Exhibits – Page 5 – NanetteSewZ

Honoring this pine

I’m so excited! In just a couple days PALUSTRIS: Celebrating Longleaf Through the Arts opens at Campbell House Galleries (Apr 6 – see details below). The exhibit’s name pays homage to the longleaf pine ecosystem. Pinus palustris is the Latin name (genus/species) for the longleaf pine tree which is native to the Southeastern United States.

This exhibit includes the work of Brady Beck, Linda Dalton Pottery, Sharon Ferguson, Janette Hopper, Diana Russ, and Caroline Young. My newest artwork “Longleaf Pinecone” will also be part of this exhibit. Each of the artists in this exhibit were invited to participate because we share our passion for the the longleaf pine forest through our art.

In addition to the honor of being selected to be in this exhibit, I’m also very excited about the theme. The entire month of April will be filled with activities which pay tribute to the natural community in which I live. In conjunction with the exhibit, there will be the Southern Pines House & Garden Tour (April 14) and the much loved Party for the Pine (on Earth Day, April 21) presented by NC State Park’s Weymouth Woods – Sandhills Nature Preserve. The Party for the Pines celebrates the oldest recorded longleaf pine tree, which turns 470 years old this year. How cool is that!

If you’re in the area, I hope you get a chance to stop by and see the exhibit or attend one of the other events honoring this pine.

PALUSTRIS: Celebrating Longleaf Through the Arts
Arts Council of Moore County
Campbell House Galleries
Southern Pines, NC 28387

Exhibit Dates: April 6-27, 2018
Opening Reception: April 6 from 6 to 8p
Gallery Hours: Weekdays / 9a to 5p
Weekend Dates:
Saturday, April 14 (10a to 4p) – So. Pines House & Garden Tour
Saturday, April 21 (10a to 3p) – Party for the Pine
Saturday, April 21 (4-8p) – After-Party for Party for the Pine

Celebrate longleaf through the arts

Most of the time I work alone. Except for a very few successful artists, I think most of us do find ourselves wearing all the hats in our businesses. Besides creating art, we are responsible for scheduling, advertising and promoting ourselves. It can be very challenging to manage time and resources, but it also can be very rewarding to know that our success (or lack of) is the product of your own hard work.

The reality is art is a business. You need to know about marketing, press releases, and managing money. Now with social media, there’s an even bigger challenge of learning how to use the Internet as a promotional tool. Unless you can afford to hire someone to do all this for you, you won’t get far ignoring the options.

With all the online activity I’ve been focused on lately, it was a nice surprise to see a old fashioned paper postcard with my art on it. What a nice break for my to-do list to have someone else create this and so nice to see something so well done. It made me proud to be participating in this upcoming exhibit, Palustris: Celebrating Longleaf Through the Arts .

This exhibit is also rewarding for a more personal reason. It represents my life living in North Carolina. I arrived here knowing nothing of this sandy landscape. I went to grad-school to become a biologist and worked with endangered species which live in these sandhills. And now, as an artist, I am sharing this knowledge through my art and helping educate people about the fragile natural communities in which we live. Several of the exhibiting artists are also my friends. We share the same appreciation for the longleaf pine ecosystem. I am honored to have been invited to participate and also appreciate the efforts of those tasked to produce and market this event. If you have the time, come visit and help us celebrate longleaf through the arts.

Palustris: Celebrating Longleaf Through the Arts
April 6-27, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday April 6th, 6-8pm

Campbell House Galleries
Southern Pines, NC 28387

Have the opportunity again

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Herdon, Virginia to be part of the Sacred Threads Artist Weekend. Sacred Threads is an art quilt exhibit held every other year which focuses on the spiritual side of making quilts. For this juried exhibit, artists were asked to submit quilts with statements that explain their story.

This was my first time entering this exhibit. To my great honor, my quilt “Soar” was accepted.

It’s always a treat to visit the exhibits where my quilts hang, but this time things were different. The emotional energy that’s in the building can’t be explained. Most quilt exhibits, you look at a quilt and move on, but in this exhibit you’re compelled to read the stories. More than once I was moved to tears reading the artist’s intent. Lisa Ellis and her team of volunteers also produce an audio tour of stories told by the artists and there’s the book, a big book, of all the quilts and artist statements. I didn’t have time to read all the statements while I was there, but I did buy the book and plan to read every one. I had the most fun, stalking fellow artists and asking them to autograph my book. It gave me a reason to have dialog with these talented people and personally learn about their artistic motivation.

During the weekend event, there was a special gallery viewing in which the artists stood by their quilts and talked about their art. Due to the traffic flow of show, I found my best observation point to be across from my quilt. I enjoyed the opportunity to observe people’s reaction to my piece. I had a great vantage point to see people’s reaction without them knowing I was there. I found that a lot of men were attracted to “Soar’s” large osprey wing. That intrigued me. Was it the size? Visual impact? Or that it didn’t look like a traditional quilt? I didn’t ask, but its an interesting tidbit for me. If you have the time to visit this week, I encourage you to go. If not, it will be 2 years before we have the opportunity again.

