SUMMER IS EASY AND THE FISH ARE JUMPING

ASHEVILLE IN THE BLUE RIDGE AND SMOKEY MOUNTAINS

A BLUE MIST HANGS AND THE CLOUDS DRIFT LOW

Family Farms Leicester, North Carolina 

SUMMER FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING, THE CAROLINA LILIES, THE 

RHODODENDRON IS FLOWERING IN WHITE CLUMPS ALONG THE STEEP 

MOUNTAINSIDE, COWS ARE LAZILY EATING ABUNDANT GRASSES, CROWS SIT 

AMONG THE CORN STALKS THAT WILL LATER BE FEED FOR ANIMALS FOR THE

WINTER, TRACTORS ARE PLOWING, ROWS ARE MOUNDING, SEEDS PLANTED 

AND THE SUMMER CROPS ARE FLOURISHING

Carolina Lilly as I call it  

 

It is easy to be lazy in the summer as the line from "Porgy and Bess" says.  Summertime, when the living is easy.  I have posted less because I have been under time constraint to finish a major piece for an art show.  It is now done and shipped.  It is in my mind to expand the theme I started working with in this last piece.  I have been working with assemblage and high relief collage in themes that revolve around immigration, difference in cultures and cultural blending of people and nations.  Another area of interest is communication.  My Mother for the past 11 years has lived with the effects of a stroke that left her with sever communication problems and aphasia.  I have learned so much from my Mother's condition these past 11 years while I have been intensely involved in her care and her adjustment to her situation.  Also having worked in special education half my career as an art teacher has given me experience with severe handicaps of all kinds that effected their ability to communicate.  These themes are fascinating to me..how we communicate, how we perceive communication, how we use parts of our brains and not others, and what happens if part of your brain is damaged, but you can communicate with what is working?  We also communicate differently depending on our up bringing, experiences and our culture.  When I taught overseas in the Philippines I had to take a course in culture communication and how to understand cultural sensitivity.  So this is the areas I am going to explore in my art this summer and fall while at the mountain studio.  That is if I don't get to lazy while the fish are jumping!

RABBIT'S MOON ASHEVILLE STUDIO

GETTING SET UP FOR THE SUMMER.

THE STUDIO IS SURROUNDED BY NATURE.  THERE IS NOT A VIEW THAT DOES NOT CALL OF LUSH GREEN NEWLY LEAFING TREES.  BIRD FEEDERS SET OUT, IT TAKES A WHILE FOR THE BIRDS TO REALIZE WE ARE BACK.



 A EARLY VISITOR TO GREET US,  ROCKY RACCON, SO NAMED.  HE APPEARS TO BE FOND OF BIRD SEED.  HE IS ACTUALLY FAIRLY FRIENDLY, A YOUNG FELLOW I THINK.

THIS IS THE UPPER STUDIO, THERE IS A WORKSHOP IN THE GARAGE FOR SAWING, PAINTING, AND CONSTRUCTION.  THIS IS FOR PLANNING AND FINE WORK.  THE HORNETS NEST WAS FOUND BY A NEIGHBOR WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THIS AREA.  ON HIS WALKS IN THE WOODS HE FINDS TREASURES HE BRINGS BACK FOR ME.  ONCE IT WAS SNAKE SKINS, ANOTHER TIME A BIRDS NEST OR AN UNUSUAL FUNGI OR INSECT.

IN THE DRAWERS OF MY TOOL BOX ARE A COLLECTION OF YEARS OF FINDS, OBJECTS OF DELIGHT.  SOME THINGS APPEAR ON THE STREET, OR ALLEY, SOME IN AN ANTIQUE SHOP OR THRIFT SHOP AND SOME ARE GIVE BY FRIENDS WHO KNOW I LOVES RUST AND INTERESTING FOUND OBJECTS.

NATURE INSPIRES ARTISTS, IT INSPIRES ME.  TO LOOK OUT AND SEE SUCH BEAUTY WHILE YOU CREATE CANNOT HELP BUT LEND TO THE WHOLE PROCESS.   

I WILL ADD PICTURES OF THE DOWNSTAIR WORKSHOP LATER SO YOU CAN GET A FEEL FOR THE WHOLE AREA.

VINCI, LEONARDO DA VINCI, IS THE STUDIO DOG.  HE KEEPS ME COMPANY AND GUARDS THE AREA FROM CAT INTERFERENCE AND THE LIKE.  HE TAKES HIS JOB VERY SERIOUSLY, KEEPING THE CAT AWAY THAT IS!

