In case you've ever wondered "What happened to Sylvia?"

 That's a great question! Sylvia has become my own personal museum and she now houses my Barbie collection along with my cameras, Avon bottles, trucks and other "Favourite Things"

 

 

 

Paint Windsor

This Sunday Flying Cloud will be closed so that I can participate in this year's Paint Windsor. This is my third year supporting this wonderful fundraiser hosted by painter Kelly Mitchelmore. I'll be on hand from 10-3 at the Spitfire Arms Pub on Water Street creating a small rug hooking that will be auctioned off at 4pm at Phoenix Hollow B&B, 65 Chestnut Street in Windsor.



A close-up of a hooking I created especially for this event

Artists from around the area will be displaying a sampling of their work throughout the event at the B&B. These same artists will be preforming and creating on location throughout Windsor. 

From musicians and jewelers to painters and sculptors  - Paint Windsor has grown beyond its name to a celebration of all artisans!


Even the local restaurants and cafes are in the spirit as they provide delectable treats for you to enjoy as you view the different pieces for sale at the B&B.



A selection of my Woodland Wool
Critters will be available for sale
at the B&B throughout the day!

You can purchase a piece on display or even bid on the one that is being worked on that day- the silent auction for which closes at 3:30!

Part of the proceeds will go towards the HCH Auxiliary Society, while the rest goes directly to the participating artists.

...as well as a few of my sloths!

    Maps are provided at the B&B showing where the different artists will be creating, as well as information about each artists participating, refreshments, and entertainment by preforming artists on the front covered patio.   While there is a good will jar at the door for the cause, no purchase or entrance fee is required.  

So come out and support your community, your artists and a worthwhile cause!




Here is a full list of the participating artists:

Kelly Mitchelmore - Painter
Colleen Underwood - Painter
Elizabeth Robinson - Painter
Tacha Reed - Fibre/Rug Hooking
Allison Stephens - Painter
Beverly Hubley - Painter
Allan Simm - Metal Sculpture
Jessica Uhlman - Mixed Media
Audrey Goucher - Millett - Painter
Kenneth Spearing - Painter
Raymond Smith - Painter
Hal Bruce - Performer - Singer
Gail Davis - Painter
Mike Aubé - Singer
Corinne Hartley-Robinson - Painter
Christine Sonntag - Painter
Andrew Harvie - Wood Carver
Rena Waters - Painter

For more information please visit www.paintwindsor.com

Only a few weeks of staycation left...

Just like that July has flown by and August is already half over! This means that there are less than two weeks left to catch our Flying Cloud group show at the Bread Gallery in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia.

Featuring a variety of paintings, prints, photographs, wood carvings and hooked rugs, this eclectic show is well worth the visit!

In case you were thinking of going and would like to know a bit more about the participating artists, well here is an introduction...





Blythe Church, a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with a degree in textiles, has a passion for dyeing, weaving and sewing that has always driven her. In 2007 she began a series of soft sculptures inspired by everyday objects. Made using hand dyed wool industrial felt with hand-embroidered details, each piece is a labour of love taking between a week and a month to complete. Blythe's largest project to date took 8 months and consisted of an entirely felt 6 foot Christmas tree complete with ornaments and toys underneath.

Blythe loves the humour in seeing an industrially made disposable, hard object as something precious, soft and with an obvious human touch. She questions today’s throwaway society and is nostalgic for a time when things were beautifully designed, treasured by their owners, who fixed them when they failed and used them for generations. She is constantly collecting new objects to be recreated in felt and welcomes commissions. Her soft sculptures have been exhibited and are owned by collectors worldwide, her boom box sculpture can be seen in the head offices of Etsy.

Inspired by her daughter Wren, Blythe has recently started a new line of works for babies and small children called Sewn by Blythe. Using recycled and repurposed wool materials that are dyed, stitched and felted she has been making heirloom gifts to be treasured by babies and their parents alike.



Soft sculpture by Blythe Church, prints by
Geordan Moore, Paintings by Kelly Mitchelmore
and Mary Garoutte, folk art by Jim Tracey

Mary Garoutte of Swallow and Twig is an artist-painter-turned-jeweler, who graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. It was while studying there, that hard work, challenge, and creative media were instilled into her.