SEE MY QUILT “Soar” at the
Sacred Threads Exhibition
July 7, 2017 – July 23, 2017
Floris United Methodist Church, Herndon, VA
www.sacredthreadsquilts.org

Dates on quilts

Right now my quilt “Soar” is in Herndon, Virginia waiting to be hung in the Sacred Threads Exhibit. I’m excited to be part of this biennial exhibit which is designed to convey spirituality, healing and inspirational messages without emphasizing any particular religion or theology. The concept of spirituality lives close to my heart as I travel this Earth looking for meaning.

After living with this quilt for awhile I decided to change it’s name from “Solar Worship” to “Soar.” Soar just fits what I see when I look at it. Because of the name change, I had to change the label before I took it to the shipper. I was also required to supply a formal appraisal of the quilt for insurance purposes. Well, that was a first for me.

We have a licensed quilt appraiser in the area, Jane Hall. Jane is known as the “Pineapple Queen” because she has written numerous books about making pieced quilts using the pineapple block (a variation of the log cabin block). She’s also kind of a rock star legend when it comes to quilting; she’s been on many of quilting tv shows and in many magazines. I’ve met her several times before and she even appraised some of the antique quilts that I own. She is an amazing lady. Very kind, talented, and knowledgeable. I really enjoyed my visit with Jane.

One thing she told me was that I need to date my quilts. Since I had to change the label anyway (name change), I decided to heed her advice and include the year made. Dating a quilt is important for historical records. Years from now someone viewing your quilt will wonder about you and the label/date will help them find out who you are.

I have some reservation about dating my quilts, but I do sign them. Sadly, in today’s throw-away society, things that are “slightly old” aren’t valued as much as things that are “new and fresh.” I think if artwork is 10-20 years old, people view the piece as old fashion or out-dated. Jane knows best, so I added the date. But I wonder what you think about dates on quilts?

SEE MY QUILT “Soar” at the
Sacred Threads Exhibition
July 7, 2017 – July 23, 2017
Floris United Methodist Church, Herndon, VA
www.sacredthreadsquilts.org

Call this a win

Today is one of those rare June days that I can have the windows open. I love hearing the birds sing and call outside. There’s a red-headed woodpecker visiting our bird feeder. I can hear its distinct chatter. Somewhat migratory in it’s nature, the red-head seems to only visit us in the breeding season. I always look forward to seeing them. They are definitely hard to miss with their bright red head and black and white tuxedo-like body.

We have several varieties of woodpeckers who visit our yard. Another impressive species is the pileated woodpecker. Pileateds are large birds and amazing to watch. Last week we saw one feeding its young with suet from our feeder. It is so special when they play in our backyard.

Both of these birds are common in the longleaf pine forests in which I live. Like many habitats its being lost to encroachment of people. The pinecones of the longleaf are massive. I’ve been working on a concept using the longleaf pinecone as inspiration. This week I sketched out a digital drawing based on a photo I took a couple years ago. Now that I have the line drawing in Adobe Illustrator, I can easily resize the image to fit any project requirements.

I tried to send the line drawing to my Cameo Silhouette plotter. The Silhouette has a blade attachment which will follow the lines of a drawing and cut out pieces of fabric. (Here’s a link to a post where I describe how it works.) I’m not sure I’m sold on using the Silhouette. I can see it’s potential, but I also need a lot of practice trying to get the techniques down. The image in this post shows my results after I fused all the tiny bits together. I still need to fuse it to a background fabric, then add some depth and detail using thread and pencil. For the most part I’ve accomplished what I tried to do, so we can call this a win.

The process

Tomorrow is December 1. Sorry for being cliche, but “Where did the year go?” They say this phenomena seems to happen more as you get older. Days just whiz by, then swoosh you’re another year older.

My mission for December is to finalize a plan of attack for 2017. There are a couple of major shows I want to enter and a number of ideas that I plan to take action on. And of course, I need to keep creating new art pieces as I prepare for my solo show in 2018. Seems a long way away, but I’ll need about 30 pieces for that gallery space. I definitely have lots to think about.

This past Monday, we had the Open House at Campbell House Galleries. Sharon and I greeted our visitors while working on our art. I started working on another Carolina Parakeet piece. This one is small (12″ x 12″) and I’m using it to demonstrate some of my techniques.

To me fabric alone always looks too flat. Someone on Monday referred to it as looking like cartoon cutouts. I agree. It needs something else to give it rich dimension. If you look closely at the photo, you can see how the bird and branch in the lower right has more depth, than the bird and branch in the upper left. I’ve created the dimension by coloring the fabric with Prismacolor pencils.

Of course, if you’ve been following my work you know there’s more to my work than that. I always add thread to increase the level of interest and depth. I’ll show you more of the progress as I go along, because I thought you might be interested in seeing the process.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016

Holiday Art & Jewelry Sale – Friday, December 2 — (9a-5p) & Saturday, December 3 — (10a-4p)
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

Be thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day! Although, I try to be thankful every day, Thanksgiving is a celebrated day of reflection.

