens from October 1 through November 14.

Saturday, November 6, I will be giving a workshop on creating fiber art using botanical illustration and stenciling. To register for the workshop, contact DSBG.

If you are interested in going, check out the information below:

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
6500 South New Hope
Belmont, NC 28012

704-829-1270

Here is what DSBG's newsletter has to say about the work:

"In her work, Nancy highlights the seeds and fruits of trees, bringing them to life with multi-media techniques including botanical illustration, stenciling, quilting and embroidery. The result is a unique effect that inspires closer observation of the beautiful shapes and forms of nature. Working from collected seed specimens, these unusual designs are based on research and sketching to clarify what is architecturally unique for each species and focuses attention on a part of trees that is often overlooked.”

Daniel Stowe is also offering the following classes in conjunction with SeedPlay for an artful and horticultural focus on seeds, pods, and winter gardening:

Seed Saving Saturday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m. - noon Instructor: Dr. Barbara Albritton-Grant

Seedplay: Plants Portrayed in Fabric Saturday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Instructor: Nancy G. Cook

Gardening for Winter Interest Saturday, Nov. 13, 10:30 a.m. - Noon
Instructor: Dr. Barbara Albritton-Grant

Art Meets Science

Art Meets Science Catalog

Just received the catalog from the SAQA juried exhibition Art Meets Science. One of my pieces, Southern Hospitality, is a part of this traveling exhibition. Reading the catalog filled me with tremendous pride.

The curator, Jill Jensen, has hit this exhibition effort and catalog out of the ball park. Her training in science and her own work as a fiber artist give her the background for making this a truly special work. Jill first floated this idea on the SAQA Yahoo group, and received much support for the concept. The concept is great, the execution of the concept is equal to the task, and the results are sterling.

Her selected Juror, David W. Fraser, MD, has a unique and extensive background in both science and art and his juror's statement is pure poetry. His selections provide a well-rounded, strong exhibition of consistent quality. His observations on traditional and art quilt similarities and differences are worth pondering.

Deidre Adams has done her usually superb job of catalog design. Each quilt is given a full page photo with title and sizes. On the facing page is the artist's name, city and state or country and the artist statement. Quilts are presented in alphabetical order by the artist's name which makes this little volume easy to reference. The selected artists are from across the US, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands.

Most of the pieces in the exhibition are for sale on the SAQA on line store. All in all, everyone involved is to be congratulated on this exhibition and the fine catalog. Congratulations, SAQA.

Nancy

Help!! Need a Name for New Quilt

I am entering three quilts into the Quilt National Competition and am brain dead in thinking up a name for the third one. They are all in my Seed Play series.

The first is of deciduous holly berries and is named Mockingbird's Larder.

The second is of the Asian Kousa Dogwood that is being used to replace our native dogwoods that are succumbing to a viral infection. It is called Kousa: A New Dogwood's in Town.

The last one is of a shattering seed cluster of the tulip poplar and several insect eaten leaves. I am showing a small version above. Obviously, it is not the actual design and piece for required security reasons but gives some information to help with naming it.

Please, put on your thinking cap and help me name it. Names I am considering are: Summer Shattering; A Different Tulip.

All suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks a batch,
Nancy