♥ My Heart Is At Peace Amongst The Trees

Today my heart longs to be nestled amongst the trees. This collection of tree inspired art was created from the many varied artists found on Etsy. I hope you enjoy looking at all of these beautiful treasures.

'♥ MY HEART IS AT PEACE AMONGST THE TREES ♥' by Mymothersgarden

original oil painti... immaculatecraf... $75.00	Amber/Green Stonewa... uniquebuttons $6.00	A Tree Grows - Prin... graysparrow $18.00
8 x 12 prints 3-pac... dkjart $54.00	Zaftig Goddess Pend... ZaftigDelights $45.00	Misty Tree Nuno Fel... rebornasart $75.00
Axis Mundi - Art P... EtherealArt $14.95	Deep roots.. great ... leapinggazelle $23.00	Autumn Oak Mixed Me... ALDDesigns $12.00
Mountain Lake Scene... bythewayside $30.00	Pillow of Petals 8X... fosterbk $28.00	8 x 10 Giclee PRINT... ljbe $18.00
Birch Trees Appliqu... YellowBugBouti... $35.00	Birds Nest Shoe Scu... Mudgoddess $185.00	Planting Hope Tree ... AngelEllie $16.00

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Artists In The Garden XIIII: Nicola Barsaleau of Blue Cicada

Today's interview will be with Nicola Barsaleau of Blue Cicada and Nicolasartroom.

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

I create linocuts. These are carved blocks, rolled with ink and then printed by hand. I first came in contact with this art form in South Africa, where I grew up. Linocuts are a perfect medium for a strong social message. And the bold imagery of a linocut goes well with activism. When I lived in London, I learnt to make my own and I’ve been making them ever since.

Everyday Is A Journey

Where do you find your inspiration?

My inspiration is a sense we are all connected spiritually. We all have an inner life and we all have inner strength in goodness. Sometimes this strength appears covered, like when we go through a period of depression. Yet I believe we are capable of amazing things when we align with our true nature.

Dragonfly Original LinocutCard

How does your garden or nature influence your art?

Nature inspires me with a sense of mystery, a sense that there is something far greater (and smaller!) than I can possibly perceive. After spending time outdoors, I always come away with the seed of wholeness, which, in turn, inspires me to make art. My experience is that making art is very much a process of wholeness and flow.

Will you share a picture of your garden with us?
Of course! Here is a picture of our vegetable garden. In Florida, everything grows very quickly during growing season!

Will you share a few pictures of your favorite plants?

Yes, bamboo! It is hard to stop my heart soaring when I step back and view these strong, beautiful plants. Of course, their strength is not only in their rods—if you ever plant runner bamboo, be sure to dig a lined trench a few feet deep to create an underground barrier!
Others featured here include the fig and the eucalyptus tree.

Do you have a favorite public garden to recommend?

Yes--the herb garden and the bamboo garden at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville, FL.

Also, I have strong recent memories of Fort Matanzas State Park in St. Augustine, Fl. A few months ago, a couple of great horned owls nested in the tree directly behind the visitors’ center. So we got to watch the baby owl grow up and move from tree to tree before it flew off! The picture here shows the mother owl trying to rest while sitting on her egg.

What is the best lesson you have learnt from the garden or nature?

Nature teaches me listen. When I am fortunate enough to carry this through to my daily life, I listen before I act.

Show us your favorite item in your Blue Cicada Etsy shop.

Acorn And Oak Original Linocut

Share a favorite garden or nature related item from a fellow Etsy shop.

The Tide Always Changes - Journeys And Dreams

Nicola, I thank you for sharing the joy and inspiration found in your art, nature and gardening. I am proud to share with everyone that one of Nicola's beautiful linocuts was recently given to me as a gift by my dearest childhood friend. I have it placed on the wall in my ceramic studio and get to look at it everyday. It is even more special to me now that I know a little bit about Nicola, the artist who created it.

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

Artists In The Garden V: Barbara Koteles of Glorious Glass Garden

Welcome to the fifth of a series of interviews about artists who garden. Today's interview will be with Barbara Koteles of Glorious Glass Garden, a glass artist.

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

My 24/7 job is teaching design and Art History, and my hobby/craft is fusing glass.

About 10 years ago, I began to hear about artists fusing glass using kilns. Our school had a kiln and scrap glass, so I experimented--unsuccessfully. Then I obtained a grant to go to Portland to a Hot Glass Horizons workshop, where I got it all figured out! Well, sort of...I've been fusing ever since, mostly experimental pieces.



2. What is your inspiration?

My inspiration is the unknown--I've fused a dollar bill between two pieces of glass, toothpaste, orange peel, pebbles, dried leaves, etc.--and tried all sorts of techniques to reshape glass, often heating it up to 5 times for the final result.