Our show at Campbell House is still hanging. We have an Open House scheduled for Monday, Nov 28 and a gallery sale on December 2 & 3 (see details below). I’m grateful that this exhibit is hanging for an extended period and that there are many options for people to visit. Looking at the pictures of my art hanging along side the artwork of my friends, I’m reminded of this journey I’ve been on.

Several years ago, I was in turmoil. I wanted to be an artist, but didn’t know what that meant. People told me that I already was an artist, but I didn’t agree. At that time, I had a specific grasp of understanding about this label. In my mind, an artist was someone who created original ideas and they also hung their artwork in “art” galleries.

As I step back and look at this exhibit, I can reflect on the journey and how I got here. I can see that my artwork portrays original ideas and hangs in art galleries alongside “fine art” paintings. I’ve created the persona that I was striving for so many years ago. This journey wasn’t easy and there is still a road ahead.

Along the way there where so many people who influenced me, helped me, and believed in me. That’s ultimately what I’m thankful for this weekend. I’m also thankful that I didn’t give up. I may have gone on some detours, but I always got back on track. I believe that spirit of never giving up comes from those who are no longer with me on this big blue marble. They set the mold, pushed me out the door and then stepped away. It’s all part of some giant plan that continues to unfold.

I’m also thankful for having the ability to share this journey with you. My hope in each of the personal reflections I share with you is that they remind you that you are in control. If you want it, then believe it and you’ll achieve it. Just remember to stop along the way to reflect and be thankful.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016

Open House — Monday, November 28 — (2-4p)
Holiday Art & Jewelry Sale – Friday, December 2 — (9a-5p) & Saturday, December 3 — (10a-4p)
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

In person

gallery shot of solarworship — “Solar Worship” [Osprey Wing] hangs alongside the artwork of Marilyn and Sharon in the Paper-Canvas-Cloth exhibit at Campbell House. (“Solar Worship” was inspired by a photo by Brady Beck

This morning I went to the Campbell House galleries to visit our exhibit Paper, Canvas, Cloth. It was a beautiful morning and I haven’t seen the exhibit since the reception almost 2 weeks ago. Today, I took a lot of pictures from every angle and it gave me chills that this is real.

Today reminded me that I’m on a journey that’s continually evolving. Each step I make I can look back and see how much I’ve learned. I can also see how much I’ve grown.

Sometimes it’s embarrassing talking about yourself, because you may sound too boastful. But if I don’t tell you (a stranger or friend) that I have an art exhibit down the road…you probably would never get to see it. I’ve put a lot of time and energy into this and it means alot to me to share it with you. I hope you enjoy these snapshots and if you have the opportunity, please, come see it in person.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

Where they take me

And so it goes, “Paper, Canvas, Cloth” is hung. The artist reception is over. Now I need to step back and take time to breathe. Between now and the end of the year, I’m re-grouping to decide “what’s next?”

I’ve been working on this exhibit pretty much non-stop since August. I haven’t had time to pursue other opportunities. In some ways, it’s been a tough year. In other ways, it’s been a rewarding year.

I’ve felt some negative blows the last couple weeks, but I’ve also had positive affirmations. It’s time to explore all those things I’ve been putting off and see where they take me.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

Very pleased

I am 3 weeks from hanging the show “Paper, Canvas, Cloth.” Realizing I’m a little bit light on small artwork, I’ve been trying to make a few more things. I’ve allowed myself the time to work on these last minute details. I’m very fortunate to have a supportive husband and employer who allowed me to take this much needed time off from my regular responsibilities. I’m feeling confident about where I am right now. Thankfully, I’m not pushing myself into a last minute frenzy…I hate that feeling. Since I’m the rookie in this exhibit, I’m thankful to be working with 2 pros. We all know what’s expected of us and we’re getting things done with little to no stress. I love this about my friends!

My cohorts in this show are considered traditional artists and they are experienced framers. Their work is always framed beautifully to showcase and complement their art.

Art quilters don’t normally frame our work. Art quilts are usually hung with a rod through the back, reminiscent of tapestries. In an exhibit of all art quilts, this is fine. However, in a fine art gallery show where the quilts hang along-side framed artwork, the quilts don’t command as much respect when they hang on a rod, especially the smaller pieces. As my dear friend notes, the quilts “look like potholders” on the wall. I also think a framed piece makes more sense to a buyer. They know how to hang a frame on the wall, but they’re not so sure about hanging a “tapestry.”

Last week my task was to frame my smaller art quilts. It took me a couple months to figure out exactly how I was going to do this. I wanted the style to be “neutral,” something that would work with most any decor. I also wanted the framing to look a bit modern, not too stuffy. I decided to go with floating frames. With the help of Eye Candy Gallery in Southern Pines, NC, I got the job done.

With floating frames, the art is supported from behind with a small gap between the outer edges and the frame molding. The art appears to float within the frame. I must say the end results are more than I could have imagined. I’m very pleased.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller