The "MUST SEE" art spot in southwestern N.C!!

I must come clean here and tell all that one of the reasons that I most wanted to explore the SW region of N.C. was the shop Random Arts that was featured in Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine, last year! Don't get me wrong, I have long heard of the art mecca that is Ashville and I have been wanting to experience all that the region has to offer for a very long time. But when I saw this article and we were looking for a new place to explore where no one had been before, I decided that the Hendersonville/Saluda area would be "ThE" spot!!

Saluda is a tiny little town very close to the NW border of South Carolina. THe town is charming and wonderful and very small. Nested into a wonderful spot on the tiny Main Street is the amazing Random Arts owned by the delightful Jane Powell.

Meet Jane!! Many of the pieces on the wall behind her are pieces that she has created using torn paper collage!! The items that she is working with are my purchases- I sure had a great time shopping!!!

As soon as I entered the shop I felt right at home! I was engulfed in all things artful- from fabulous ribbons, "wholley paper" (an item totally unique to Random Arts) - to amazing displays of finished art pieces surrounded by everything neccesary to create similar works! It is truely a fairyland of inspiration!!

Jane and I had a great time visiting and I happened to be wearing one of my Scrappy Bead necklaces. She was very curious about it and I offered to return later in the week and do a Demo for her and some of her friends. She was thrilled- I was "Over the moon Thrilled".

I returned on Thursday after being given all sorts of fabulous tips on what to see and do in the area , with her cell phone # in hand in case I 'Needed Anything!" What a doll!!

When I arrived I was so lucky to meet and talk to Joyce Berger and Bead Artist Extrordinaire Louise McClure!! (Be on the lookout for Louise's new book coming out in early 2009 !) It turned out that Joyce had lived for many years, in Hyannis MA, on Cape Cod and had owned a Bead Shop on Main Street in Hyannis for years!! I spent most of my teenage years on Cape Cod! How Cool Is That!! There were also several young ladies visiting the shop who were very interested in my Scrappy Beads so we all got to work!

These two gals were extremely creative and were off the next day to spend time with their artist grandma who was going to spend several art days with them. Needless to say , we all had a blast!!

Here is another shot of all of the treasures to be found at this wonderfully inspirational, "Must See" artists Mecca nestled in the Beautiful country of Saluda, N.C.! When visiting this part of the world , be sure to stay at Cabin Fever Cabins and say "Heh" to Lon andLeslie!!

Art Now For AUTISM!

I have finished the piece that I will be sending off for the Art Sale at ART NOW FOR AUTISM.

If you click on the above link you will learn waht this amazing art sale is all about. The SALE begins on October 1 and every penny goes to furthering the cause of AUTISM RESEARCH.

This necklace is 24 inches long and it is made of Fabric Paper beads that have been encircled in copper wire and encrusted with sparkling seed beads. I have been asked to price the piece and I think that I will set the price at 50.00. The necklace will be up for sale at the Art now For Autism site on October 1.. This piece would make a wonderful Christmas present for a lucky someone with the added benefit of the recipient knowing that their gift contributed to the advancement of Autsim Research!

Here are some close-ups!!

I love the copper clasp!

The seed beads are all glass and imported and are a mixture of matte and gloss finishes.

Please stop by the ART NOW FOR AUTISM site! You too, can make a difference!!!

Awesome mail and Painting my Shoes!!!!

Today was an absolutely wonderful mail day!!! My wonderful friend Martha of Ontario , Canada created a fabulous House Collage for me- we were swap partners and it arrived today!!!!!!! Oh Happy, Happy, Happy!!!! Martha is a mom and a Fulltime kindergarten teacher and a fabulouso artista. You can see more of her wonderful work in the new book A Charming Exchange and on her blog, Destination Unknown.

The task before us was to create a collage on an 11x14 inch canvas with a House theme. You saw my collage for Martha several posts back.

Here is the glorious piece that she has created for ME!!!!!!

The colors, the layers, the textures, the bird, the words, the images of the children- I LOVE it all!!! Here are some close up shots so you can see some of the wonderful details. You can also visit Martha's blog where she wrote about how she created this piece by clicking here!

The top with the darling little bird!

The bottom with the kids!

The middle portions with all of the words and window details. Martha does such wonderful work!! I am soooo very lucky to add this piece to my new art wall in the family room!!

Now for a total change of pace. For 6 years I have been wearing a wonderful pair of Bojrn sandals. I got them for half price in Oklahoma and my feet absolutely adore them. Over the years they have started to show their age although they are structurally very sound. the shine is off the leather, there are paint splatterson them (oh yes!!) and I wear them in the garden when I am opicking veggies. they were starting to look treaty doggone tired, soooooooo, I painted them of course!!!

Here they are!! First of all I wiped them down thoroughly with Isopropyl Alcohol to remove any residual shine (you have got to be kidding!!!) and to remove any dirt (that's more like it!!) Then I went at them with several coats of my Metallic Lumiere paints!! I did all of the design work with the end of the paint brush as I did not want the patterning to come out looking stamped or too perfect. What a fabulous remake!! I have a new pair oF sandals that no one else on the planet can possibly be wearing !! as Michelle Ward would say How Cool Is That??!!???!!! To seal the paint I sponged on two coats of Future Floor Wax and let them dry overnight!!!!

