New Bern Calendar 2015

For the past 6 years I've created a desk calendar featuring New Bern paintings I've done through the year. I include a little bit of the history of the scene I paint.

While I don't just paint New Bern, doing this calendar encourages me to do at least 12 paintings a year of our beautiful town.

This coming years calendar includes my 2014 Christmas Card of City Hall in the snow, the Farmer's Market, parts of a large Commission I am doing for the convention center, Tryon Palace, The History Center, Persimmons Restaurant and Union Point.

In the first five years we lived here I did ink drawings which I hand colored, of all the churches in our Downtown. Over the past couple of years I have been redoing all of them in watercolor. This year I did the Broad Street Christian Church and the Riverside Methodist Church.

There is a sunrise painting of the Neuse River Bridge, a painting of the New Bern Civic Theater I did for them for a fund raising campaign to restore the building and each year I do a painting of the signature house on the Spring Home and Garden Tour. For 2014 that was the James Bryan House on Pollock Street.

And the last painting included in the coming years calendar is part of a painting I did for Sound Bank of the New Bern skyline from Bridgeton.

New Bern 2014 Christmas Card by Jan Francoeur

Every year for the past 22 years Jan Francoeur has created a Christmas card depicting a scene in our Downtown.

This years card depicts our City Hall. They are 10 to a package for $10.50.

You can order online!

Clay Baskets

In 1970 Phil and Gail Sellers graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute where Phil majored in painting and Gail majored in Industrial Design. Both minored in ceramics with Ken Ferguson and pottery became their passion. In 1978 their talents were put to use when they founded River Hill Pottery.

Over the past forty four years their interest has shifted from wheel throwing to hand building. Using coils to lattice developed into weaving the coiled pieces. The first coils were hand rolled individually, but as the experience of weaving the clay developed the focus shifted. 

 
They began working with extruded clay, which gave them the opportunity to create their own dies and spend more time with weaving patterns. Developing molds that they could weave over, has led them to the forms and shapes they now use. 

Their signature series have unique extrusions and weaving patterns. These baskets have unusual carved rims that look like wood and are signed and dated.

Fabulous wood veneer handbags

Sharon Hammill Diebolt and Mark Titus Diebolt have been working in the medium of wood for over 30 years. Prior to creating the beautiful wood purses, their experience included building exquisite furniture and jewelry boxes sold mostly through American craft galleries, including Carolina Creations.

Although they have extensive knowledge and experience in working with veneers, the purses offer unique technical and design challenges.

When not busily creating these fine wooden purses in their studio, they can be found at home indulging in their other passions in life: family and friends, gardening, cooking, and bike riding.

Welcome Norm Robins

We have just received paintings by New Bern artist Norm Robins!

Norm Robins studied at the Art Students' League in New York and also with Edgar Whitney, considered one of the greatest watercolor teachers of our time. Norm has followed in his footsteps as a teacher and creative artist. In addition, he has taken lessons in Japanese brush painting at the Nippon House with an old Zen Master. 

While always involved in art, Robins earned a living as a sign painter and worked on murals and billboards in New York City. Since coming to North Carolina, he concentrates on painting in such mediums as watercolor, gouache, pastels, oils and acrylics.

Robins has exhibited at the Nassau Museum and the National Art League, both in New York; the paintings and photos that he took during the Korean War are hanging in the permanent archives of the Asian Arts Institute in NY. Robins has won numerous awards both in New York and North Carolina, most recent being an award from the Regional Fine Arts Show in Beaufort County.

He was also recently commissioned and completed an impressive mural in Stardust, a Morehead City waterfront restaurant. His work has been collected by many banks and collectors throughout the east coast, such as the Home Savings Bank in NC and the First South Bank in New Bern, NC. 


As a teacher, Robins feels that his greatest accomplishment is working with and teaching cartooning to at-risk children and watching their creativity develop. Some of Norm's hobbies are making bird houses and painting Hebrew and Oriental Calligraphy. 

His subjects often depict musicians, water and farm scenes.
To view more visit our website by clicking here.

 

It was a GREAT weekend painting with Dan Nelson

We had a great weekend at our Plein Air Workshop with Dan Nelson.

This is a painting Dan did as a demonstration that he did over the course of the weekend.

Painting available at Carolina Creations!

Train Trip

I took my first train trip in 1969, since then I take a train whenever I can - here are a few of the trips I've taken by train

       Jackson Michigan to Mexico City

       Selma North Carolina to Philadelphia Pennsylvania

       Toledo Ohio to Berkley California

       Cumbrea and Toltec in New Mexico

       Durango and Silverton in Colorado

       Newark International to Penn Station NYC

       Paris Metro to Versailles
       Philadelphia International to City Center to Manyunk

I've drawn pictures of depots and trains located all over the country, too many to mention.

My latest trip was was from New Bern to Charleston South Carolina, to visit my niece. I love the way a train moves along, the sound of the locomotive (steam is the best) and the whistle. It's not the fastest way to go but sometimes you just need to slow down.

Right off the bat I loved the fact that I could walk out my door and around the corner, just over a block, and catch the Amtrak bus which took me to meet the train in Wilson, NC.

This is the Wilson, NC depot.

A nice painting inside the Wilson, NC Terminal

A mosaic lady sculpture, there is a similar one in Chapel Hill I did a painting of.

I chose business class because people said it was quieter and no kids. Not that I don't like kids but the whole point of traveling this was for me was to relax, stare out the window and maybe read a little and be quiet.

There was quite a lot of activity in Wilson, more people traveling north than south. The depot is very nice and in the middle of town so if you get there early there are places you can walk to.

Business class was as advertised, the seats were large and comfortable, tons of leg room, wifi and 120v plugs.

I read, dozed and just chilled out.

It was wonderful.

The only disappointment was the depot in North Charleston, how can a city with such beautiful architecture have the most boring depot seen on this trip?

Yes I could have flown much faster, and driven a little bit faster but this was so much more relaxing than either of those.

For people who live in a metropolitan area, you are probably saying whats the big deal. For those of us that choose to live in more remote areas it's a treat to be able to get around without driving or flying.

The southbound train is late and guess it usually is so the ride home was delayed but that was ok too. A long as I have a book or my laptop I can keep busy. That is the only problem with this east coast route, Amtrak shares the tracks with CSX and they take precedence.

What does riding the train have to do with Carolina Creations or art?

Sometimes you just need to do something different to recharge, get ideas for the shop, look in other shops and galleries to see what we are or aren't missing, and always, always look at the scenery for inspiration of things to paint.

October 2014 Newsletter from Carolina Creations

We've been publishing a newsletter for the past 22 years and an email newsletter for 15! Here is a preview of some of it....

To read the newsletter live, with the links, click here.

You can sign up to receive our newsletter each month here.  We can assure we will not sell or share your email address with ANYONE!

Thank you for your support.

Painting Demonstration this Friday October 10 2014 with Sally Sutton

Stop in this Friday October 10 to meet one of our favorite artists Sally Sutton! She will be demonstrating during ArtCrawl from 5-8 pm.

We have represented Sally since 2008 and she has taught workshops through our gallery. Sally received her BFA from California State University, Long Beach and an MFA from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Sutton's work has been exhibited in Tokyo at the Genkan Gallery of the Tokyo American Club, in the Meiji Gallery in Ginza, and in numerous shows in the United States.  Her paintings can be found in private and corporate collections nationally and abroad.  

Hope to see you Friday Night!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

We've all been touched by it.  Help find a cure.

Or help someone you know get through it.

Visit the Susan G. Komen Foundation website to read how you can help.