She never thought while studying Fine Art and Painting that she would ever venture into the world of miniatures and jewelry.

She considers her work to be mostly miniature, wearable art, rather than jewelry, so to speak. No matter what other media she ventures into, she considers herself primarily and always a painter.

Mary’s post-graduation years have been spent painting through freelance and commission work, and it was only in recent years that she decided to incorporate her painting background & skills into hand-painted jewelry. It has stretched and challenged her in ways that have improved her overall painting practice as a whole, and she enjoys the wearable art component to her hand-painted jewelry, as she believes fine art should be a part of the everyday.

John McCarthy lives on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and has been capturing views of the east coast for the last six years. Being perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean absolutely inspires a lot of his work. As a self-taught photographer, John dodges and plays with the traditional conventions of photography and brings a fresh interesting look at one of the most picturesque regions of Canada.

John's work can be seen at Viewpoint Gallery in Halifax year-round where he is an exhibiting member. His work is also being served fresh daily on his own photographic stream of consciousness mostlythecoast.com where you can find a vast archive of images taken while on “staycation” here in the Maritimes.

Kat Frick Miller, a Brampton, Ontario native, started her BFA at York University in 2003 and graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2009.  After a yearlong residency at the NSCAD Lunenburg Community Studios, Kat made Lunenburg County her permanent home. 

She is a practicing painter and screen-printer, often combining the two techniques in her artwork and her line of home decor Fox Acre Row.  

Kat teaches and exhibits regularly around Nova Scotia and is an active board member of the Halifax Crafters Society.



Silk screened linen by Kat Frick Miller,
prints and hooked rug by Tacha Reed

Kelly Mitchelmore works mostly with knives, creating bold and luminescent works in both oil and acrylic. Her large knife paintings
reflect her approach to life and art, creating movement and texture through saturated hues and thick layers. Known for her vibrant pallet she enjoys painting flowers and nature trying to capture the moment of discovery. Determined to bridge the gap between artisans and community and support the local economy and charities all at the same time, Kelly is continuously promoting a more holistic approach to art and getting recognized for it.



Geordan Moore is the owner and operator of The Quarrelsome Yeti Press, a company he started in 2010. Geordan creates very detailed surreal and kind of silly narrative images, which he then reproduces as prints and t-shirts. Often he will use themes of the “Great White” Canadian landscape, or poke fun at supposed Canadian stereotypes as a starting point for his compositions. Saturday morning cartoons, 80’s professional wrestling, comics, and heavy metal album artwork influence his style. The detailed line work, and reductive woodcut style rendering characterizes his work.

Tacha Reed has been decorating the fine province of Nova Scotia with her images since 2003. While completing her degree at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design she developed a technique of carving photographs to reveal a graphic image. These humorous and sometimes thought provoking images later became known as “cut-ups”.

In addition to her visual arts, Tacha also has a never-ending desire to be crafting and creating beautiful, colourful decorations for our bodies and homes. Her materials of choice being found objects, recycled and natural materials. Other passions include knitting, rug hooking and stitching. Several years ago Tacha began experimenting with various felting techniques, which eventually resulted in a whimsical line of recycled critters and accessories called Woodland Wool, which she sells at various shops throughout the Maritimes.

In 2011 Tacha opened a mobile shop in a renovated vintage travel trailer
that features the work of 30 Nova Scotia Artists and Artisans. Flying Cloud Boutique, located in Ellershouse Nova Scotia, is open seasonally May - December. 

Tacha is also the current president of the Hants County Arts Council.             www.hantscountyartscouncil.ca


Jane Rovers grew up on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia and spent a lot of time with her grandmother, also an artist who always encouraged Jane’s creativity. These days Jane calls the Annapolis Valley her home. A Graphic Designer by trade, Jane currently finds herself experimenting with photography and digital art. Jane "paints" with photographs. She takes photos of people, places and things and layers them with texture, light and colour. She is always snapping new photos and creating new images. She takes her camera everywhere she goes.

During the day Jane can be found playing with her son Jude and making art while he naps. When she’s not creating she likes to go swimming in lakes, enjoys cooking (and eating!) and she loves hanging out with her husband, son and dog.



