Sneak Peek at Opening Night!!

First Friday, May 2010, Opening Night ,Patron's Show, Liberty Town Artist's Galleries, is Finally here!!!

I am going to provide you with a few samples of the amazing art works for sale with the price of a Golden Ticket!! (Just like Charlie Buckett of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!!) Buy a ticket and leave on May 21 with one of these amazing pieces (and this is only a small sampling!)

THe wonderful quilt above is by fiber artist Lorie McCown.

Her is the set of Jewelry created by Leslie Brier of Brier Design and myself. We are thrilled to have it displayed with Lorie's wonderful piece!!!


This is a detail shot of a fabulous tiled mirror created by potter Anna Branner. I love Anna's style and whimsey! Can you see the little woodland elf peeking out from behind the leaf??
Below you will see a shot of the complete mirror. It is not hung quite yet as it requires some heavy duty hardware to secure it!!!

This amazing piece of textile art was hand knit by the fabulous Anne Norse. Anne used wonderful silk yarn to creat this gossamer fine shawl. Anne is a founding member of the Fredericksburg Spinners, Weavers and Fiber Arts Guild.

The Fiber Arts Guild provides Liberty Town with a bottomless well of incredible talent. This shawl is handwoven from fine silk thread by the fabulous Diane of Woven Gems. Be sure to click on the photo to see the detailed weaving pattern that Diane used to create this lucious piece. it is stunning and I am sure that it will be one of the first pieces picked by ticket holders on May 21'st!!!

I ahve spoken of artist Ariel Freeman several times before. You may know that ihave taken several watercolor classes form Ariel and she is a fabulous artist and a gifted teacher. This glorious white iris is Ariel's contribution to the Patron's Show. This stunning piece is quite large and will light up any space. This is one of my favorite pieces but then you all know how much I adore White Flowers!!

This wonderful landscape piece has been painted by multi talented painter, weaver and clay artist Lynette Reed. This stunning piece reflects the wonderful changing skys and landscapes of Virginia. Lynette has

painted this piece on a black substrate and the result is absolutely stunning!!!

#10 is a wonderfully whimsical collage painting done by artist Elizabeth Seaver. Elizabeth has a wonderfully happy style and her paintings never last for long at Liberty Town!!!

Elizabeth contibuted several pieces to the Patron's Show but you will have to come to the show to see her other wonderful works! I can't give it all waway, now can I?????

This wonderful bird has been painted atop a collage by Artist Rob Landeck. I am just getting to know Rob's work but I do know that he has a wonderful depth of talent and always presents his outlook on life in new and different ways!

This is only a very SMALL sampling of the 50+ pieces of amazing art available beginning tonight at Liberty Town Artist's Studio's. Anyone who wishes, may join in and purchase a MAGIC TICKET and participate in the Raffle that will take palce on May 21'st. With only one ticket sold per item of art , so everyone will leave with apiece of art worth at least $200.00!!!! All proceeds will support the amazing community that is Liberty Town!!

I can't wait!!

Art Evolution

I am not good at Mass Production! Five identical somethings is about 3 too many for me! Several say that I have a problem. I think that I am me and I don't do copies!! This tendancy of mine is the reason that Mixed Media is the perfect place for me to plant my artistic flag. I have not met an artistic medium that I abhore, some I like more than others.
Above are some new creations that will be offered for sale at Liberty Town Artists Galleries in Fredericksburg, beginning this week. I love creating these flower brooches as each is different and I can change them up in so many ways. I use different fibers, cashmere (so yummy and sooooooft, when felted) or wool, different centers- either beads or buttons and never the same twice and a variety of leaves. Hopefully these will be snatched up for Mother's Day remembrances! I have also created three, three-stranded fabric/paper bead necklaces, at three different lengths. Each bead is unique so these are all one of a kind. I love rolling the beads when I don't really feel like paying too much attention to what I am doing. Good for creating in front of a movie!

I have also designed some new earrings. I have created the nests before and they always fly out of the Gallery. I always use real pearls for the eggs, sterling wire and sterling ear wires.

These new earrings were great fun to come up with. I made tiny cones fo my fabric/paper scraps (can't bear to throw any of it away), painted the interior with True gold Lumiere paint (they glow)!! then I threaded a cluster of various beads , bird charms and a slender Fabric/paper bead onto wire to form pseudo stamens. These are very light weight and such fun to wear!!

I have pretty much completely re-designed my Muse Birds.

I have changed the shapes a bit and the wings are no longer sewn down to the body. They are dimensional and are only attached to the body at the wing base. I am very pleased with them. Here you see them ready for display on a curly willow branch. This is the new design for the smaller birds.

These are the larger birds.

Many of these birds were made with the fabric/paper that i made with the candy wrapper foil bits that I shared with you in a previous post. As I was readying the flock for the display, it occured to me that they would make wonderful small graduation gifts! I ahve plans to make some more, after I make a few more sheets of fabric/paper. Back to work!!!

