We Broke the Drought and the 20th anniversary

In moving to Georgia we were faced again with severe water restrictions because of the drought conditions. I hired a landscaper to run drip irrigation lines (a process foreign to this area) to all the major plants and trees since sprinklers were outlawed. Then the rain began. It has now been one of the wettest years on record. The lakes are full, the streams are flooded and many roads and bridges have been wiped out during the big rains. So, we broke the drought.

Next we are off to Scottsdale to help celebrate the big 20th anniversary party for the Celebration of Fine Art. It is going to be a huge event. So far we have over 200 RSVP's and still growing. It is amazing looking back over the 20 years and remembering all the great artists that have participated in the show and all the loyal customers who have supported the artists and our efforts.
We are grateful for all of it. I can't wait to see the new art work and to meet the new artists.

In case you haven't seen it pick up the January issue of American Art Collector. The Celebration is well represented. It shows the breadth of the work created by the artists who participate in the Celebration.

As soon as I figure out my "new" photo image software that has magically and mysteriously appeared in my computer I will post on our last adventure to Chattanooga TN.

Highlands North Carolina

A trip to the mountains of North Carolina. The small town of Highlands is up winding mountain roads, no way around that, you get to slow down and enjoy the views. This town is the Souths equivalent of Carmel, CA or Aspen Co. It is charming and the city planners have held firm with the edict of no chain stores. Everything is small boutiques or galleries. It is filled with flowers and happy shop owners who greeted everyone with smiles and conversation. There were lots of license plates from Georgia, Florida and Tennessee as well as the Carolinas. The visitors mostly have summer homes or rent cabins for months at a time. The temperature is balmy and afternoon rain showers are the norm.

Highlands has wonderful restaurants. We are Italian and Continental and fish and beef yum!
We are breakfast at the pharmacy which has a great soda fountain and reminded us of our old days in Scottsdale, AZ when Lutz pharmacy had a small cafe and home made pie to die for.

In addition to several very nice galleries, they also have a wonderful brand new art center called The Bascom. They have exhibition space, classromms, a seperate huge ceramics studio and an additional building that holds the kilns. The building is wood from an old barn in Pennsylvania. They even have a covered bridge.
Here are some additional photos of the town, the ponds and the beautiful area. Plan a visit we sure enjoyed it.

On the left is Bucks Cafe our favorite coffee and breakfast stop.
On the right is charming Main Street shops, early in the morning before the crowds of shoppers arrive.
There is a lovely botanical trail and information center around this group of natural lakes filled with lily pads in bloom. We saw orchids so tiny you could hardly find them, lizards basking in the sun and lots of beautiful birds. Highlands is definitely a place we will be going back to.

Just because I wander doesn't mean I'm lost!

This beautiful landscape is on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. This was the last stop on our last wandering. Beautiful country!

We began our journey by following the North Georgia Arts Tour. We drove up US 23 and began our trip in Dillard, GA then to Clayton, Lakemont and Tallulah Falls and then to Toccoa all small towns in north Georgia. They do this twice a year and it is a great time to see all the galleries who all have working artists there. We saw wood working, painters and even basket makers using Kudzu . We had lunch at the Dillard House. Like most things Southern this is still in the family and began the tradition in 1820 as farmers and providers of traditional Southern hospitality.

The have a lodge and very famous restaurant where you eat family style. The term "groaning board" covers the event. They bring everything to the table and you serve yourself what you want. The cheerful waitress says, "Now if you want more you just holler."
I think this photo of my husband Tom and the lunch spread will let you see why this place if famous.

Yes, all this food was just for the two of us. No, we didn't eat it all but made a good dent.



Tallulah Falls was an interesting stop. The Tallulah Falls School, which still operates today as a private school, was begun by Mary Ann Lipscomb a member of the Georgia Women's Federation Club. It was originally founded to provide the mountain children with education since there was no school in the area. The organization still operates the school, a gift shop and now a beautiful hotel called The Lodge at Tallulah Falls. It is the best lodging in this area, brand new and beautifully decorated by the Women's Federation.