Kristie Sheehy grew up in a large family in rural Nova Scotia, surrounded by hills, streams and woods. As kids they explored caves and played in the meadows. Today she finds herself lucky to live on a beautiful farm in Avondale. A self trained sculptor, Kristie’s interests are Native and Acadian culture. Her sculptures often depict the interaction between people and animals - man and his world.



Jim Tracey has been carving his figures since boyhood.  Now near retirement, he has decided to offer his work to a larger audience and has found himself being asked to exhibit in more and more venues. From his front yard to markets, from commissions to exhibits, Jim is finding greater demand for his works. The subtle humour and political correctness of his work gives Jim an unending supply of fodder for his creations.  Some works are functional - like the birdhouses and feeders, others are satirical and entertaining, while still others are a beautiful addition to a garden or home.


The Flying Cloud group show runs until August 31st, be sure to catch it before it is gone!

Staycation Destination!

We were happy to reopen our door again for the 2012 season on May 19th, a full month ahead of last year!


We had contemplated moving the shop’s location, but seeing as I’m a maker myself and need to be in close proximity of my studio, we decided to instead renovate our garage and finally create that dream studio space I’ve been longing for. No more crowded mudroom for me! Now I have space to work on many projects at once… and the ability to close the door at the end of the day and head home and relax in a project free house! 

This past Sunday I opened up the garage for our first open studio day - going forward every Sunday and Monday my studio is open to the public to come and sit a while as I create... and perhaps bring along your own project to work on should you feel inspired?

The last few months have certainly been full of exciting projects, my own creations have been picked up by several shops throughout the Maritimes including Put Me On in Halifax, Window on the Sea in Lunenburg and Johnny Ruth – Integrity in Style in Saint John’s Newfoundland. In addition to being a bit of a production line these last few months creating new Woodland Wool critters and Flock Together feather accessories, I’ve also created a few new cut-up portraits for folk rocker Christina Martin’s new album, set to hit stores on July 10th.

Over the last few years I have been collaborating with the songstress combining quotes from her album with my graphic images to create an illustrated lyric book which she then provides to her fans as a thank you for their on going support. 

Larger limited editions of these prints are currently available exclusively at the Bread Gallery in Brooklyn as a part of our Flying Cloud group show “Staycation, all I ever wanted” which runs until August 31st.

Staycation features the work of ten of our Flying Cloud artists including paintings by Mary Garoutte & Kelly Mitchelmore, photographs by John McCarthy & Jane Rovers, screen prints by Geordan Moore & Kat Frick Miller, folk art carvings by Jim Tracey, sculptures by Kristie Sheehy and fibre art by Tacha Reed & Blythe Church.

Now that my heavy production load is out of the way, and we‘ve squeezed in our own little staycation exploring rural Nova Scotia, Flying Cloud is now ready to settle into our new summer hours – hopefully making us a destination on your next Nova Scotian staycation!

For the fist six weeks of this season we have only been open on Saturdays and Sundays, but that all changes today – with us now keeping somewhat regular hours throughout the week as well!

You will now find us open most weekdays 10-4, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with all the happenings here in Ellershouse!

Spring Up! A look back at the Halifax Crafters Spring Show May 5th & 6th 2012

This past weekend I attended the Halifax Crafters SPRING UP! show, both as a vendor, selling my Woodland Wool critters and showing off my latest rug hookings... but also as shop owner, checking out what some of my fellow Flying Cloud artists were up to this past winter and too see what goodies they would be bringing to the shop this spring. Here is a selection of images that will give you an idea of what to expect in the shop when we re-open on May 19th!



Some of my own new rug hookings and buttons

New panoramic prints by John McCarthy

New scarves by Poison Pear

New prints by Anna Stowe

Jewelry by Rita

Kitty mugs by Bread and Butter Pottery

New prints by Fox Acre Rowe

Bob Ross pins by An Oddity or Two

Cowboy boot key chains by Steadybrook Saddlery

New Jewelry by Jane Rovers

Baby tomatoes complete with card, by Joanna Close

Wooden spoons by Terron Dodd

Gift cards by Amanda Fullerton

Posies brooches by Heart and Hook

Unique prints by Vish

Baby onesies by Ella Mental

Monsters by Sewn by Blythe

Rings by Cranky



Paintings by April Baird

T-shirts by the Quarrelsome Yeti