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i just found out that my dear friend lynn was recognized by horticulture magazine as one of the year’s top 20 favorite garden blogs! and for good reason too. with her keen eye and sharp mind, she captures beautiful moments wherever she goes – be it in her upstate ny garden, on travels near and far, or with her adventurous and furry companions.
so be sure to check out her blog, sin city to slaterville, and peruse the other 20 favorites as well (both linked above).
we’ve only known each other for a few years, but our shared obsession with plants quickly solidified our friendship. she even inspired me to start this blog… and how grateful i am that she did…
grwhryrpltd and travelinbride in the springs, august 2008
congratulations to you, ms. lynn, and your little beagle too!
a few weeks ago i attended the international quilt festival in houston and promised to show you some of the amazing quilts i photographed there. as usual, i found myself drawn to quilts that depicted elements found in nature. so come and take a stroll with me through the iqf garden… (all images are credited with the artist’s name and title).
let’s start with the handi quilter best of show award (and $10,000) winning quilt:
on the wings of a dream, by caryl bryer fallert (paducah, ky)
check out the quilting detail:
detail, on the wings of a dream, by caryl bryer fallert
winner of the world of beauty award (and $7,500) went to this magnificent baltimore album quilt:
hearts and garlands, by liz jones (leominster, herefordshire, u.k.)
hearts and garlands, by liz jones (leominster, herefordshire, u.k.)
block detail, hearts and garlands, by liz jones
the future of quilting award ($1000) went to this lovely:
tuscan sun, by gina perkes (payson, arizona)
this quilt won honorable mention in the handmade category:
the endless world II, by noriko endo (nagoya, aichi, japan)
detail of the endless world II, by noriko endo
i loved the simple fabric selection in noriko’s depiction of a traditional grandmother’s garden quilt (above). the next quilt won the handmade category ($1000):
white dew, by tsuneko shimura (tokyo, japan). embroidery on applique.
loved the hawaiian-inspired applique on this quilt:
my mother's quilt, by yachiyo katsuno (setagaya, tokoyo, japan)
detail of chrysanthemum. my mother's quilt, by yachiyo katsuno.
this quilt won the art-abstract, small category award ($1000):
building up, by kathy york (austin, tx)
according to the artist’s statement, the quilt above is a comment on the beauty of modern urban architecture, but also on its underlying population and consumption issues. in it i saw plan views of both buildings and parterre gardens.
beyond the horizon, by mary ann hildebrand (comfort, tx)
the quilt above was AMAZING! according to the artists’ statement (a wife and husband team), the appliqued design was based on a woodcut that appeared in Flammarions Book on Astronomy, first published in the late 1800′s. here’s a detailed image:
detail, beyond the horizon, by mary ann hildebrand.
another blazing beauty:
rose mandala I, by anne lullie (lake in the hills, il)
the following quilt was inspired by a cross-sectional cut of a tree:
cycles of life, by jean wells keenan (sisters, or)
this quilt was just too funny, and as neon as it looks in the picture:
starbugs fly-thru cafe, by kathy kennedy-dennis (houston, tx)
this one was long and lean:
carrot farm, by carol morrissey (double oak, tx)
the next quilt was INCREDIBLE! i loved the multiple perspective points along the split rail and field rows:
everyday barns & family farms, by karen hanken (medford, or)
you can’t really tell from the photos, but the multiple angles of the barn vignettes made the entire piece look like siding on an old barn. here’s a detail:
detail of everyday barns & family farms, by karen hanken
i fell in love with this one:
keeping watch over carlson ranch, by david taylor (steamboat springs, co)
the artist used rust-dyed fabrics to realistically depict the owl’s feathers. it.was.STUNNING. here are some details:
detail of feather applique, keeping watch over carlson ranch, by david taylor
detail of quilting, keeping watch over carlson ranch, by david taylor
the following whole-cloth quilt won the superior threads master award for thread artistry ($5000):
protection, by hollis chatelain (hillsborough, nc)
thread detail, protection, by hollis chatelain
yes, the ENTIRE image is made with thread…!
