Artists In The Garden XI: Sandy of PunkyJane

Today's interview will be with Sandy of PunkyJane.

http://www.punkyjane.com/

http://www.punkyjane.etsy.com/

http://punkyjane.blogspot.com/

1. What is your art, hobby or craft? How did you come to creating it?

I create hand stamped and personalized jewelry and accessories. I was in search of a necklace for myself with my daughters' names on it after seeing a friend wearing one. I was never able to decide what to order... and decided to start making them myself. I have such a love of typography...I've been a graphic designer for over 20 years. This was a perfect way to use one of my passions in a new and different way.

Click on photo for more info.

2. What is your inspiration?

Making people smile. One of the best things about creating this jewelry is doing custom orders and working with my customers to create their vision to honor, celebrate, remember... creating something meaningful to them. And hearing back how much they love it gives me such a boost!

3. How does your garden or nature influence your art?

My garden helps keep me calm and helps me remember that beauty doesn't mean perfection. I tend to be a very literal and symmetric type. I think it helps be loosen up!

4. Will you share a few pictures of your garden with us?

5. Will you share a picture of your favorite plant?

No question that lavender is my favorite. Any variety.

6. Do you have any photos of your art in the garden to share?

Click on photo for more info.

7. What is the best lesson you have learned from the garden or nature?
Patience. There is nothing instant about a beautiful garden. You work hard, wait, and enjoy all the little phases. And embrace what is presented to you. Don't force it. What will thrive in your garden might not work for someone else. I believe that's true in life as well.

8. Do you have a gardening tip to share with fellow gardeners?
I like the idea of having meaningful plants in my garden. Might be a favorite from my childhood, or something my grandma grew. I want to ‘feel' my garden and have it be a place filled with memories.

9. Are you creating anything new that you'd like to share with us?
I am currently working on personalized garden markers. Customers can order these markers handstamped with special sayings, names, plant names...just about anything.
Garden markers: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27504439

10. Show us your favorite item in your etsy shop.

I wear my Just Breathe ring everyday as a constant reminder to slow down and breath. Sometimes that's hard to do balancing family (I have two young girls) and work. I catch a glimpse of my ring and exhale.

Click on photo for more info.

11. Please share a favorite garden or nature related item from another Etsy shop.

I recently found http://www.herbanlifestyle.etsy.com/. While everything in this shop looks wonderful, the Lavender Chamomile Facial Masque makes me relax just looking at it! I hope to order some soon!

Click on photo for more info.

Sandy, thank you for sharing your garden and inspiration with us today!

Beautiful Crocheted Large Shawl in multiple colors by Jenco13.

I recently found this lovely shawl on Etsy and was so touched by the inspiration of Jen of Jenco13 creations that I wanted to share it.

Quoted fromJen's Jenco13 profile page.

"Most of the money I earn through my crocheting goes into making care packages for the troops overseas. I currently have several friends there that I will send a package to and they share with their fellow soldiers."

"I also volunteer to make handmade scarves and blankets for a local charity that provides them to cancer patients and other’s who are in need."

Goddess of Gratitude

This is one of my recent garden goddesses.

I call her the goddess of gratitude, if you look closely you'll see that her crown has the word GRATITUDE and entwined throughout her garden are many things to be grateful for.

How many words do you see?

What words would you add to your garden of gratitude?

I included seven things to be grateful for in my garden: love, life, family, friends, health, joy and today.

Artists In The Garden X: Rebecca of KneeDeepOriginals

Today's interview will be with painter, Rebecca, of KneeDeepOriginals.

www.kneedeepstudio.com

http://kneedeeporiginals.etsy.com

www.myspace.com/theramshacklesnc

1. What is your art, hobby or craft? How did you come to creating it?

Foremost I am an oil painter, but I also make hand-beaded gemstone and glass jewelry, which sells better for me than the paintings. I think people on-line and at most of the shows I do have a hard time buying fine art like paintings because, I suppose, they are rather expensive, and you really have to be in the market for a painting, or to be so drawn to it that you are willing to open the pocketbook or wallet.

