St. Pierre Gallery sets grand opening--with my work included!

The St. Pierre Gallery on the main street of Floyd, Va., has announced its grand opening date for May 6, from 6-8 p.m.  This is especially exciting for me because the gallery is now carrying my work!  This is a first for me and it has happened just one year after I moved to the area.  It has been such fun to meet so many talented artists like Carly Burke and Bill St. Pierre who have made the gallery possible.  Their beautiful work is, of course, included in the gallery.  Bill's gorgeous woodwork is all over the two-room space and Carly's Mountain Light Jewelry graces the shelves and tables.  Becca Imbur's incredible handmade books are a delight to see; Eric's pottery sits near Wendy's and they are all gorgeous.  Photos by Rob Jones.  Paintings by Starroot.  Many more whose names I don't know are also there. All of these talented folks have been in the area and the business a long time.  My watercolors, prints and ink drawings are new to the mix and I'll let someone else describe them!

At any rate, we are all excited to be a part of this locally owned and operated venture and hope you can make your way to the lovely town of Floyd to see it.  If you come during the grand opening you get a big bang for your buck because it is on a Friday when the town is full of blue grass music, flatfootin' and people from all over the place!  Mark your calendar!

Bird feeders and prayer flags

A bright spot of color in a brown and green world.

It seems every bird watcher/feeder who lives near or in a forest must go through the battle of squirrel versus bird, and it hasn't been any different at our house. Lately, squirrels and some unidentified other furry creature were winning the battle and cleaning out all but the finch feeder overnight. Bill thinks about things a good while and then pursues his plan.  This one meant putting a ladder up against a tree, attaching a heavy, plastic-coated cable and repeating the same process on another nearby large tree. A pulley was threaded on to the cable and the filled feeder attached, then raised high up in the air.  Worked like a charm and no trees were damaged in the doing. 

Guess who suggested the prayer flags? Me, the artist, of course. A nice, bright spot in a brown and green world.  Bill, always the analytical thinker, inquired as to whether or not birds would be frightened by them. The next morning I sat by the window a long time to find out.  Two titmice could have cared less and flew straight to the tray.  Nuthatches, normally very adventurous acrobats, flew at it, under it and beyond it numerous times, landing on a tree and looking back to inspect the new arrangement. Finally, they landed on the roof of the feeder and did one of their upside down flips on to the tray.

Nearby, a flying bright spot landed on a branch to soak up the sun--a bluebird with a worm in his mouth!  I just love this splendid creature and am hopeful he will become a regular visitor even if he never uses the feeders.  To encourage his presence, we cleaned out all the bird houses and I'll start putting out some fruit for him. I read about how to raise my own mealworms for feeding the bluebirds, but decided the rather slimy, smelly and laborious process was not my thing...even for a bluebird who already has proven he is quite capable of getting his own worms!

At the front of the house, our house not the bird house, my hopes for the phoebe's return has been answered as I watch him flit around outside the kitchen window wondering what happened to the nest he and his mate left on the downspout last year.  I'm sorry, dear phoebe, but we really needed that new guttering and the new downspout is even bigger than the old one. Your sturdier perch awaits you as I await the return of the hummingbirds to provide aerial entertainment for us both from just a few feet away. 

All this just in time for the first day of Spring.

Earth, wind and fire

All the pieces finished in Jennifer Mulligan's raku glazing and firing session. My pieces are all the front row slab work and the tall slab piece with circles in the back.

Dirt fire pits lined with paper and ready.

Playing with fire should have been warmer, but it wasn't.  The raku shelter at potter Jennifer Mulligan's place was on a cold and windy bluff above a small river.  The wind blew and the rain fell on and off the whole day.  Cozying up to the gas kiln during the first stage of the firing provided some solace.  In spite of the wind, the other two elements of earth and fire provided a high degree of activity and excitement to the handful of students hellbent on having a raku experience on this day in March.

Raku is a thing of mystery.  The glaze buckets were labelled things like "yellow rose" and "purple haze." My tall moonscape came out blue and pale turquoise and lovely anyway.  "Copper penny" glaze and "yellow rose"  produced a nearly black interior with hints of metallic and a pale greenish exterior on my coiled piece reminiscent of a burst-open pea pod.  You paint on the glaze with adventure and bravery in your heart and then turn the piece over to the raku gods.  Wind, dampness, coldness, temperature, too much paper, not enough paper, too much sawdust, not enough sawdust, too much oxygen, not enough oxygen--all these factors toy with your glaze and create a piece you are in awe of but cannot duplicate. Sometimes they blow your piece up and give you bits you learn from. 

It's all good, creative fun.  A day in the country, nice people to meet and the opportunity to say things like "apple crackle" as you vow to put that glaze on a bigger piece next time because it is so special.  Thanks, Jennifer. The earth, wind and fire day was terrific.