LOOKING AT LIFE ON BOTH SIDES NOW!

WE WERE RIDING THOUGH ASHEVILLE

 AND IT STARTED TO RAIN

A COLD FRONT COMING THROUGH

 I WAS WAITING IN THE CAR
 WHILE ERRANDS WERE BEING DONE
 AND GOT A LITTLE BORED. 

I LOOKED OUT THE CAR WINDOW 
AND HOW THE RAIN DISTORTED THE VIEW.  

 I LOVED THE WAY IT MADE ME LOOK 
AT FAMILIAR OBJECTS IN AN ABSTRACT WAY

 IT TOOK ON SOME THOUGHTS OF MONET, 
AND OTHER FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST AS WELL,

MONET

CAILLEBOTTE

IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO TAKE TIME WHEN YOUR INNER ARTIST SAYS " HEY, I HAVE AN IDEA".  EASY TO IGNORE, EASY TO MISS A MOMENT THAT CAN BE LONG GONE, AND NOT BORN.  

STOP 

TAKE TIME

 CREATE

 BE IN THE MOMENT 

THINK 




PS.  Photo's taken with little point and shoot Lumix by Panasonic.  Love this little camera. It has a leica lens and 20x zoom, but fits in my pocket.

Time to Say Goodbye to the WInter Studio

No more dinners and wine on the deck till
spring now.  Lots of good memories though.

 Actually this year, my mountain studio was summer, fall, and almost winter.  I think this week is officially winter, but we have already had our first snow and the squirrels have started to fatten themselves on the corn I throw out ever morning to get them through a sparse winter spoils. I thought I would share a few pictures of this time and memories before the trek down to Florida today by way of South Carolina and family. 

Whitey Bolger Senior

This trip I discovered our squirrels had white ears and some have white paws.  So we decided to name them Whitey Bulger and family after the infamous international thief that dogged capture for almost a lifetime.  I don't think our squirrels ever intend to be captured either! 

On this trip I discovered some wonderful little art towns.  Marshall, Spruce Pine and Burnsville, North Carolina.  I also visited an art studio built on a trash dump that uses the gases generated from the trash for kilns and torches for blowing glass.  I went to Akira Satake's art opening, a wonderful potter who uses older Japanese glazing and firing techniques. I met many new craftsmen in the area.  And we bought a new tea bowl for our collection from Akira.  We have a large collection( well a beginning collection) of tea bowls. 

I learned to adapt to winter, by staying into the colder time of year and did much better than last year.  Vinci, the studio dog, did not shake nearly as much and was able to stay out longer without becoming a popsicle.  

We tried new restaurants and I will share those with you and our other new finds in case you plan to travel to Asheville, North Carolina and this area.

Snowy day vista with found object mobile

Enveloped in the clouds one day

Zafer, the studio cat, hard at work 

Enveloped in the clouds the second day

early morning on the mountain, pastel mountains poke through

The snows have melted for now, it is a week and a half before Christmas and more snow
is due next week.  The mosses on the mountain have thrived this year.   And now it is
time to say good bye for awhile, until the next time and more adventure and more creation.

Until the next time…….

Asheville Artist Journal Fall 2013

Taking a camera with where ever I go lets me keep a visual diary.  I highly suggest it for artists.  So much can catch your eye and then be forgotten later.  Just in a  few short minutes something catches you eye and then works its way into a piece of art work. So get a small camera, that you can stick in your pocket, you won't leave behind because it is too heavy or bulky.  Take quick shots and go back and edit later.  Just think of it as a visual memory journal.  Elizabeth Gordon, RMS

75  by Elizabeth Gordon

photo by Elizabeth Gordon

Photo by Elizabeth Gordon

Photo by Elizabeth Gordon

IT'S A SMALL SMALL WORLD OF ART

LESLIE KNOWS BARBARA, I KNOW LESLIE, I INTRODUCE LESLIE TO MARK AND LYMAN, AND NOW WE ALL KNOW BARBARA.

BARBARA FISHER/ARTIST

                                        from google image for educational purposes only

Sometimes things are so happenstance in how they turn out.

Leslie Neuman, a wonderful painter, whom we all recently met and become friends with, just so happens to have a friend who is an artist in Asheville.  Barbara Fisher and Leslie Neuman as it turns out have been friends since middle school. 

from google image for educational purposes only

 So recently when in Asheville Mark and Lyman, who were visiting us at Rabbit's Moon Studio,  suggested we go meet her at her studio in the River Arts District.   It was a wonderful visit for everyone.  Barbara was amazed we knew Leslie and our all of our common connections.  As a result of our networking we got to meet a new painter, see her work and studio.  It was invigorating for all of us.  As creative people to meet and see other creatives doing what we all want to do...have a studio and be invested totally in their art, gets the motivation and creative juices going.  And just making new friends in the arts is another huge bonus.