thread detail, protection, by hollis chatelain
the following quilt won the traditional pieced category award ($1000):
relationship, by kayoko hata (yokohama, kanagawa pref, japan)
i really liked its color palette:
detail, relationship, by kayoko hata
this quilt won honorable mention in the traditional applique category:
my challenge, by vicki jenkin (horsham, victoria, australia). based on magical medallion pattern by karen kay buckley.
every good quilt garden needs a classical reference or two:
medea escaping, by marilyn belford (chenango forks, ny)
and a way to mark time:
zodiac, by martha brown (pickering, ontario, canada)
zodiac was pretty amazing. the image above was at the center and was surrounded by the artist’s interpretation of the astrological signs. here’s a detail of leo:
detail of leo, in zodiac, by martha brown
and aries:
detail of aries, in zodiac, by martha brown
the show’s youngest white-glove curator (or so her mom told us) saw us looking at the quilt, and showed us its inspiration, which was stitched on the back of the quilt:
embroidered zodiac, made when the artist was a teenager (martha brown)
this next quilt was absolutely STUNNING:
african adventure, by janneke de vries-bodzinga (kollumekzwaag, friesland, netherlands)
great color gradations throughout, accentuated by tone-on-tone quilting:
leaf detail, african adventure, by janneke de vries-bodzinga
and the bubbles even looked like water:
bubble detail, african adventure, janneke de vries-bodzinga
the quilt below had lovely applique work and won first place in the mixed technique category ($1000).
note 3/24/10: i previously misidentified this quilt, but paula byrd brought it to my attention – my apologies to ms. jones, and thank you ms. byrd!
"the fernery" by liz jones (leominster, herefordshire, united kingdom)
this one was a pretty view:
a tree's nature, by lucia chan (forest hills, ny)
a moon garden:
she came by the light of the moon, by marlene shea (wethersfield, ct)
this quilt won first place in the minature quilt category:
mission: impossible 2, by kumiko frydl (houston, tx)
just look at the size comparison between the quilt and the blue ribbon! its a teeny tiny 128 point mariner’s compass…! proof nothing’s impossible for kumiko:
detail, mission: impossible 2, by kumiko frydl
this quilt won honorable mention in the art-painted surface category:
moon garden, by judy coates-perez (chicago, il)
the colors and lines on this quilt were quite nice:
winter to spring, by kathy york (austin, tx)
i REALLY liked this one:
surfing school-winter, by harumi iida (kamakura, japan)
and last, but certainly not least, we pass through the fabric forest:
fabric forest, an installation by the grobenzeller quiltgruppe of germany
there were many trees of fabric suspended from the ceiling. you could walk around them to observe how different artists interpreted their favorite trees. the aspen was my favorite:
detail of aspen, by vassen heidrun (unterhaching, germany), member of the grobenzeller quiltgruppe
walking through the quilted trees...
it was quite an inspiration, walking by all those quilts. if you have any interest in design, regardless of your choice of media, i highly recommend making a trek to this show. it will surely inspire you too.
if you want more information, or to see entire images of the winning quilts, click here.
last week i headed to the cool northern climes of wisconsin for a little r&r while my husband attended a conference. it was a great trip. lots of walking, garden oogling, connection with friends new and old, and family time in the north woods. here are the image highlights:
kickin' it monona terrace style
monona terrace is a frank lloyd wright designed community and convention center, with a nice rooftop public space. it was designed and built before LEED certification was in vogue, and with minor adjustments, was awarded a silver rating, the first convention center with such recognition.