Our next stop was in Greenville, South Carolina. What a wonderful town, filled with art and an beautiful downtown, arts district and river walk area. Our first visit was the Greenville County Museum of Art. They currently have a great show called Art & Artists of South Carolina which included both historic and contemporary art. The highlight for me, however, was the collection of Andrew Wyeth. They have a great body of his work and it was delightful to see them up close and in such a wonderful museum. The entire town was a surprise and beautiful. Their river walk area (they have a real river and water fall running through the city) has been developed into a charming area with lots of restaurants, loft housing, art galleries and boutique shops. We strolled both sides of the river and enjoyed watching the ducks and the kids enjoy the water. This is a view of the pedestrian suspension bridge over the river.


Then on to Salisbury, North Carolina to visit our artist friends Whitney Peckman and Syed Ahmad. They and their neighbors have restored an historic building in downtown which they call the East Square Artworks. The town of Salisbury is making great efforts to preserve and protect the historic buildings and homes in the community by creating various historic districts. This includes the downtown where Whitney and Syed have converted an old bakery to galleries, work space and loft housing. Salisbury has a historic preservation commission that even has buildings for sale. It is a great place for art and artists and a growing beautiful community.

Whitney and Syed fed us, entertained us and gave us a great tour of the area including the Waterworks Visual Art Center where Whitney currently has a show of her beautiful paintings.

They will also exhibit their work at the 20th annual Celebration of Fine Art and we will see them there in Scottsdale Arizona during the winter.


After Salisbury we drove to Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville is filled with galleries and artist colonies. This beautiful mountain setting provides a home to many artists in various
media. The tradition of crafts is very strong in this part of the country and many of these artists have taken the craft to fine art. One of the places that you must stop is the Southern Highlands Craft Guild shop on the Blue Ridge Parkway where they also have a Folk Art Center.

We shopped and enjoyed the art and crafts and watched an artist making psalteries (pronounced without the P). It is a musical instrument that has a lovely lyrical tone. I almost bought one just for the sound. The artist, Rick Long, showed me how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star " and allowed anyone could play a psalterie. It looks easy and sound great but I still am not sure I could get past the first song.



There are simply too many galleries in Asheville to record them all. It is like a multi day feast for art addicts. I will mention one special gallery and a couple of fabulous artists. There are two very famous places in Asheville. One is the Biltmore Estates and the other is the Grove Park Inn.

Next to the Grove Park Inn is the Grovewood Gallery a gallery of fine art crafts, sculpture, furniture and more. Among the art displayed their was a wonderful desk. It is called an Aaron Burr desk and was made by artist Barry Tribble. When closed the desk will look like a table with a beautifully inlaid top. When open half the top folds back and the sides open to reveal a desk with drawers and a chair! The inlaid wood veneers contain many colors and textures which have been influenced by the ancient art of marquetry.



The second gallery was the Haen Gallery where the owner chatted with us and told us all about the artist who's paintings had me spell bound. His name is Lynn Boggess. He is a plein air landscape painter who lives in West Virginia. His paintings are amazing. He has a special portable studio that he hauls with him into the wilds so he can paint in any weather. It is shown on his web site (click the link on his name) and it is amazing. The spontaneity shows in all his work, even the biggest canvases which he does right on the spot, no studio work for this guy. He is brilliant.

It was a fabulous trip filled with art and covering 3 states. You can do that in the South in a matter of hours. Asheville is only about 4 hours away from us. I am sure we will be going back again.

The Customer Service Rant for the month:
You know from reading my blog that I am adamant about customer service in galleries and this trip we had mostly great experiences with people talking to us about the art and artists. There was only one really startling bad moment. We were in in an Asheville gallery and I was studying a huge painting ($10,000 price tag) that had all sorts of hidden detail. The sales gal came from behind me and said, "Excuse me would you move please we (an artist and herself) need to see these frame choices." She then plops a small painting with different frame corners on the couch in front of this big painting and proceeds to discuss the frame choices with this guy, ignoring me completely. Amazing!

On The Trail Of Great Art

Where ever you go in the world you find art and artists. It always gives me a feeling of reassurance that there is something special about the place if I find artists there working. The photo above was taken in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. She was sketching the beams in the ceiling with the light poring through. Tucked in a corner so as not to be trampled by the crowds. I make it a rule to look and see what the artist is capturing then look up or out to try and see what they see. It is truly like watching magic.

