Studiology

Hibernating- Not

Wintertime (for the gardener) is soft socks, oversized fuzzy shirts, and fat pants. There is the wonderful sleeping in with no alarm clock, except for a little dog that needs to pee. Most days are working in the studio or walking the dog who has taken a liking to a hike that crosses a creek. Yesterday she lunged over the creek, still tethered to her retractable leash, which caught me off guard and headfirst I fell down an embankment in slushy frozen water, with a face splat on rocks. My boots filled with water, my Tilley hat floated downstream, my face grew a giant, bulging bruise, and I still had a mile to walk to get home, very wet! Today the bulge is a light purple, I may end up with a black eye and there might be a fingernail that falls off. I will spare you the gross pictures, it hurts to smile, and I look like someone clubbed me. But, in the meantime there is time to restock the art gallery, which will happen slowly but surely, and time can be spent alone without explanation in my workspace. 

I have finished 2 pieces; both have parts that either move or can be altered. With the first one, the wheel rotates like a pointer. Titled "Star Guide", the center piece can be lifted out of the holder, once again I used magnets to hold it in place. 

Next was something more complex with 3 alternative inserts.  A wand of sorts with options. Partly inspired by a bumblebee jasper stone that was gifted to me, and grew into a citrine crystal, and third eye choice. Sort of like predicting your day or week with positive energy from 3 options. Magnets are also used to help hold them in place, both in the main piece and in a holder that is not quite done. To finish the painting, the background needed to agree with all 3 inserts, which really took more time than I had ever imagined. 

There will be a side piece that holds the 2 while they are not in use, which is also taking more time to paint than I thought it would. A few other projects are in the works, and oh how I love January!

Winter Color

There may be an adjustment or an approval of diminishing color during the winter months. With dormant perennials and bare trees, there is a starkness. Browns, blacks and scattered winter berries bring a glorious palette of muted colors which are especially nice on gray, murky days. When walking Birdie, my eye looks for and tries to match the colors I see with my various paint colors. Simple things like left over seed heads can be beautiful mixed in with the browns of surrounding grasses.

Even the simple turkey tail mushroom boasts its shades of brown and black; a mushroom that is used to treat depression, increase immunity and detoxify the system.

In this limited color range, I see sepia, raw umber, and raw sienna.

A scattering of rose hips and coralberry fruit, normally not considered bright and colorful, are now beautiful.

If I time it right, a bit of morning sun hits this magnificent American sycamore, a tree that is always best viewed in winter, a tree that rivals more northern white birch with its stark white branches. The idea of seeing the light hit it as the sun comes up is a motivator to get going, survey the browns and complementary colors, watch the birds eat from this natural field of bird food.

In a field close by there are many, some not nearly as white as this one. Is it age, genetics? 

Many years ago, I created a board of photographs from magazines, the images needed to speak to me emotionally before they were cut and pasted onto the board (an exercise to ferret out my base desire or direction). To my shock and dismay, it turned out to be a winter board. I concluded that isolation and muted colors might actually be my favorite subjects, and if there is any kind of a message here, it's go walk in a wild place on a gray day in winter, not once but often. It will probably grow on you.

Merry, Merry

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and warm wishes for good things. The challenges seem to keep on coming but I certainly have much to be grateful for. With a hectic schedule that is now in the rearview mirror, there will be lots of time for artwork, walks with Birdie, and cleaning the house (a continual struggle). The art gallery has had a stupendous month and our new artists are selling like crazy. On my end I eeked out some light bulb ornaments and another Krampus. Sales have been so good that my space looks very vacant, and no complaints here. 

The last Krampus is named Phil, and I continue to make them creepy but paint is applied in soft pastel colors. The Ying and Yang of Krampus!

Making arrangements at Merrifield Garden Center was also good and my return to the fold with my favorite working buddies was a blast. We cranked out work with a creative flair, and I wish I had some documented outtakes of our antics. Humor is always a good thing. Keep your spirits high, cheers to 2021, and our days will begin to get longer - a good thing.

Quinn Turns 7

As requested, another dynamite Nerf battle! Fun for kids and adults, the only thing stopping them is night fall, although there are "glow in the dark" Nerf bullets. Mr. Quinn, turned 7 today and it was a rowdy event with some serious battles. Calling them in for cake took several attempts and I suspect that sleep will come easily tonight. Here are some photographs that capture the day.

With a tuckered out Birdie to end the party, it was a grand day! Happy Birthday Quinny!

 

Sup

So much is up, and it's all good. I am rearranging my life right now with a few major changes. I have retired from Oak Hill, after 15 years. The drive out of the estate on my last day may have been one of the saddest of my life. That job was so wonderful and such a happy place, it will be greatly missed. For me it was time and the physical aspect of the job was taking a toll, I would like to save a bit of that for myself and maybe my garden. I took this photograph on my last day at work, my view on a daily basis and a glorious one at that.

