New artist at Carolina Creations Fused glass by Stephen Palmer

Stephen was born in Berkeley, California and raised  by a poet and a painter. It was in his blood to become an artist. One of his earliest memories is his mother painting by the ocean, using their car as an easel. His family moved across the country as his dad, a librarian, went from one college to

  another. Illinois, Ohio and finally Michigan.
 
Along the way Stephen earned his BA, MA and Ed.D. and met his wife, Raenette. Together they established their studio where they happily spend their days creating art.

Pottery, batik, photography, and glass are Stephens passion, but most of his adult life he's worked in glass. Then two years ago Stephen branched off into mixed media sculpture. His fish begin with vintage crutches, paddles or boxes and are filled with found objects. Then they are wired and named.

These are on their way and will show up in another blog post!

For more information and pricing click here

Sally Anger paintings acheive interesting effects with interference colors

Coastal Carolina paintings at Carolina Creations by Sally Anger depict the beauty of our area. 

Artists Statement

The beauty that surrounds me everyday motivates me to paint. I realize that I fall in line behind a long tradition of painters who have been likewise compelled. From the blues and golds of Vincent's wheat fields to the soft elegance of Georgia's blooms, I am in good company. As the poet Rumi mused:

“Let the beauty you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth.”

Sally Anger grew up in the coastal town of Beaufort North Carolina after moving there at the age of nine. She has loved art all her life, and attended workshops and painted for many years. In 2002 she took the plunge and left a career as a nutritionist to pursue art full time.

She obtained her associate's degree in fine arts from the local community college and then studied for several semesters at a local university's art school before heading off on her own. She continues to explore new ways to express herself through art by experimentation, life drawing classes, critiques with other artists and workshops.

 

For more details visit our website by clicking here.

These three paintings are done with interference colors

What is an Interference Color?
An Interference color is laminated mica pigment that "flip-flops" from a main color to a weak complimentary one. The phenomenon is similar to naturally occurring light interferences such as gas or oil on water, or a butterfly wing. The position of the viewer and the direction of the light source create interesting visuals. In direct light, the main color, such as Interference Gold shines beautifully, but with indirect light, a translucent blue color appears.

Janet Dixon Red White and Blue

Janet Dixon will be our featured artist for July and August. The opening of her show "Red, White, and Blue" will be during the July ArtWalk, July 12, 5-8 pm. Stop in and meet the artist!

In 1990 Janet began experimenting with watercolors. She took a course at the Center for Creative Arts in Yorklyn, DE and has been painting nearly every day since. She now teaches art herself and has been doing so for a large part of her career."I have been working on this show for over a year and did not realize it! When asked to be the featured artist in Carolina Creations for the months of July and August I knew I wanted to do a show but I wasn’t sure what I would do. When Carolina Creations requested a title for the show I chose “Red, White, and Blue”. Considering the works would hang in July, I felt that was an appropriate title. I also felt it would give me some wiggle room to come up with work that would include those colors.

All my work includes those colors of some degree or another. But I felt I owed the viewers who were coming for “Red, White, and Blue” something more obviously red, white, and blue. To incorporate the title into the show I have painted each of the original full pallet paintings in paintings which are literally done in red, white, and blue. 

The idea of showing these works of art together creates an atmosphere for the viewer to explore the work a little further. The full pallet pieces can be studied for the full spectrum of their colors. Then the viewer can explore the same subject in a limited pallet of red, white, and blue for a little more intrigue. 

Creating works of art is a big part of what I believe I was created to do. It was very exciting for me and a challenge to create this body of work. I hope you enjoy the intrigue and playfulness of all the works shown in “Red, White, and Blue."

Janet loves the freedom and challenge of watercolor and the process of discovery that takes place when the paint itself takes on a life of its own. This creative process is a natural outgrowth of her faith which gives her the inspiration and direction to accomplish the beauty found in her work. She paints flowers in nature, old barns, houses and other old buildings which have become a part of the natural landscape. 

Janet has exhibited in numerous art shows, mostly in the Delaware, Philadelphia and North Carolina areas. She has been commissioned by local and out-of-state collectors and her work is part of many corporate and private collections. 