Ann, Barbara, Mark, Lyman

Me, Barbara, Mark, Lyman

Barbara's work is amazing. I first 

thought her paintings were encaustic art.

She told me that people often think

that.  She paints with acrylic, but has a method of sanding and refining that makes the work have the same feeling of soft depth that encaustic has.  Her studio is a wonderful space in the River Arts District in Asheville, a community of 180 artists. Barbara has lived and painted in Asheville for over 7 years and was one of the original pioneers of the River Arts District.  

In her studio you can see the evolution of her style over the years from a tighter more figurative work to her present looser more abstract soulful art.  Beautiful work and a beautiful person. We all feel fortunate to have made the connection to a new artist and friend in the arts.
If you are in Asheville make sure you go by the studio and meet Barbara and treat yourself to  her work.  If you are on line go to Nathan Mark Phillips site and view his wonderful digital collage.  

Leicester Open Art Studio 

is not unlike many Open Studio's across the United States where artists open their own studio's for people to come view their work and buy from them directly.  The advantage for you is that you can usually buy artists work at a much cheaper price than in galleries where it is marked up as much as 50%!  It is a win-win relationship for artists and patrons, besides it is so much fun to see each studio and how an artist works. 

The only difference I know is that it 

might help to have a 4 wheel drive!  

The postmen in this area have subaru's!  Just teasing really, we had a two wheel drive and made it just fine. 

The Second artist on our list we went to see was another potter.  Her name is Denise Dvortze ....Driving in to the property we passed a little barn with Pablo and his goats.

This is Pablo the guard Llama

  Llama's make good guard dogs and he is very attentive to his goats and looks after the very well. Just that week one of the goats was very ill and he stood over her guarding while he spit on Denise and her husband who were trying to help. 

The pond with the water falls is man made, but looked very realistic.  

This is a man made pond just outside the patio

 The owner and her husband built the pond and waterfalls with help from a pond designer.  I wondered if the Koi could live through the winters here, and they said they could as long as the water is running and at least 4 Ft. deep.

The Koi live year round in the pond

As we went through
 the day we say many wonderful spots where artists built or designed their own studios.  They are so tucked away deep on the back roads in the mountains you would never know they were there.

There were two potters showing here.  The owners Denise and Ron had invited another potter by the name of Cat who was showing her work in the gazebo.  Below are examples of Cat's work.  Both potter had nice glazes.  Rachel had a beautiful glaze that she achieved at a lower firing while Cat's were fired at a much hotter temperature.  Both glazes were beautiful.

Kats glazes were really beautiful, the photo does not do them justice.

Whimsical Bird House

Pitcher, flower pot and jewelry

DID YOU SAY STUDIO TOUR!? WHAT FUN, LET'S GO!!!

LEICESTER 

There are so many artists in Western North Carolina if you throw a stick you are bound to hit one!  Of course we are teasing, but Asheville and the surrounding area is so full of craft artists that one could imagine it to be so. 

Wild Berry Bed and Breakfast 

Have you ever gone on a scavenger hunt?  Well, the Leicester Artists Tour is very much like one.  Wildberry Bed and Breakfast is one of the sponsors and the very first place we go on the tour. There you can get a map, see a preview of the artists works, and get a sense of the kind of roads we will encounter on this day. Loose steep gravel, and one way roads are very common on the back mountain tour.  It would help to have four wheel drive which we don't have, but our trusty Pilot Honda will make it just fine.  The Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful and as we goes through the tour, it is evident that nature is as much the artist, as the artisans we are going to visit.  Tucked back in the hidden coves and high atop mountain ridges artists studios dot the area. It is a tremendous treat to get to see artist studio's anytime and see where creativity happens.  Each studio is as unique as the individuals who create there.  First on our list is Doc Welty, potter. Tomorrow we will look at more studio's on the tour.  

Doc Welty's Enchanting Mountain Pottery Studio

Glazing Shelves are loaded with a recent unloading

Doc has three kilns, 2 propane gas and one wood firing

The glazes have an old feel about them

Plenty of visitors buying

Recent Craft Magazine highlight of Doc

I love these two tables, a bargain for anyone!!!

From Doc's wheel he has a good view of the house, when his wife calls him in for lunch.