I have tried my hand at several types of media… stained glass, fused glass (again… the color!), and metal sculpture, but discovering the creamy feel of oil paints on a canvas was a joy! Painting is very meditative, and it often helps me release tension or stress because I become so focused on what is taking place in front of me. Making jewelry is a change of pace from painting, and it’s relaxing to work with stones and crystals, and such smaller projects that can be completed in a shorter time than a painting.

Click on photos for more information

I am also a musician and singer/songwriter, which is really just another art form, though the act of performing music is definitely not as solitary as painting or writing a song. Just a little more stress there!

2. What is your inspiration?

(Photo of Sauratown Mountains at Hanging Rock State Park, seen from the ridge behind my house where I walk my dogs.)

Ever since I was a child, I have loved playing with color. I love all those paint chips at the hardware and home stores! I notice color in people’s clothing, in the landscapes of each season, in the vegetable section of grocery stores… That love of color is evident in my work, whether it’s an oil painting or a necklace, but it is definitely the focus of most of my paintings.

Another thing that inspires me is the lines of things I see, such as a snake stretched across a rock in the sun, or the curve of a limb on a tree, or even a crack in a windshield… how it spreads itself out into a bunch of crystalline intersections.

Above all, though, is the natural world… wildflowers in the woods, lizards bathing in the sunshine, cloud-shadows on a mountain, shady spots in the garden, rust-colored leaves on a gravel road, animals, cows at ease in a pasture, a mother goat with her newborn. Most of my jewelry pieces are titled after some element of nature, and my paintings mostly try to express, whether realistically or abstractly, the beauty and joy of the organic world and the wonderful creatures around us.

3.How does your garden or nature influence your art?

There are times when my garden explodes with color, and at other times, it’s not quite so pretty, to say the least. That all depends on how much artwork I am creating at the time! Some of my paintings try to create at least the fullness and craziness of the color in the garden. But sometimes it’s just the quiet act of working in the soil or picking a gazillion bush beans as the sun is getting low in the sky that causes me to reflect on things and can bring a new image into my eye, or new words to a song that has been forming.

4. Will you share a few pictures of your garden with us?

Sunflowers and tomatoes (July), daffodils and pansies (February), day lilies (June and July), dianthus (May and June), snow peas (late April and May), Muscadine grapes (August), yellow daisies with spider (mid-June and July), red daisy (July), pear tree blossoms and butterfly (March)

5. Will you share a picture of your favorite plant?

This lily blooms in my garden in October.

6. Do you have any photos of your art in the garden to share?

Fused glass wrapped with sterling silver wire and adorned with crystals and glass beads. Available in my shop,

KneeDeepOriginals.Etsy.com

8. What is the best lesson you have learned from the garden or nature?

Hmmm… there are many! There are the lessons of patience, of learning when is the right time for things, of letting things rest. There’s also the lesson of being a part of the day, of using the natural working of the sun and the weather to influence what we do. As an artist, I can’t paint when the weather is stormy and dark because I need the natural light to get my colors right. So when the weather is like that, it’s best for me to read or work on music or a song. As a gardener, I don’t go out in the heat of the day, but work around the schedule of the sun, so that I rest or enjoy a quiet time during those few hot hours. But I think for me, the best lesson is learning to just be out there in the dirt and among the plants, whether it’s working the soil, transplanting, or picking… it’s quiet, it’s a chance to hear birdsong and crickets singing, a chance to notice cloud formations or worms at work. One of my favorite times of the year is when the blueberries are ripe, and I can enjoy picking them with my dog who takes great pleasure in enjoying them right off the bush. It’s such a relaxing time, either early in the morning or as the evening is coming on, to spend an hour doing something so simple as this.

9. Do you have a gardening tip to share with fellow gardeners?

We do organic gardening, relying on horse manure and compost to help our vegetables and flowers grow, and I highly recommend that… although I’m sure most people already know that.

10. Are you creating anything new that you'd like to share with us?

The latest thing that I’m working on is a new studio building. I just finished putting in the flooring and the baseboard with the help and direction of my dad yesterday. Everything my husband and I build on our six acres is built by us, and this studio is no exception. Of course that means that it takes longer too. I am hoping to have the studio furnished and ready to move into by mid-August. I’ve been waiting a LONG time for that space!