We just returned from a river cruise up the Seine river from LeHavre to Paris. That is the area where the great French artists lived and worked. Sure, they went to Paris for shows and business and some even lived there for some time but this area along the banks of the Seine was the beauty they captured that still inspires us today.

The Seine holds some of the countries major industries and factories today but is still sprinkled with picturesque villages, mostly unchanged, since they were painted by the Impressionists. They often hung out in a sea side village called Honfleur. Here they painted the ocean and boat scenes. This city remains filled with traditional architecture and a lovely harbor lined with restaurants.


Perhaps the most memorable and breathtaking place was Monet's home and gardens at Giverny. Monet moved out of Paris and into this huge home in Giverny where he lived from 1883 until 1926 at his death. His home and gardens is now a museum and has been restored and maintained by the Monet Foundation. The gardens are planted so that each season is both different and spectacular. Colors and textures abound and they have followed Monet's original plan for his garden. He created the lily pond that was such a frequent subject. When you stand in the garden and picture his work you can see what he saw and place yourself in the setting where his paintings were created. He could stay on his porch and watch the endless parade of seasons. His home is open and you can see all the wonderful Japanese wood block prints and engravings that so inspired him. Here are a few photos of the house and gardens to give you the idea.

I took close to 500 photos but these should wet your appetite for a visit. Once we hit Paris the next highlights were a visit to the Musee de Orsey, always an inspiration, and the Rodan Museum. Rodan was not only a fabulous sculptor but the museum shows his paintings and ceramics as well. I always enjoy seeing the experiments of great artists, how they reach out and explore with no fear of failure, just pure adventure to see how it works and what happens.
We skipped the massive lines and crowds of the Louvre and instead stuck to Rodan. Here are a couple of photos of this "don't miss" Rodan Museum.





















This was Rodan's home and studio. He is buried under his sculpture of the Thinker in the courtyard. Consider visiting this area instead of zooming up the Eiffel Tower. You will have much richer memories.

Short trips and discovery

I had a delightful day of exploration last week. My husband Tom took me on a date to the Buckhead area of Atlanta. This is the rich part. The shopping centers have all the really fancy good stuff that none of us can afford any more. But we didn't go shopping. He took me to a beautiful place called the Swan Coach House. It is located on the grounds of the Atlanta History Center so I got a full dose of lovely lunch, art, history and gardens! My favorites.

The Swan Coach House is operated by the Forward Arts Foundation and consists of a restaurant, retail shop and gallery. The gallery exhibits only Georgia artists and the retail shop has some wonderful things and the food was great. The Forward Arts Foundation was founded in 1965 as a non-profit organization by twelve visionary and community-minded Atlanta women. These dedicated art patrons selected as their home the carriage house of the Edward Inman estate, Swan House, located on the grounds of the Atlanta History Center. The home was the masterpiece of Atlanta’s internationally renowned architect Philip Trammell Shutze. The Foundation renovated the carriage house creating a restaurant and gift shop which opened in 1967. In 1984, an art gallery was added to the complex.

Through the management of the Swan Coach House restaurant, shop and gallery, along with revenues from an annual fall Flea Market, a holiday Fashion Show, and the Swan’s Palette Cookbook, the Foundation fosters and supports the visual arts in Atlanta.

Among the beneficiaries are the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta History Center, the Michael Carlos Museum, and Savannah College of Art and Design. The indelible mark begun over 40 years ago has continued to positively influence the Atlanta cultural landscape. What a great idea for supporting the arts. I love it. I think that is what we know as synergy!

Then we strolled over to the Atlanta History Center through the gardens. Things are beginning to bloom and it is really beautiful.

While the Atlanta History Center has lots of wonderful exhibits, two stand out in my memory. The first was the Native American exhibit called Native Lands: Indians and Georgia.

"Native Lands: Indians and Georgia celebrates the state’s original inhabitants beginning with the Mississippian peoples and continuing with their descendants, the Creeks and the Cherokees. Unlike most accounts of Native American history, which end with the Trail of Tears, this exhibition explores the Native Americans’ recent history through the voices and artistry of contemporary Creeks and Cherokees.