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

One day I gazed upon my garden (one that had been planted by the previous owner) and realized that in an abstract way, the flowers and leaves were artistic elements, and the laws governing design could apply to them. The following Spring, I began researching the bloom time of certain flowers, and rearranged and added a few things so that I would have blooms from Spring through Fall. I planted flowers with tiny profuse blooms next to taller flowers with large single blooms, sorted the greens of the leaves, and finally arranged all for stepped heights. Of course, this took several years! Now I tweak the colors, but most everything else is done. Next Spring, I'm making another garden so I have something to do!



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

My favorite plant, this one is a peach colored hibiscus near the aqua butterfly feeder.



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

I would recommend Kew Gardens in or near London, I believe, if you ever get the chance!



Barbara, I agree with you that Kew Gardens is a lovely garden to visit. I have added a personal photo of my 2006 trip to Kew and the Chihuly glass exhibit.

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






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

The best lesson I have learned from nature is patience!

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

My gardening tip: As I mentioned, my favorite plant is the hibiscus. HOWEVER, they attract Japanese beetles by the hundreds, which is a terrible problem. I read that the gardenia tree repels them, and I love the beautiful soft and creamy petals and the strong scent. I planted one this year, and it was the focal point of my garden! All my colorful feeders and bird baths look marvelous around it! There are drawbacks, though: in my zone, the tree has to be taken indoors, where it will bloom if there is a lot of light. It is a finicky plant to grow; at times my beautiful blooms fell off before they opened. See why gardening has taught me patience? LOL I may try again next year. At least I had barely any Japanese beetles, so that was good!

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

Blue Finch Birdbath



10. Share a favorite item from another etsy shop.

Design by Irmae

Because it is sculpturally perfect, like a flower, it is this little black satin dress.



Click on photo for more information.

Barbara, I thank you for sharing your creative inspiration and glass creations with us!


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

Artists In The Garden IV: Annette Emms of Fairy Shoes and Other Things

Welcome to the fourth of a series of interviews about artists who garden. Today's interview will be with Annette Emms of Fairy Shoes andOther Things, a textile artist.

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

I'm a textile artist, a creator of books and a teller of tales. As far as I can remember, I've always had a needle in my hand and a story in my head.



I'm selling the pattern to make these shoes in my Etsy shop, here.

2. What is your inspiration?

For me, inspiration is all around, in the magic I find in the natural world, in poetry and in Myth and Legend. I love to explore the places in my stories, to get the 'feel' of things. This summer I spent time researching the legend of 'Tristan and Iseult', in Cornwall, so romantic...I hope to make a mixed media book about the legend.

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

I love to walk in the beautiful countryside where I live. There is so much which excites me and influences my work, whether it's an ancient tree or a rippling sea of bluebells in my favourite woodland.



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





I feel like an impostor here! My gardening skills are minimal and my garden tiny.
I'm sure you'll understand when I tell you that it has suffered at the paws of my lovely Rowan, a Flat Coated Retriever, who's happy hunting ground is my poor garden!
All is not lost though, the birds still come to visit and my roses have somehow survived, I like their waxy perfection and enchanting scent.

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



Does this tree count as a plant? Hope so.
It's an old, old Oak, on a ridgeway path near to my mother's home in Malvern.
Over the years I have visited it many times, with small children, several different dogs and sometimes alone in the pouring rain. Each meeting fills me with wonder.

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

I'm a member of the National Trust for Great Britain and enjoy visiting the gardens in their care.
It's hard to choose a favourite, perhaps a formal knot garden, the topiary at Lytes Cary, or the wonderful landscaped parks made centuries ago by Capability Brown?

On reflection I think I'll choose the Colby Woodland Garden, in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
It has a delightful formal, walled garden with many rare and exotic plants and a wild and lovely woodland walk with peeps through the trees, to the sea.



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

Each of nature's seasons has it's highs and lows, just like life,
"for every thing there is a season..." (Ecclesiastes 3. 1-8)


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

I'm just not qualified to answer this question! Having said that...I love to encourage birds to visit my garden, they are so sweet to watch and funny too. I remember a few years ago, a most persistent little Blue Tit who kept landing on a large yellow toy duck ( which had been left in the garden by our last dog Theo) and tugging with all his might to get some of the toy's stuffing, to line his nest. Each tug, lifted the duck's head a little and poor old Theo, watching close by, was very confused!

9. Show us your favorite item in the Annetteemms.etsy shop

I only have one item for sale at the moment, the pattern for my Fairy Shoes.


10. Show a favorite item from another etsy shop.

My favourite items on Etsy are in Rima Staines The Hermitage. Do visit her, there are many delights to wander through!

Annette, I thank you for sharing your love of nature and creative inspiration with us! I look forward to reading your mixed media book about the 'Tristan andIseult" legend.
Wishing you much success!

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