So don't be getting rid of that expensive ,favorite pair of sandals , just paint 'em!!!

A Visitor

Today I spent a few moments setting up for some sunprinting. I have had a lonely idea rolling around in my head for quite awhile now. Finally it has gathered enough detritus and dust bunnies to evolve into a full fledged idea and I wanted to get started. (Sometimes this process takes awhile....) I have been wanting to combine sunprinting with quilting and then painting and embellishing to create an art quilt. I have been so inspired by the work of Laura and Linda Kemshall and their fabulous book The Painted Quilt.

With both of these pieces I will quilt and then paint and then embellish.

I don't even want to begin to count the number of projects I have going on simultaneously!!! But I could not pass up the sunshine and the lack of wind and the presence of the flowers and foliage that I needed from the garden!!

I was finishing arranging the pieces on the wet fabric, a movement in the adjacent flowerbed caught my eye.

Seeing amazing creatures like this Praying Mantis , in my garden, along with all of the birds and butterflies, is the amazing payoff for gardening organically!!!!!!!

Isn't she amazing??? (I have decided that she is a she because it is my garden!!)

Pay It Forward!! I LOVE THIS !!!!!!

This is one of my favorite things to do. DO a simple kindness for someone who is not expecting it, for no reason and ask for NOT A THING in return!!!!This is the theme for the latest Street Team Challenge run by amazing artist, person, friend, Michelle Ward.

Not long ago I recieved a totally unexpected gift from one of my wonderful blogging friends. I was wonderfully surprised and blown away by her kindness. I felt truely loved and appreciated and I thought for about the zillionth time how much my blogging artist friends mean to me. My life has been so enriched and expanded since I started blogging. Sharing my work with "Strangers' and getting feedback from the same folks and establishing friendships based solely on common interests has been truely amazing.

So I am going to Pay that Kindness Forward to one of my inspirational blogging friends. This gal lives far away and we will likely never meet (I suppose one never knows though). She is an incredible inspiration and motivational force for me and I love visiting her blog to see the latest magical creations that she has wrought. I will be sending her a sampling of the amazing beads that my brother brought to me this summer. These beads are very SPECIAL.

They are made from recycled glass by HIV/TB patients (mostly women) in Tanzania. My friend has a passion for beads as I do and my brother was so generous in his gift to me that I immediately thought that I had to share the treasure. I know that my friend will create amazing things with these amazing beads. I also know that she will be very happy to PAY IT FORWARD!!!

Ocean Treasure

One of the things that I look forward to about my visits to Cape Cod, is our time at the beach. For me, being at the beach is not about sunbathing, in fact I do everything possible to limit my exposure to the sun- clothing, #70 sunscreen, hat , sunglasses- I must be quite a sight!. Many of you know that I DO NOT tan and being of scandinavian heritage, I get terrible sunburns and I do not want to get skin cancer. I have finally reached the age where I really don't care about how I look- health is more the issue. I digress.

You all know what a surfer chick my Becca has become, we spend alot of time at the beach, preferably at the best tides for "primo "waves!! The best waves for surfing happen to come at low tide and that is also the best time for treasure!!! Now for me, treasure is tumbled rocks, shells, flotsam and jetsam with the occasional ultra treasure of sea glass!! Well this year Becca outdid herself!! She has become amazingly good at spotting special shells with holes drilled in them (by other sea creatures) while the peices are being tumbled around in the surf. This year on a break from Boogie Boarding , she snatched a peice of Blue Willow porcelain out of the waves!! All who were present proclaimed that she had found the prize of the summer. The piece had been beautifully tumbled and had obviously been in the water for a long time. The gloss glaze was gone and the piece is quite thin. Back in the days of sailing ships, porcelain was used as ballast for the ships- these pieces were usually rejects and therefore were considered only useful for their weight. During the 16-17-18 hundreds there were up to 80 ships a year that were lost off Cape Cod!! So the piece that Becca found could be quite old- I wish that it could tell us from whence it came!!!

Becca's Godmother and my dear friend Rebecca Bunting is a Jeweler. She does amazing work of all sorts, mostly custom and all original designs with amazing gem stones. She is working on her web site but to date has been far too busy keeping up with her customers to get a site up and running.

Here is dear Aunt Rebecca with her namesake and god daughter Becca!! They are great friends.

When we leave Cape Cod we always stop in to vist Rebecca and Rob and their sons in their wonderful home in Guilford CT. Becca asked Rebecca to create a small pendant using her porcelain treasure. We matched Becca's piece up to the gate section on a Blue Willow plate that Rebecca had in her collection! At the top of the pendant you can see the tiny section of gate.

This is what Rebecca created and we are thrilled with it. Now this wonderful beach treasure will become a Woodford family heirloom that Becca can share with her children when they wlk the beaches looking for treasures!!!

Post Mixup!

Somehow my latest post titled North Carolina Mountain Vacation has been placed following the Bird's Flew In post. To see the latest post, scroll down past the checkered Birdies, and you will read all about our cabin adventures in the Blue ridge mountains. Not sure what gremlins are at work- probably something that I did!!