Long before European settlers came to what is now called Georgia, the Mississippian Indians developed complex societies on these lands - complete with art, agriculture, architecture, and trade industries. Native Lands seeks to commemorate the rich culture that once dominated this region. Highlights include an eighteenth-century Creek town square replica and a nineteenth-century Cherokee family hearth scene that reveals the blending of native and European cultures. The exhibit also features video of contemporary Native Americans discussing issues of particular significance to their communities." I learned something really interesting here. The Creeks and Cherokees had their own language that was invented by one of them. It was a written language that used not only Latin letters but Greek as well and symbols from mathematics. It looks a bit like Egyptian hieroglyphics. These were complex people and advanced in their civilization. Yet, we chased them off their land and into Oklahoma. Big mistake, they got the original oil rights. Oops.

The second great exhibit was on the Civil War. As my friend and former History teacher has pointed out to me, "History is always written by the victors." Well here you get the prospective of the loosing side as well and the specific points in history that were turning points. You find out why the South fought. It wasn't just over slavery, it was that they didn't want any government dictating to them how to run or manage their businesses and families. They didn't want to be dictated to by others. That sentiment still is strong here. It's a great and very powerful exhibit.

They have others too. All this is well worth a day where you can get all the elements of history, art, gardens, art and wonderful lunch too.

My new Kindle: Helping the economy

I did my part for the economy this month by purchasing a Kindle. For those of you who don't know a Kindle is a reading device for books, newspapers, blogs, etc. It is made by Amazon. It has changed my life.



As you may know, I am big on presentation. The Kindle arrives in cardboard shipping containers with a zip open strip that hints at the possibilities inside by saying,"Once upon a time...". Pull the strip and the box opens to a slick black package lining with cascading letters and a beautifully designed nest for the Kindle and its power cord and starting manual. Just the great presentation had me. The leather cover I bought came with the same great packaging. It and the Kindle had easy directions to start things off. First plug it in and charge it (about 3 hours?) I gardened while this happened and made a book list from the main Amazon site of what I wanted to download. Once charged it took me less than 10 minutes to access the store on the Kindle and download 2 books. I love technology that works! The most delightful surprise is when you put it sleep mode. Up comes a beautiful black and white drawing, picture or illustration. The photos are of great authors like Steinbeck etc. the pictures are antique illustrations of etchings or drawings having to do with books or literature or other beautiful objects. Being an art person this is one of my new favorite things. It reminds you of the history of books and how far we have come.



I do, however, have some guilt. I probably will spend less time in bookstores, which I love. But, the Kindle will save overweight charges on my luggage when we travel since I usually haul at least 6 books along. Now I can carry an entire library with me in my purse! The other small advantage is no one knows what you are reading. They will judge you on the technology and not your choice of literature. Try it, you deserve it. if you read, as I do, quantities of books.

Back to Arizona

We just returned from a two week trip to Arizona. It seemed very odd to visit a place we used to call home. We rented a nice condo near the Grayhawk golf course and had the granddaughters and my daughter visit. We had a great time. It was in the 80's, warm form February. We left the 80's to return to our new home in Georgia and snow!

We spent most of our time visiting our artist friends at the Celebration of Fine Art. It was such a treat to be around positive people who are so creative and bright. It really brought home how much of our countries current attitude of doom and gloom is mental. It is brought on my listening to the news and having people tell us day after day how awful things are and how poor we are. The visitors to the Celebration have a great time and yes, they are buying art. The atmosphere is positive and upbeat and everyone feels that. We all need that break from dark news heaped on us by the media.

These wonderful people are also helping others less fortunate. Today they are having an event called the Art of Food which will benefit St. Mary Food Bank Alliance in Arizona. It focuses not only on food donations but the wonderful programs St. Marys provides to help people train for employment in the food industry.

My advise to everyone is turn off the news! Enjoy your family and friends and spend some quality time with a smile on your face. Here is something to help you smile.

Savannah and the Islands

This is probably the most photographed spot in Savannah. It captures only a small part of this beautiful and romantic historic district. This is Forsyth Park and its fountain.

We loved this town. We ate, we rode the trolley, we ate, we walked the streets visiting museums and galleries, we ate and really had a great time.

The eating part: We skipped Paula Dean's place, she is a marketing machine and it was just too much Paula, her stuff and tours are everywhere! Instead we ate at the Pirates House (contains the oldest house built in Savannah as well as lots of great stories about the early pirates) where the food was just OK but the atmosphere was wonderful. We had dinner at the Pink House where Tom had the special scored flounder, yum. We also ate at a wonderful place called 17Hundred90 which is also a historic inn as well as a wonderful restaurant. Another good meal on the River Front was The River House Seafood. We ate seafood of all types until we yearned for a steak when we got home.