11. Show us your favorite item in your Etsy shop.

Click on photos for more information.

12. Show a favorite item from another Etsy shop.

Ooooohhh… so very many, but here’s one I love and this is a relatively new Etsy member. This piece appeals to my sense of color and to my belief in humane treatment for all critters.

The Lucky Ones

Tracy Teeter's Etsy shop.

Rebecca, I thank you for sharing your inspiration with us today and hope you will have much fun and creativity in your new studio!

Faces In The Garden

I love accenting my garden with beautiful faces in unexpected places. I like to think of them as little garden spirits who add a bit of mystery to my flower garden. I always have to stop and smile when I see one of these faces peeking out at me through the flowers. The one above was one of my first raku fired pieces, she's a personal favorite of mine.

This one was supposed to be the centerpiece to a water fountain. A neighbor had it placed on the curb for the garbage man. "One man's junk is another man's treasure." I was very excited to bring this piece home to the garden.

This one is a new planter filled with Christmas cactus. I can't wait to see blooms spilling out from her crown.

This is a piece I made into a planter and then filled up with dendrobium orchid plants. Looking forward to her blooms too.

This one has a bromeliad growing in her crown that looks spectacular when in bloom.

Does anyone else like to include faces in their garden decor?

New Toad Abodes Fresh From The Kiln

This one has a big blue toad on its roof.

This one has two butterflies amongst the garden vines on its roof.

This one has a big glory bower leaf on its roof.

This one has a branch of the firebush plant on its roof.

I really am having fun making these new toad abode styles. Next week the the turtle, dragonfly and new frog tops should be ready for me start working with. I can't wait!

YART Sale -10% Discount On All Items in My Mother's Garden Etsy Shop

**SALE** I am participating in the Second Annual Yart Sale Sponsored by Team ESST ~ Wednesday, June 10 - Sunday, June 14. I will be offering a 10% discount off of all items in my shop. A refund will be issued via Paypal or contact me before payment at Etsy check out and I'll send you an updated invoice reflecting the 10% discount. This is just a sampling of what's available, please come visit the shop to see the whole collection. ENJOY! Thank you for visiting!

Etsy Buy Handmade Mymothersgarden

Wordless Wednesday

One Lovely Blog Award

To my surprise I was given this lovely blog award twice in one day by KayzKreations and Zaftigdelights. Thank you! As part of the award I'm supposed to share this award with 15 other bloggers that I truly enjoy reading and love the looks of their blog or their helpfulness. So here goes. I hope you check out my random list and enjoy their blogs as much as I do:

http://cackleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

http://borovictorygarden.blogspot.com/

http://maggiesssweetscarlett.blogspot.com/ Sweet Scarlett

http://momingarden.blogspot.com/ BG Garden

http://tootsietime.blogspot.com/

http://heartfulart.blogspot.com/

http://susanhillson.blogspot.com/ All the latest dirt

http://studiocherie.blogspot.com/

http://rosehavencottage.blogspot.com/

http://northmobilegardensociety.blogspot.com/ Trials and Tribulations of a
Southern Gardener

http://teresasprimtreasures.blogspot.com/

http://benthamshouse.blogspot.com/ My Rustic Bajan Garden

http://familyandflowers.blogspot.com/

http://lauratrevey.blogspot.com/

http://stonewarepottery.blogspot.com/ Pat Parker's Stoneware Pottery

If you'd like to pass the award on to a favorite new blogger, these are the suggested rules.

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
   
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
   
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Happy day to all! ~ Karrita

What's Blooming today?

This is a delightfully scented begonia that is growing and blooming in the garden right now.

This is the Giant Apostle's Iris. Quite a beauty! The blossoms emerge out of the side of the leaf, from the same spot, continually throughout its blooming season.

I just love the leaf shape and texture of this mallow plant. I'm not exactly sure of the botanical name, but know one common name to be Tropical Hollyhock.

This is a prolific bloomer in my garden called the Glory Bower, it's in the Clerodendrum family.

This is the Angel Wing Begonia.

The color and texture of these Persian Shield leaves are a delight to touch and see.

This is a Bougainvillea that I planted a little bit too close to a large tree in my yard. The tree has turned into the trellis for this sprawling vine.

