Above photo credit: Jaylyn McFadden
Flax Art
In early September I curated a flax art exhibit in the historic church in East Barnard, Vermont. I’ll be working to find more places to exhibit this unusual and beautiful collection of work made by 11 artists (self included). We learned the signature methods for felting and sculpting with flax from master Belgian artist Germana Tack.
My studio is the former taproom in an 1830s brick house in rural Vermont.
But my favorite studio is under the sky where I get started on most of my paintings. The French call this en plein air, meaning in the open air. My brother gave me an old easel and it accompanies me around the back roads and hillsides near my home. In 2022 I started painting from the bed of our old pickup truck (I saw the Irish artist Elizabeth Cope doing this on the pages of Faire magazine and had to try it). I spend the winter months finishing my summer paintings, and creating dreamscapes that are composites of the places I’ve been fortunate to go. I work in slow-dry acrylics by Golden Paints and use wide hardware store brushes and Rosemary artist brushes. Just love them!
From my journal
Early Morning Studio
This is what late August feels like-misty and chilly when we wake up. Our view is eclipsed by clouds that sit on our hilltop obscuring everything a few feet beyond the windows. I am out in the studio at 7 am and the sun just broke through the fog. Outside me...
Heat Wave Eating
Hey it's hot, so sauté the watermelon. My brother-in-law first suggested this to me a few years ago. I wasn't convinced that watermelon would cook into anything but a wet soggy mess. I was never so happy to be wrong. It's similar to my earlier belief that...
Danish Textiles by way of Barcelona
I came upon the Indian print textiles of Bungalow in the marvelous home décor shop ivo & co in Barcelona, and brought a tea towel home with me. It hasn't touched a dish yet, since most tea towels suffer a messy fate in this house—too quickly stained with...
See Original Art Here
- First Branch Coffee
- Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, Vermont— Five pieces in Small Works exhibit, open through December 21
- The Current, Stowe, Vermont—Two pieces in Member Show through December 14
- In my home studio by appointment
Registeration Open!
- Experiment with Watercolor - 3 part class in January 2025, Pomfret, VT
- Abstracted Landscape with Acrylics - 1 day workshop, February 2, Pomfret, VT
Follow Along
Want a little blue sky in your inbox?
I send emails when the stars align (every so often).