This is the Telfair Museum. It is an old house converted to a museum. In her will the lady left a stipulation that the kitchen of the home must be kept intact. So in the basement of this beautiful museum is, yes, a kitchen dating from colonial days! In the same square is the Jepson Center for the Arts. This is a contemporary museum that had two artists we just drooled over. My favorite was William Morris. Probably the most amazing glass artist I have ever seen. He does things with glass you think can't be done. Very inspiring work. Tom's favorite was Anthony Palliser, a French artist. He is a portrait artist of great skill and really captures everyday people in an heroic format that takes your breath away. We were surprised that so many of the galleries were co-op artist galleries. It seems to be the norm here. In each one we were greeted warmly and enjoyed our stay. In a couple of the regular galleries we got the same cold reception I have blogged about before. The quality of the art and architecture of the historic district has been greatly enhanced by an outfit called SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). These folks tackle everything from restoring historic buildings, film production, furniture and clothing design and general art. They do it very well. They have a wonderful historic building that houses their gift shop where they sell the work of their graduates. They aren't shy about prices but the work is all top quality and very interesting and unusual.

The streets and squares of Savannah make the whole place charming in it's beauty and history. Here are a few additional photos.

After leaving beautiful Savannah we headed for St. Simon Island. The coast of Georgia is filled with barrier islands some big some small but all historic with old forts or ruins of early civilization. Many of these islands are either in private hands, natural protected place or too small and remote to be overcome by coastal condos. We likes St. Simon best because of the good food, nice galleries and beautiful setting. Our favorite place to eat was the Georgia Sea Grill where we had fabulous dishes prepared by chef Jeff Brzezinski. He will try to send me a recipe for the Oyster Pan Roast, yum.

We also spent a day on Jekyll Island which wasn't much. Since it was off season most of the shops and places were closed. The best thing was the Georgia Sea Turtle Center where they rescue and rehabilitate sea turtles. A very interesting place. These folks do an amazing job against huge odds for these creatures who have been around since the dinosaurs.

The trip was delightful and we will definitely return to Savannah. Hope you have time for a visit, via the links I have given you, if you can't go in person.

TV Adventure

I don't normally sit in front of the TV all day but yesterday was an exception. Watching the inauguration of our 44th President was an occasion to be savored. What an inspiring day. I think this country needs the shot in the arm that this man and his family can give us. Once in each generation an inspiring leader comes to us. My generation had John Kennedy, this one gets Barak Obama. One of the very first changes is the White House web site http://www.whitehouse.gov/ which has interesting, important and fun information. This is obviously a technology that has helped Obama through his campaign and now will help all of us to be informed and inspired as well.

What a day. I think I will go leap tall buildings or something. Perhaps I will visit the http://www.usaservice.org/ site and volunteer!

Life in a Tent

An artist life in a tent and on the road is a grueling proposition. The hardest part is, of course, the set up. Lots of lifting and shifting. Lots of arranging so that people will see something that catches their eye and want a closer look. Lots of anxious looks at the weather. Lots of tired bodies and nerves of anticipation.

After promoting and operating an art event for 19 years, The Celebration of Fine Art, people may think that we only know one side of this business. Surprise, we began on the other side.

We took hundreds of thousands of dollars of fabulous American Indian jewelry and dragged it and our show cases to Scottsdale AZ to become an exhibitor at the Arabian Horse Show. We were provided this lovely tent but we had to do all the lighting, green carpet on dirt, arranging the cases and all else. Fortunately the weather was fabulous, as only winter in Scottsdale can be. We did, however, bring down the wrath of the other exhibitors when we plugged in our coffee pot and blew the breakers for over 50 other exhibitors! We did this show and the national Arabian Show in Albuquerque NM that year. Yes, we sold things but it was more work than profit. We decided that being in one place would be better. The rest, as they say, is history.

The tent is bigger and better looking now and filled with artists going through the set up process. Be sure to see the results of their hard work beginning January 16th in Scottsdale, AZ. You can find out more about the event by visiting http://www.celebrateart.com/.