Brazilian Pink Flame, jacobinia carnea

A Few Pictures From the Albin Polasek Sculpture Garden and Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida

I just spent a delightful few days touring the beautiful gardens and museums of Orlando, Fl. with my dearest friend.
I think the Polasek sculpture garden was my favorite of all that we visited. Look at these beautiful sights from the gardens.

Vesna represents the Slavonic god of spring. 1934

Front gardens

Always gracious Lada, mother of the Sun, is revered for her beauty and kindness. 1933

Bronze Pan, son of the god Hermes. 1920

Water lily

Eternal moment 1909, 1954

Then we visited the Harry P. Leu Gardens. I was thrilled to see the botanical watercolor exhibit of Val Littlewood. I recently posted an "Artists in the Garden"interview about Val's art. The butterfly garden was my favorite! It reminded me of the perfect cottage garden. Someday my garden will look like a perfect cottage garden too!

Heartful Art by Raphaella Vaisseau

My Mother's Garden

"Tulips for me are a symbol of hope and strength. I grew up in Minnesota and even before the final thaw, tulips were poking their little flower heads up through the frozen ground in preparation for Spring. Their blooms stand tall on a single stem with leaves like arms outstretched as if saying to the world - here I am!" - Raphaella Vaisseau

I just love the title of this piece! This print of "My Mother's Garden" can be found on Etsy in Raphaella's Heartfulart shop.

Today's Blooms

Ipomea, perennial morning glory

Hibiscus

Petrea, queens wreath vine

Gloriosa lily

California poppy

Penstemon

Ruelia, Mexican petunia

Orchid

Bright, Bold, and Beautiful! Watercolor Paintings by Laura L. Trevey

Bright, Bold and Beautiful!
Introducing watercolor artist Laura L. Trevey.

www.lauratrevey.blogspot.com

www.brightboldbeautiful.blogspot.com

2. What is your inspiration? All Bright, Bold, and Beautiful things I see.


3. How does your garden or nature influence your art? I look out the window in my backyard, and try to express the beauty I see onto the paper!





4. Will you share a picture of your garden with us?



Please click on any of the paintings if you'd like more information or visit Laura's Etsy shop at www.lauratrevey.etsy.com

Thank you for sharing your beautiful art and garden with us Laura!

Wordless Wednesday

Butterfly Garden Goddess

A Few Pieces From My Etsy Shop Garden Collection

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade Mymothersgarden.etsy.com

I've been rephotographing all of the items in my Etsy shop these last few days. I'm trying to spice up my shop and give everything a little bit of a garden feeling for the background. I've also been toying with the idea of doing a contest and free give away here on the blog. I'm still in the process of coming up with how I will do the contest and how I will tie it into my etsy shop and gardening at the same time. Maybe I'll do a combo of a garden flower dish and the seeds of the plant that were used to make the dish, as the first contest prize. I have a new dish that I'm really pleased with that was created from the Milkweed (asclepias curassavica), that I have growing in my garden. The milkweed plant is a wonderful addition and asset to any garden, as it provides the larval food source for the Monarch butterfly.

I'd love to hear any thoughts from my fellow gardeners on contest or give away ideas.
Wishing everyone a happy weekend~ Karrita

Artists In The Garden IX: Val Littlewood of Pencil and Leaf, observations and inspirations from nature.

Welcome to the Artists in the Garden interview series. Today's interview will be with botanical painter, Val Littlewood at Pencil and Leaf.
http://www.pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/

1. What is your art, hobby or craft? How did you come to creating it?

I’m an artist, relocated with my partner just over a year ago, from Europe to Florida. Without a work permit, and unwilling to spend all my time in the Magic Kingdom I decided to take a distance learning course in Botanical Painting to keep me out of trouble. Looking round for some suitable models I found Harry P Leu Gardens, http://www.leugardens.org/ a gorgeous 55 acres of Botanical Gardens here in Orlando and just a bike ride away from where we live. So for over a year now I have kept a blog at http://www.pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/ which has recorded the fascinating plants I have found there. I sketch, draw and paint, mostly watercolour, and then write about the histories, botany and uses of the many varied species.

