20th Annual Chatham Studio Tour

The 20th Annual Chatham Studio Tour is coming up!  

This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy meeting artists, seeing their studios and purchasing their art.  There will be 50 artists on this year's tours and these include fiber artists (I'm partial), jewelers, metalsmiths, sculptors, photographers, painters, potters, basketweavers and other media. Many of our tour's participants are award-winning artists as well.  Tour map and descriptions of each artist can be found at Chatham Artists Guild.  

 

Reception at FRANK Gallery

Examples of each artist's work will be on display

Thursday, November 29, 2012, 6pm to 8pm (corrected time!)

109 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

919.636.4135

Artist Reception

Examples of each artist's work and an exhibit of local student art 

Friday, November 30, 2012, 6pm to 8pm

Central Carolina Community College (CCCC), Pittsboro

Studio Tour: 1st weekend

Saturday, December 1 & Sunday, December 2, 10am-5pm

Studio Tour: 2nd weekend

Saturday, December 8 & Sunday, December 9, 10am-5pm

All Studio Tour events are free & open to the public

Unexpected Vision: Len Jacobs

Thanks to sculptor, painter and author, Forrest Greenslade, for this guest post.

Chatham Photographer Exhibits Unexpected Visions

Len Jacobs will display his life’s collection of nature and travel photographs at his home studio during the 20^th Chatham Studio Tour the first two weekends in December, but these visions are serendipitous.

Chatham County photographer Len Jacobs

When Len Jacobs was a young child in the 1920s in the Harlem district of New York City, it was evident that he had some sort of vision problem. His vision problems increased, and when he was three years old, Len’s folks finally found an optometrist in Hackensack New Jersey, where they learned he had only 7% vision.

...

Jasper National Park; Alberta, Canada
Photo by len Jacobs

Jacobs' family life, with four children, was the foundation for his avocation as a photographer. In the summer, we had more time than money,” he laughs. “We started taking little camping trips for family fun.” He, of course, took vacation photos. “I wasn’t a very good photographer,” he admits, “so I began to take courses and to study books on photography while riding the Long Island Railroad each day to work.”
...[By now,] he has won numerous awards and recognition. The one he is most proud of ,however, was his "Ice Pattern" at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art,  Photography as an Art Form.

Now in retirement here in North Carolina, Len Jacobs continues to share his life’s catalog of photographic experiences. 

...The irony of it all is, that a man who was told to avoid physical activity, and that at the age of three might soon be blind, has used his camera to record and share with others some of the visual music of our beautiful world. 

Len Jacobs is one of the many regionally and nationally recognized artists and fine crafts people who will open their studios the first two weekends in December at the 20^th Annual Chatham Studio Tour (http://www.chathamartistsguild.org/about/details.html ). Visitors from all around enjoy Chatham’s rural beauty and share with the members of the Chatham Artists Guild in the creative process. It is a holiday tradition, and an opportunity to purchase unique original art.

Full text of this post can be found here.

Wearable fun

© Christie Minchew 2012

I've been having fun - a lot of fun - making wearable needle felting in the form of pins and necklace pendants.   The number is growing by the day and they range from the monochrome to the crazychrome :).  I've worked fabric, yarns, beaded wire, and paper with the wool fibers into little mini-art for your lapel, hat, scarf...or wherever you'd like to add a shot of colorful self-expression.  There will be many of these at my studio when it opens on December 1 and 2, and 8 and 9.  From 10 am-5 pm.  See the Chatham Studio Tour for all the info.

The 11th annual sculpture and art show

Stream of Consciousness 1 © Christie Minchew

The 11th annual Come Out and Play outdoor sculpture and art show is just around the corner.  The kickoff is Saturday, August 25 at noon until dark.  But not to worry if you can't make it, it continues every Saturday through the end of September from 4pm until dark.  Food and drinks compliments of the hosts, Debbie Meyer, Eric Brantley and Beckett.  It's a wonderful show and a great way to spend the afternoon.  Live music will also be featured with local musical talents.

The location is 150 Wild Horse Run, Pittsboro, NC 27312.  It is about 7 miles south of Chapel Hill off of Jones Ferry Road.  Hope to see you there!

Open Studio comin' right up!

Crawford Dairy Corn by Linda Anderson

I have the good fortune of living in an area that is rich with talented artists.  A number of us have decided to fling our studio doors open to the art-interested in April.  Here are the particulars:

Local Artists Open Studios

Fine Art and High Craft

April 28 and 29, 10am to 5 pm both days

Location: Not too far from just about anywhere!

So far our artists' media include oils/acrylics/watercolors, wood, fiber, metal.  But there will be additions coming soon.  So save the date on your calendar and join us where spring will be blooming and art will be calling!  (Additional details will be shared on this site.)

A Cross-section of Fiber Art - Handstitched and Handfelted

Mahogany

One of my latest pieces, finished in October, has been traveling with me to many places as I stitched and stitched.  I am often inspired by the microscopic and the telescopic. This was inspired by a photograph of a cross-section of mahogany wood that was magnified 400 times. 

©Christie Minchew

37" h x 10"w

The green is handstitched with two colors of thread,  the long, wavy lines are wire and the deep red are handfelted pieces with stitched detail.  It is on a background of cotton and crinoline. It is suspended by wire in a mahogany frame that was made by my husband and woodworker, Charles Minchew.

Attack! for Lung Cancer

As many of you know, my best friend (and college roommate) was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2009. While we're still waiting for those golden words "she's cancer-free", she is fighting an awesome battle.  It just so happens that a friend here in North Carolina is heading up a very fun Art Auction to be held on September 10, 2011 at Roxy Farms Antiques to raise funds for the local chapter of the NC Lung Cancer Partnership .  Of course, I was "in" as soon as she told me!  Below is my latest piece made just for the Art Auction and what I wrote about it.

Attack!

This piece is made with cotton and wool cloth, wool fibers, thread and yarn. The techniques are hand wet-felting and stitching. The frame is local wild cherry and made by my husband, Charles Minchew.

“Attack!” was inspired by my internet research into what is being used to fight cancer today.  I read over and over that the objective is to shrink, slow, limit, neutralize, or detonate “the bad guys”. “Attack!” is my expression of what it looks like in my mind to watch the good guys pushing the bad guy out of the picture.  Forever.

This is dedicated to Melyssa, my college roommate and best friend, who is attacking her lung cancer right now with gusto! 

All photos Copyright © 2011, Christie Minchew.