Then there was the jump over to Merrifield Gardens for my annual holiday flower arranging. That will end at Christmas and I encourage anyone that is looking for an arrangement, advent wreath, or outdoor pot decorations to come and visit. Of the 3 locations, I am at Fair Oaks on a full time basis. Few things cheer someone up like a bouquet of flowers. 

In my creative space it is time for Krampus. These were delivered to the gallery yesterday. 

Prior to that it was Thanksgiving with my daughter's family and grandkids. Felicity is sprouting up and a delightful person, Quinn is the constant zombie killer (yeah, no zombies here), and little Junie is just adorable. 

So for now, the wassup is all good, and the forward trajectory is filled with twists and turns. I hope your journeys and daily events are all positive. I know that's impossible, but maybe more good than bad, how's that?

Street Art, Plant Art, Art Art in Mexico

From the everyday meals or walking the cobblestone streets, art and color come in so many glorious forms in Oaxaca, Mexico. Elevated for Day of the Dead, as it is for the Radish Festival, the Guelaguetza  (Ethnic Folk Festival), or The Festival for the Virgin of Guadalupe, flowers are present in abundance, brightly colored dress is commonplace and decorations compete from door to door, shop to shop. These are some of the store fronts and large Catrina's set up along the main cobblestone street. The majority of shops and our hotel have a low tray for customers to step into and then dry as a form of sanitizing your shoes. Many also took your temperature and all gave you hand sanitizer as you entered.

The use of plants, particularly as architectural accents is amazing. This bench and climbing epiphyllum were in the stamp museum, the others in a small shopping mall.

Street art is rich and apparently wildly accepted.

I could add an entire blog just about the cooking class, which included a stop at the market for these fresh squash blossoms, among other things:

The house where the class was held, the courtyard, the table settings and food, everything was artfully creative.

And the reason for being there was a class for building a heart shrine. Our host, the talented and fun to be around Michael deMeng guided us through the various styles of heart symbolism and we set out to complete at least 1 project. I created 2 and was very happy with them, which is not always the case, but put me in a very good mood (plus a little mescal).

I added some ribbon down each side once home, so now it's really finished.

    

In the end, I was so happy that I bravely traveled to Mexico. Once I was deposited in the hotel and met my fellow art family, it was a week of companionship and art. I leave this adventure with a few more photographs of street people and ofrendas.

 

 

 

Just Wow!

With my trip to Mexico and back, I feel so thankful to have made it there and home again with no alterations in my plans. The art group met after a 2 year absence and it was so wonderful to be back with each other and doing what we love. Add to that a whole lot of adventures and meals that were some of the best I have ever eaten, I think that it was a delightful trip for everyone. The country was prepared for tourists with extra precautions at almost every stop, sterilize shoes - take temperature - apply hand sanitizer, and wear masks. 

My last photograph with my iPhone may have summed up the trip, but there are many taken with my real camera. This was the evening before the early morning (3:30) cab ride to the airport. There are certainly overlapping themes, Day of the Dead, bright colors, skilled artists, and a town that lives for tourism. 

A lot of the pets were also prepared for Halloween and Day of the Dead. Some were real show offs.

The street artists and art are as colorful as the surrounds. Houses are painted in bright colors, the local woman wear gorgeous dresses and aprons, it's truly a land of bold colors.

Trips to local towns took us to specialized communities of clay, wool, and candle artists. With each stop we were introduced to how the products are mined, harvested, and created, almost all built and managed by women. 

Just about all of the women work in these incredibly colorful clothes which are very traditional. The tools here are corn cobs, and pieces of soccer ball to shape this Comal, used for heating food, especially tortillas. A clothesline outside the house held more of their brightly colored dresses and aprons, the house was painted purple.

The candle makers are very specialized and I think the photographs will illustrate the skill which is passed from generation to generation in all of these pursuits.

This single candle is for a wedding. They are also made for engagements, the larger the candle the more likely the forthcoming nuptials. The details in the flowers is astonishing.

The weavers work with many natural dye ingredients, particularly cochineal for red, a scale insect on the local cactus. In the weaver's town, looms are in every house, on most porches, possibly in some bedrooms.

In a tropical climate, the use of plants combined with architecture really caught my attention in the town of Oaxaca. That and a cooking class, our own art class, and more adventures will be in the content of my next follow-up of Mexico in 2021. 