Pima Cotton, bol, flower and leaf.

Pima cotton posts link http://pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/search/label/pima%20cotton

2. What is your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from natural forms their ingenious design and endless variety. Not so much just flowers but the seedpods, the roots and shoots and particularly the leaves, the backroom boys who do all the work.

Bauhinia pod





Farfugium leaf

3. How does your garden or nature influence your art?

Leu Gardens has become my second home, I visit 2 or three times most weeks. There is a wonderful mixture of plants and trees, most of them new to me, so this past year has been a real voyage of discovery. My encounter with the plants there is entirely random and every time I go I find something new. I draw and research what I find and can get lost in wonderful stories of medicine, good and bad, discovery and adventure. The histories of plants have so much to tell us. For instance, the wonderful native Yaupon Holly and the Black Tea drink.


Yaupon Holly posts link, http://pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/search/label/yaupon%20holly

4. Will you share a picture or pictures of your garden with us?

There are so many views to choose from, from formal Rose Garden, to Rainforest Jungle, from Vegetable Plot to Butterfly Garden. But a quiet walk in woods with the towering oaks is wonderful. I sometimes make quick sketches, this is the pavilion in the South Woods.


5. Will you share a picture or pictures of your favorite plant?

I have just revisited a few earlier discoveries and went back to look at the fascinating Bixa Orellana, the lipstick tree, which gives us the coloured dye annatto. These are the drawings.

Bixa pods




Bixa leaf and flower.

Bixa posts link. http://pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/search/label/bixa

6. Do you have a favorite public garden to recommend?

I only have experience of Harry Leu Gardens here in the USA, but of course Kew in the UK is wonderful too. I do hope to get to the Fairchild Garden in Miami very soon.
7. Do you have any photos of your art in the garden to share?
One of my favourite trees is the Soapberry tree. I have written about it and drawn it many times now. Back in October I set up my drawing board and sketched it in situ, recording how the light changed over a few hours.



Link to Soapberry posts . http://pencilandleaf.blogspot.com/search/label/soapberry

8. What is the best lesson you have learned from the garden or nature?

A walk in the Gardens with time to really observe the beauty and ingenuity of nature, clears my mind, lessens my worries and makes me see our human lives in perspective. We are small and insignificant in comparison to the great and ancient continuity of “life” and a walk amongst the great Live Oaks and Pines is a humbling experience. And, to dispel any danger of becoming too introspective, the antics of the squirrels, lizards and woodpeckers are endlessly amusing. We do all have time to look, sometimes it’s just making the effort, but taking that time brings rewards, many fold.

9. Do you have a gardening tip to share with fellow gardeners?

My garden guru here at Leu Gardens is Pedro one of the gardeners. He is from the Philippines and has a real affinity with nature. He loves natural ways of growing and caring for things and sometimes his philosophy is to let nature take its course. He sows seeds by just throwing them in the air and allowing nature to dictate their positioning. He is very successful.

10. Are you creating anything new that you'd like to share with us?

I am currently preparing for an exhibition about the blog at the Leu Gardens, which will be a small selection of the now over 400 drawings and paintings I have made in the last Year. Alongside the images will be the relevant blog posts, which will make it a little different from the usual exhibitions. The exhibition will run from April to June. I hope people will enjoy seeing and reading about some of the fascinating plants in the Gardens and discover some of the details and stories that would otherwise have passed them by!


Magnolia Burrs

Val, I thank you for sharing your observations, inspirations and botanical paintings with us today! I hope to see your exhibit on my next trip to Orlando, Fl. May you have much success at the Leu Gardens exhibition!


Thanks for visiting! Please leave a comment if you'd like and stay tuned for the next "Artists in the Garden" interview.

Wordless Wednesday

Spring Birdhouses

I've been making a lot of new ceramic pieces for both the garden and home lately and thought I'd share these new birdhouses today. I have them listed in My Mother's Garden Etsy shop. They are approximately 5" round and look like little hanging ornaments when placed in the garden. I have three of them hanging at different levels from my yellow tecoma stans tree. I think they add lots of decorative whimsy to my garden. Someday I hope to find them filled with nesting birds. Happy spring everyone!