She was selected out of 11,000 artists across the United States as a finalist in “The Artist” Magazine’s 1997 art competition. Janet, also, was one of ten finalists in the “International Artist’s Magazine” 2002 art competition. She has taught private art lessons out of her studio since 1993.

In 2005, Janet became a signature member of the Watercolor Society of North Carolina, and was published in the book How Did You Paint That?: 100 Ways to Paint People and Figures.

Janet is a native of Greensboro and currently lives in New Bern.

Meet the artist, Friday, July 12, 2013, 5-8 pm.

Seven Days of Recycled Art at Carolina Creations

This week on our Facebook page I posted seven different artists that create art from recycled materials.

Day 1
Jay Jewelry - Light weight, recycled aluminum jewelry, contemporary designs, made in North Carolina. What a great use for your aluminum cans!  As each piece is handmade, sizes will vary slightly. Recycled beer and soda cans!  See more!

Day 2
Keith Lewis Jewelry - Keith's earrings are super lightweight. Made from recycled water bottles. To purchase.




Day 3
Computer Clocks - See more. hese clocks are handcrafted using computer technology, much of it surplus or old components.  Each clock offers a whimsical view of our rapidly changing technology, preserving it as functional art rather than landfill. 

Scratches and imperfections are inherent to the recycled and scrap nature of the materials; they have been incorporated into the overall design of each clock.  No two are ever exactly alike!


Day 4 Yardbirds - Decorative and functional animal sculptures made from recycled metal. These unique and whimsical creatures for the garden and home are full of personality! If left outside, these hand-crafted art pieces will rust to a beautiful natural finish.

Day 5  Windchimes -

Colorful glass wind chimes, made from recycled glass bottles that are cut and fused in a kiln. The circles come from the center part of a wine bottle. Each chime is hung on a kiln dried maple top with woven fishing line used to hang the circles. 8'' x 18'' x 1'', due to the recycled nature each is slightly different but will be these colors! See more.

 

Day 6

Rewind Candles - Hand poured soy candles in recycled wine bottles. Made in the Carolinas. Several young men were working at a restaurant and were disturbed by how many bottles went to the landfill every day. They started taking them home, cutting them, and making candles they then sold in the restaurant. Everyone that saw them wanted them! After much encouragement they started selling to other shops, and now to Carolina Creations.

Day 7 Socks - The ultimate in recycling - start with fabric made from scraps left over from tshirt manufacturing, spin it into yarn, knit the socks, use the leftovers for hats, scarves, use those leftovers for rag rugs, then stuffing pillows - waste, zero. Made from North Carolina cotton

Quilt Barns

I'm beginning to feel I've been living under a rock. This year I've run across several things I've never heard of before, like the Peace Pole Project, the Old Frankfort Pike, now Quilt Barns.

As we left Midway and traveled east through Kentucky and Tennessee and even into Virginia we kept seeing these quilt square on barns.

Now I've seen hex signs of the  Pennsylvania Dutch forever, but never these quilt squares. It turns out this is a project that was started in Ohio by Donna Sue Groves to honor her mother in 2001. Since then quilt barns can be found in 40 states. Follow this link for the story how this all got started.

The quilts are usually painted on 8' square pieces of plywood that are mounted on barns. The quilt projects are often headed up by the local arts councils and there are maps and trails for each state so you can find them all.

Western North Carolina has a large collections of them it turns out - where have I been, this from someone that pays attention to such things! Here is a link to a site that talks about them http://www.quilttrailswnc.org/

Here are a few quilt barn photos.

For more info go to http://www.barnquilts.com/default.htm

Another interesting thing to look for as you travel!

Michigan M119 Tunnel of Trees

Part of our trip to Michigan was retracing some of the places we went when I was a child. A child of a father who loved to go for a drive. Who taught us to camp and enjoy sitting by the campfire.

The section of road I especially wanted to drive is Highway M-119 (Lake Shore Drive) north of Harbor Springs - probably the most scenic road in the State of Michigan. It is narrow and runs along a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan - called the Tunnel of Trees, which stretches for 20 miles.

Along the way you glimpse the Lake, the shore is rocky part of the way and sandy the rest.

One of the images from my memory from 55 years ago is the old church at Middle Village, on the shoreline below Good hart. As a child I was fascinated by the fact that we could see the roof below us (I grew up in FLAT southern Michigan).