a pretty plant combo of Perovskia, Hemerocallis and Prunus atop monona terrace
a frank lloyd wright effect inside monona terrace, similar to the guggenheim
monona terrace exterior, lake side
rooftop monona terrace planting of Calamagrostis, Echinacea and Rudbeckia
of course, i found some time to geocache:
benchmark caching at the capitol
earth caching at olin park, chautauqua of the west
prior to our trip, i befriended linda and mark of each little world. they sent me a list of not-to-miss madison sites, then generously offered to give me a personal tour of their garden and others around town. i certainly couldn’t turn that offer down, and we spent a wonderful day together – proof that garden bloggers can be kind, endearing souls…
each little world's moss garden with newly installed rock edge
interior roof view of each little world's tea house, in progress
stone cairn and Hakonechloa at each little world
linda and mark took me to see the first unitarian society meeting house, also designed by frank lloyd wright, and designated as a national historic landmark. in 2008, an historically-sensitive and sustainable addition was built (designed by the kubala washatko architects), complete with green roof and stormwater management system. it has a gold LEED rating. see the previous two links for more info and images.
highly contrasting materials at the unitarian society meeting house addition
the light was high and harsh when we were there, and i couldn’t get a good angle to capture the green roof, but you get the idea.
rain chains utilized in the water management system at the meeting house addition
hardscaping detail at the meeting house addition
courtyard garden at the meeting house addition - this stone was about 4' high
our next stop was the allen centennial gardens on the campus of uw-madison. i actually came here when i was looking for undergraduate schools way back when, but i didn’t recall it looking so good… must be all the efforts that ed lyon, the garden’s director, and his dedicated crew is doing there. keep up the good work, the world needs more horticulturalists!
allen centennial garden, uw-madison campus
Brassica and Cynara plant combo at allen centennial gardens
Ipomoea, Nepeta and Talbaghia plant combo at allen
i admired many plant combinations at allen, and might even be able to try similar ones here in texas.
from allen we headed to the uw-madison arboretum, home to curtis prairie, the world’s first and oldest restored prairie. since acquiring the land in the 30′s, the arboretum has conducted extensive research on planting methods and management techniques such as prescribed fires and storm water management. we only had a bit of time to spend there, but i picked up a book (prairie plants of the uw-madison arboretum by cochrane, elliot & lipke) at one of the local area bookstores, hoping to glean some of its information for a project in texas.
entrance prairie at the uw madison arboretum
wednesday morning i happily found the madison area/dane county farmers’ market, just down from the capitol. lots of vendors on both sides of the street leading from the capitol to the monona convention center. i bought a locally roasted coffee, a super sugary bear claw, nibbled on some cheese samples (come on now, this is wisconsin), and bought not one, but two pints of organic raspberries that melted in my mouth – the second one i gave to the conference-bound husband.
the madison farmers' market faces the rising sun...
and then i headed northwest to reconnect with a dear friend in minneapolis…
ms. lyn in minn
in the evening we reminisced over a bottle of wine (or two), and in the morning hit the vintage and craft stores, just like we did back in high school (minus the wine part, of course). isn’t it nice to know that some things never change? good times…
then headed back to madison, and from there we headed to the north country to visit my relatives and their farm in the woods of butternut:
the tourist's view of the barn...
we traipsed through tracks of poplar, balsam, birch and red pine.
strolling through the Betula and Pteridium
we were happily put to work on a new garden for my aunt. she had a basic idea worked out, and then the boys and i got to reconfiguring it. we used brick brought from her parent’s hometown of bessemer, and sandstone culled from under the porch of a restaurant just down the road. we dug a good base and filled it with a gravely sand (also found on the property) before setting the brick. good thing someone had a tractor lying around to assist us…
no visit is complete without starting a new garden
unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to finish, but it’s off to a good start. i can’t wait to see how it turns out!
as far as we got... take it from here guys!
now my aunt will have even more room for her pretty plant combinations, like the perfectly matched phlox and meadow rue combo that i absolutely fell in love with:
Phlox and Thalictrum, a beautiful combination
a great trip all around… the greenery, the cool weather, reconnecting with friends and family… i am grateful, and refreshed.