Ya Me Voy

With much planning and finger crossing, I should be in Mexico this week to celebrate Day of the Dead. Joining the group that I often travel with, the art supplies have been gathered and the bags are almost packed. We are making heart shrines, or an object or two along those lines. The area we are traveling to is on the "green list" aka the non-red list, and there are a number of protocols that have to be followed, including masks everywhere. All of these outings were cancelled last year, so of course I'm eager to go back and embrace the culture. 

I've been taking Spanish lessons online for a month, to be better prepared and I'm even taking a cooking class while I'm there. So ya me voy, it's gonna be an adventure!

 

A Witch's Broom

The lingo of gardening is full of odd terms. A few that come to mind are deadheading, pricking out, pinching, and witches's broom. The latter is not in every horticultural glossary, nor is it common knowledge, but it's a very real thing. In defining the term, or even describing the abnormality, common words include disease, deformity, and even a place where a witch landed. To look up the term on "Google" you will have to scroll past the literal brooms of witches to get to any horticultural reference. 

photograph by Janice LeCocq

Visually a witch's broom is a tree or shrub branch that has developed a tight cluster of smaller branches. At first look you might think bee or squirrel's nest. To some it's a prized rarity, to others a threat to crops, specifically the brooms caused by a fungus that attack chocolate trees in tropical areas. 

There are eight different reasons for the tight forking of branches. Insects, fungi, virus, even solar radiation at high elevations can be responsible. A dwarf mistletoe which occurs in the northern states and Canada causes wide spread brooming as it disrupts the growth hormones at the growing tips of trees. 

Of interest to those in horticulture are the cuttings and seeds from these anomalies when propagated. Cuttings will remain tight and dwarf, seeds will develop into variable offspring, even the cones on witch's brooms are significantly smaller.  Many of the dwarf plants sold at nurseries began life as a broom, often with a name that reflects that  i.e., Tsuga canadensis 'Fantana Witch's Broom', Picea abies 'Millstream Broom', and Picea orientalis 'Shadow's Broom'. In this scenario the brooming can be financially beneficial, drawing witch broom hunters to popular areas, haunts like the Rocky Mountains, the Cascades, and central Europe. Some climb trees to harvest cuttings but many literally shoot them down, armed with rifles. 

photograph by Janice LeCocq

In my lifetime I have only found three. The largest of my three sightings was in a cedar or Juniperus virginiana in the cemetery in Upperville, VA, located on route 50. I watched it for years, a sizable broom. Eventually the juniper was cut down and disposed of and it's unlikely that the broom was propagated. The other two were on white pine, the result of a broom mite that injects saliva and creates adventitious buds (buds that emerge in areas they do not usually develop). One white pine broom was at the National Arboretum in Washington DC and the other in my own garden, only recently discovered. I see it as a gift, a prized freak of nature! All who visit are soldiered out to my tree, informed that they are about to see my witch's broom. A nongardening friend was quick to comment that she had been waiting for this day, true to form and always the clever one, I think she was disappointed. It's true, it won't take me places, but I'm good with that.

Show Time

October is my month, a deadline, a theme, and a purpose. My goal every year for my show month is to have 20 new pieces and I made it to 19. The show is in the gallery I manage and in the space as you enter the door. Who ever operates as manager is allowed to hang their art in this prime piece of real estate in a gallery that houses 24 other artists. Over the years I have covered various themes; dreams, sea, circus, travelers, and saints (with sinners). This year it's fairy tale with a focus on Alice in Wonderland. The real excitement for me is to see it all come together, when every piece is hung on the wall. 

But of course there is nothing like seeing it in person and taking it all in. The show will be there for the month with a reception on Saturday, October 16th, from 3 to 5. To help you understand, I am showing some process photographs, taken in the studio as early as January when I began the real building of various pieces. Alice falling took the longest because of challenges in the process. It began with a frame, Styrofoam, aluminum wrap, and a coffee can. The roots are rolled up paper held together with wall paper paste. The final layer was paper mache and mulberry paper. 

This masks begin as a simple plastic form and is modified with cardboard, bits and pieces of things and covered in paper mache with tissue paper as the last layer. I used some clay, beads, and a glass eye  and like the others, there is a wall hanger so it can hang like a piece of art, or be worn to a party.

Rabbits rule and are made of various materials. I'm extremely happy with this one with the background painted in an abstract pattern. 

With each show I learn something new and this show was filled with new techniques. Possibly my favorite was bending wire and then coating it with paste to harden. The process allowed me to create vines and filigree additions. Jack in the Beanstalk was really good for this and the little pea pods dangly loosely.  

The Mad Hatter's hands were also made this way as he holds his tea cup.

The piece de resistance is my crazy March Hare mask. He should be worn with a large wig and a crazy outfit. I painted bravely and it scared me. But it worked.

As one final note, this is as colorful a show as my circus themed year. I humbly believe it's a real joy to behold and something that will bring a smile to your face.