To get there follow US 31 north of Harbor Springs turn left on M119. Soon your start to sense the tunnel with trees on both sides, close to the road. Along the way you can see Beaver Island from some of the view points on a clear day.

There is a real sharp turn on a hill I remember too from my childhood and got a thrill this time too going around it.


M119 ends at Cross Village. Somewhere between there and Macinaw City there is a bottle fence, or was a bottle fence. I asked everyone I saw about it and no one knew until we, by chance, met someone later in the trip  that remembered it as well, but he too could not remember its location.

In Cross Village there is Legs inn, a Polish restaurant that we went to on one of the many trips with my folks.

For more about the Leg's Inn's history follow this link http://www.legsinn.com/history.html
Here are a few of my photos from along the way.

We then spent the night in Charlevoix where I used to do art shows in this very spot.

This was a very special part of our trip to Michigan, it brought back so many memories.

There will be a few more posts from the trip, like our visit to Berea, KY and up through the Leelanau Peninsula which included a visit to our newest artist Steve Palmer! Who I'll do a post about as soon as his work arrives. He does very funky fish sculptures and fused glass.

I will have to say I do not miss how overcast Michigan usually is, don't miss the snow and cold (I don't think there is as much snow as there used to be), and don't miss the fact that pretty much all industry is connected to the auto industry in one way or the other but I realize after being gone for 30 years how beautiful it is and how much I enjoyed being around family.

Next in series - Quilt Barns

The Old Franfort Pike Midway Kentucky

As I said in my previous post we just returned from Michigan - our home state. On the way home we visited Excelsior Motors and Dave Hume. For Michaels 68th birthday he purchased a 1973 Citroën SM. It's in pretty good shape for a 40 year old car. He'll have fun working on it over the next few years. Dave says there are about 2200 SMs in the US and he has worked on 1000 of them. He's been doing it for 30 years. He was delightful and a wealth of information for Michael. We will certainly visit him again.

But the real subject of this post is the Old Frankfort Pike. We had no idea what a beautiful road his business is on!  I've been trying to research the history of it but there is little on the internet. I have emailed a couple people and have not heard back from anyone yet. So what I'm posting is what Dave told me during a brief conversation about it.

It is BEAUTIFUL!

I took a couple pictures, but it is difficult to stop to take photos because it is a narrow road with no berm and a stone fence most of the way. So a few of these photos are mine, the rest I got off of the Lexington KY website.

This Pike is best known for the horse farms. Three Chimneys is probably the best known as the home for many years of Seattle Slew, the only undefeated Triple Crown winner in history. The current bumper crop of stallions includes Smarty Jones, 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, and Big Brown, 2008 Derby and Preakness winner.

Not being a horse race aficionado the horses were secondary, but the farms and stables were breathtaking!

You'll pass through six historic districts, and by four National Historic Register properties on this beautiful drive. 


The stone fence goes for miles. As we went south on I 75 we could see that limestone is readily available in the area. I'll be interested in finding out how old the fence is.

According to Dave there is a log cabin on the road that Lewis and Clark stayed in on their trek west. There is also a building that was the toll house. The Offut-Cole Tavern is located at the corner of Old Frankfort Pike and US-62 in Midway. According to the historic marker, the log portion of the structure dates to the 1780s-1790s. Major John Lee, a founder and early leader of Woodford County, lived here and began its tradition as a tavern. Leased to John Kennedy and William Dailey, it grew in fame as a stagecoach stop (midway) along the toll road from Lexington to Frankfort.

It's odd that for such a beautiful and historic road it is difficult to find too much information about it.

I'll add to this post as I find out more. It was a real treat to make this drive. Some folks are trying to get it designated as a National Scenic Byway. Others don't want the designation because it will bring more traffic.

This stretch of road is 16.9-miles long and has been voted one of the 10 best scenic drives in the United States.  Bordering the road for most of the drive are locusts, Osage orange, dogwood, redbud, red and white oak, and sugar maple. In the spring, the flowering redbud and dogwood make a spectacular display. There are also many canopies of trees along the route. Most of these are formed by either locust or Osage orange.

It was fascinating.

Next in series M-119 and the tunnel of trees in Michigan