So hard to stay indoors!!!

What does one do when the weather is glorious, breezy, sunny and cool and one has deadlines to meet that require indoor work??? Bring the garden inside of course!!! That is exactly what I did!
I picked Pansies and Lily of the Valley and Clove Pinks and set them on my work table . the fragrance was amazing . The screen door was open so the breeze was coming in and I could here the birds at the feeders. Buddy was perched on his stool keeping me company and I actually got some work done!!!
Till yesterday I had no idea how fragrant the Clove Pinks were, when brought indoors. The three frilled blossoms in the bouquet above, tucked in just above the blue pansy filled the air in the studio with spicey sweet perfume- just wonderful!!

On another note, but involving my work space, I added a new storage unit this past week. I found this wonderful white iron shelving unit at Goodwill for 15.00!! It is the perfect size to fit in next to the sliding glass door and holds all of my jars and tins of buttons. Didn't have to do a thing to it!!!
I hope that you are able to enjoy the weather wherever you are this weekend!!!

Collaborative Jewlery For the Patron's Show

Sea Foam Jewels (working title) will be the Expressions of Elizabeth/Brier Design contribution tot he upcoming Patron's Show at Liberty Town Art Galleries coming up on May 6. MAny of Fredericksburg's wonderful artists have donated works to this show which will be the major fundraiser for the year. Any interested customer is invited to attend, purchase a ticket and after the month of May, leave Liberty Town with an incredible piece of artwork. There will be tickets for sale beginning on May 6 and there will only be as many tickets as there are pieces of Art. After all tickets are sold, the names of the ticket holders will be drawn from a hat and then that ticket holder will have their choice of artworks. If last year's event is any indicator, the evening will be an amazing and exciting show for all!!
Leslie Brier and I collaborated to create this wonderful jewelry ensemble. I created the free form beadwork bracelet, below.

Leslie Brier of Brier Design created the Vintage Silver salt shaker pendant necklace, featuring a Green Girl sterling silver mermaid charm,

and the silver shell earrings.

We feel that this set will offer all sorts of verstility for the patron. It can be worn as a complete set, as individual elements or it could be split up and components given as gifts.

To see more pictures of my bracelet with a list of components, visit this post.

Leslie and I are quite excited to be participating in this event to support the vibrant arts community at Liberty Town ! We would really love to have you stop by on Friday evening, May 6 to see what all of the excitment is about. You will see all of the amazing art that will be available for all to see and purchase for the price of a Magic Ticket!!!!! (Admit it , there is a bit of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dreamer in all of us!!!! <>

Beaded Cuff Class- Just a couple of openings left!!!!

I will be teaching a class to create Beaded Zipper Cuff Bracelets at the fabulous Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria , VA. Check out the website for the classes and the shop here and join me to elarn to create this surprisinly easy and ALWAYS SHOW STOPPING beaded cuff!!

The class will run from 10am to 12pm opn Saturday May 8 with another two hour session to be scheduled later. Come out and join us and discover all that Artistic Artifacts and the amazing craft of Bead Embroidery has to offer!!!!

New Flower Brooches, Tulips and Tassels

I have a very busy week ahead so I thought that I would share a quick smattering of things that I am working on finishing. First Friday Gallery Events are fast approaching and I am aiming to get new stock down to the Emporium at Liberty Town. It will also be the opening of the Annual Patron's Show for Liberty Town. ( I will have more info on this fun event in my next post.) These wool and cashmere posey pins need a few finishing touches, some stamens and pin backs and they will be ready for sale.

I am making a new batch of Muse Birds with my fabric/paper as these have sold very well for me and I have no stock left. I am changing the design of both the birds and the tassels as I have a very ahrd time making large multiples of anything- BORING!!!!!!!
Here I have made a large holed foiled fabric/paper bead and used it as my new tassel topper for my new birds. These colorful tassels will hang from the bottom of each of my birds and will provide lots of extra movement and color to each soaring bird.

THe question of the day: Do Tulip Poplar Trees really have tulips??? When we moved here to Virginia it was January. I loved the big trees but I had no idea what kind of trees they were. Spring arrived and I was busy getting everyone and everything settled in. Becca, then 9, was spending lots of time outside with her friends playing. When I asked what they were doing the answer was 'Making fairy houses and gardens with the octopus flowers." What the heck were octopus flowers??? Tulip Tree Tulips of course!! Well I had never seen them before. Once the trees start blooming , the blossoms start falling and the sap starts dripping. When standing under the leafy cover you might think that it was raining. Well, it is raining, raining tree sap! They really are quite pretty. Each of the stamens will in time become a seed for a new tree, hence lots of seedling pulling for me next season. I am in a constant state of awe and wonder at the magnificence of our natural world, especailly at this magical time of year!!

Got to run. You have all had your horticultural lesson for the day! Hope that I don't bore you all too much! Go on and create something wonderful wtih your day!!!!