i realize i’ve had a lot of birthday posts lately, but i haven’t gotten around to posting about mine, which occurred about three weeks ago. the day beforehand, mr. grwhryrpltd and i picked up my sister (who had a conveniently scheduled business meeting later in the week) in houston so she could join in on the festivities. our first stop was one of the quirkiest art houses in houston, the orange show center for visionary art:
welcome to the folk art hub of houston, tx
in 1954, jeff mckissack, a retired postal worker, hobbiest plantsman and eccentric artisan, decided to persue his dream of opening a citrus nursery (so called the american tree nursery and worm ranch). after 10 years, he closed the nursery down as it was “more trouble than it was worth.” directed by a “vision” to build the orange show in honor of his favorite fruit, mckissack aggregated found objects and common building materials over a period of 25 years, erecting the structure seen above. according to mckissack, the purpose of the orange show was “to encourage people to eat oranges, drink oranges, and be highly amused.” and so we were:
the body...
eat the fruit...
get chemicals...
because clowns never lie.
leaf tile mosaic
(painted) green roof at the orange show
do oranges grow where you live?
where's my juicer at?
in 1980, mckissack passed away, just 8 months after the show was completed. the orange show of visionary art is now a non-profit foundation whose mission is to “preserve, promote and document visionary art environments, provide opportunities for the expression of personal artistic vision and create a community where that expression is valued.” in 2006 the orange show was listed on the national register of historic places. but the foundation’s greatest contribution is the continued support of public arts education and participatory events to the surrounding community. it sponsors a number of opportunities for children and adults to express their inner artist through programs including community murals and the ever-popular art car parade. i think jeff mckissack would certainly be amused to see how influential his show has been and continues to be…
from there we moved onto our second stop, the beer can house, another folk art museum supported by the center for visionary arts. john milkovisch was a retired railroad upholsterer with one too many empties on his hand. in 1968 he thought he put them to good use by incorporating them onto his home and landscape. over 18 years, milkovisch, his wife and sons adorned the entire house in aluminum siding and since he was “sick of mowing the grass,” covered his landscape with marble-studded concrete (hmmm…) although he scoffed at any mention of his property being considered art, in 2001 the center for visionary arts acquired the property after the milkovisches passed away. we arrived too late for the inside tour, but stayed to get a few exterior images:
an upholsterer by trade, milkovisch started with the beer can curtain
curtain detail
a perfect porch for sippin...
beer can garden gate
bottle wall
words to drink by...
the marble- and stone-studded concrete patio and planter box
street side planters... yes we... kit...?
we hit some other places that day, but these were by far the most whimsical and fun… thanks for the inspiration…
it was raining most of this afternoon and early evening – one of those days when you just want to curl up with a good knitting project. when the rain stopped falling i noticed the light was different outside, and we went out to take a look:
evening rainbow to the southeast
sunset street
you’d think that other people would’ve noticed and come out to enjoy it, but we were the only ones. kinda eerie…
sunset light
but beautiful…
a recent distraction led me to the pantone 2009 spring color forecast. seeing that it’s march already, i feel a bit unprepared, but i realize the fashion world likes to keep us on our toes. one of the featured designers at this years fashion week, tia cibani, was inspired by the canadian artist emily carr, and her “animated landscapes of trees and totems…” i’ve not heard of her before, but the designer’s description of her work quickly led me to google. i thought i’d share my findings with you:
emily carr. above the trees #46
emily carr. somberness sunlit
emily carr. scorned as timber #48
i think the last image includes the most colors of this year’s spring season, according to pantone anyhow. i think emily’s muted tones better capture the mood of the current issues we’re dealing with, but i guess i can appreciate the fashion world trying to imbue a sense of positivity and opportunity… mimosa, anyone…?
a friend of mine sent me a link to the movie coraline that’s just come out. looks like it will have lots of inspiration to harvest for gardeners and knitters alike…
and for you knitting fans out there…
was that a dolphin on that sweater?!!
amazing…