The Good,The Bad, and The Sparkly

Yesterday, while scratching about in the garden and planting a few perenials I disturbed a very welcome garden inhabitant. All that I saw was a slight movement in the dried leave litter. Then I noticed an eye ball giving me an indignant look. I was very still and was rewarded by the emergence of a beautiful American Toad. He was a very large fellow and a bit cranky, but a very welcome sight for me.!!! A toad is a very welcome sight in an organic garden. Many gardeners often put out ocverturned pots to create homes for toads, but I ahve never had a toad take up residence in a so called Toad House. They take care of nasty crittters like slugs and grubs and other not so welcome squishy things. A toad is a wonderful indication of a healthy and well balenced environment. As I use no chemicals of any kind , he is surrounded by a bounty of goodies and is most welcome to dine on whatever he finds. If his food sources were not available he would not stick around and the use of chemicals would threaten his existence. I was one happy gardener!!!

More sorbet series pansies. I am so sorry that a dear friend who I grew up with on Cape Cod , cannot plant these beauties in their dry California gardens. I know what that feels like, having lived in the Pacific Northwest. One has to adjust to a whole new set of plants that tollerate the new environment and unfortunately pansies do not like it hot!!

My Solomon's Seal is putting on a nice showing this year and rewarding me with lots of bell shaped flowers. They love having a blanket of leaves left over them, and so do the toads.

The bees have been extra busy pollinating my old fashioned Columbine. I have a whole rainbow of color ways that are begining to pop in the garden. I adore the pinafore skirts that these gals so daintily display. ,

Now for the BAd news, SIGH!!! One of the reasons that we loved our house was the lot that it sat on. We back up on a field that is used as a large garden each year and we were assured that it would not be developed. Our lot is also graced by some beautiful large old trees. We have huge Sycamores, Pin Oaks, Red Maples, Wild Dogwoods and Tulip Poplars. Most of these trees are 31/2 to 5 feet around and tower at least 90 feet into the air.

Our Beautiful Red Maple that is thriving and has grown at least ten feet since we arrived.

We carved out this small shade garden which will soon explode with Ostrich Ferns surrounding the fountain, Fox Gloves, Daylilies, Columbine and Shade Lillies. Because of these glorious trees, we have glorious shade and a plethora of birds and other wildlife. Just this Spring I have noticed that one of the oldest Poplars was way behind in leafing out. At first glance it looked like there wer no leaves at all, but then I saw that it was valiantly trying to put out some leaves. It ahd also dropped lots of branches in our snow storms . I called on a local Arborist who had done some work for us before and he quickly determined that the tree was a goner. SO SAD!!!!! This tree is the tallest Tulip Poplar in the area and it must come down sooner rather than later.

This is one of the reasons, Borer Beetles and then some seriously compromized major roots. this root damage happened before our time here, and this weakening had caused a good deal of stress that was aggravated by drought and then the final asault of the Borer Beatles. You can see all of the holes on this shot of the trunk, there are literally hundreds of holes.

Matt of GoodFellar's told me that the tree would only be safe to climb for the next three months. He would not allow his crew to climb an unsafe tree and after that time it would have to come down by crane and would cost 5 times more than climbing and taking the tree down safely piece by piece. Besides he had no idea how we would even get a crane in there without taking down the neighbors fence and mucking up both yards. We ARE NOT GOINT THERE!!!!! So down it must come. Losing this tree will definately change the climate in the back yard. We will have much more exposure to the western sun and we will lose the wild and wonderful azaleas that surround the tree. I am not a huge fan of azaleas. In fact the only way that I like them is when they are left to grow on their own and become wild and natural within the landscape. One of the first thing that Goodfellar's did for us when we moved in, was to remove the square azalea hedge that surrounded the front porch!!! They did wonderful work for us then and they put up with my passionate organic gardening , anti-pesticide herbicide ways so They get any work that I need done!

Enough moaning about lost trees, on to something sparkly!!!!
Last week I made another batch fo fabric paper as I needed to replenish the Muse Bird stock at Liberty Town Emporium. This time I decided to add shavings of candy wrapper foils to the recipe for a bit of sparkly foiled bling.

I was quite pleased with the results till I started trying to manipulate the fabric. It seemed almost impossible to keep the foil glued down. I even added an extra coat of matte medium to the top to keep the foil affixed. I probably wont be making more of this although I do love the beads and birds (i'll share those later) that I created with the fabric/paper. Throughout the entire process I ahd to carefully reglue the foil slivers if I wnated them to stay put. AS the final step for the beads is two coats of heavy laquer, I was finally successful in literally burying the foil in the laquer shell!!!

Now to make a three strand necklace to add to my new wares to be deliverd to Liberty Town this week!!

I hope taht everyone has a great start to their work week. Thank you all so very much for all of the wonderful comments that you leave for me when you visit!!
I am of to make tassels for my new Muse Birds- you will be seeing them here, very soon!