slowly she turned

Living the Slow life in North Carolina

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  • New studio space and Deep Roots news

    Slow Turn Studio

    The studio is all moved in to the house on Wharton St., except for odds and ends that will probably always float back and forth between there and home. I spent a good part of this past weekend there, and I think that Susanne and I will both be happy with the situation. I feel comfortable.

    We both are joining a few other fiber artists from Greensboro in an exhibition called “The Fabric of Our Lives” at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC. The show will be up from mid-January through Mid-March. I won’t have anything new to show, but I’m dusting off a few framed tapestries and fabric works and mounting the “Flag of Me” for the exhibition. More details later.

    I’ve spent some energy in the last few months with an owner group from Deep Roots cooperative to convince the board of directors that there were some serious problems they were not addressing, as well as that they were taking the cooperative in a direction that was miscommunicated to the owners. We had some satisfaction in the last couple of months. The general manager resigned and five of the board members (from 2015 and before) announced that they would leave at the end of the year. They could not compromise with the newly elected members and our group was going to the meetings, emailing, speaking up, and holding them accountable.

    The financial situation is still a bit murky and a whole lot dire, but at least the digging of the hole has stopped and we hope that with the 2016 elected members and their new appointees we will see a change for the better. Certainly there is a sense of relief in the store itself. There should be fewer closed meetings (a.k.a. “executive sessions”) and much more transparency and outreach to the owners of the cooperative. Democratic governance is a cooperative value that cannot be dismissed, and the remaining board members understand that.

    I hope to see the store change its food policy back to one consistent with our original sustainable, ethical values, but whatever happens, I feel confident that the owners will have a say in it this time. I can live with that. Hopefully the most egregious of the food-like and factory-farmed products, like Hormel canned ham and Armour Vienna sausages, will be removed from the store. It’s highly embarrassing for a “health” food store and killing our brand that we built for 40 years. Patience is not one of my virtues but I’m going to try to have faith in the process. I know Joel and Betsy will be good guides for us.

    Now counting the days until I am off for the winter break. We don’t plan to do much for Christmas, but we have decorated the front porch for the first time. I’ll have a lot of days to relax and do art and read. I really don’t want to do much of anything. Our family got together at Lake Waccamaw for Thanksgiving.

    Reading right now: “Down All the Days” by Christy Brown, of “My Left Foot” fame. Wow.

  • Randomness

    I think that I can safely predict that from now on I can expect to go into an artist’s block during every major election year. It’s too stressful. Although of course this year’s blew all the other ones out of the water. I wish that I was the type of person who can turn to art when she’s depressed, but that’s just the way it is. The doctor upped my anti-depressant dose, because I’d rather feel sadness and anger than feel hopeless and nothing at all. That’s depression. It’s something people don’t understand until they experience it.

    I’m going to try to finish up moving my studio to Susanne’s house this weekend and do something fun while I’m there. It will depend on whether I can get my neighbor to help me move a large heavy bookshelf in his van, but I’m tempted to rent a truck if he can’t. I want to get it done! It will be great to have a kitchen and back yard to use, as well as share tools and equipment with Susanne. We’ve been sharing for a long time, just not in the same space. I want to make paper and books again, as well as continue to play with fabric and stitching and collage. My tapestry studio will remain at home.

    Here’s the space:


    You know I’m a treehugger, but hallelujah, Duke Energy has finally decided to put this dying maple tree next to my driveway out of its misery. I will miss the woodpeckers that feed on its insects but they have plenty of other places to go in the neighborhood. They are supposed to cut back my trees in the front yard too. I hope that they don’t stomp my lenten roses and make a big mess but I don’t mind them cutting back my trees. I never expected these yoshina cherries to get so tall, since I was told that they grow to about 15 feet. If I had it to do over again, I’d do edible landscaping.

    Although I am going to continue to try to not write about politics here (I do plenty of that on my personal Facebook page), because of the incoming regime, my thoughts are turning to preparation for the tough times ahead. I don’t mind telling you that I am afraid and freaked out. Don’t tell me not to be, please. It’s not my choice.

    I’ve let a lot of the “back forty” garden go because of physical problems and the horrible mosquitoes. I don’t want to use a community space like I did a couple of years ago and then not be physically able to maintain it. That was embarrassing, although I’ve been told that I am welcome to come back. So I will need to adjust my thinking and look seriously at what I can do with the situation at hand. That means not doing too much at once and hurting myself, possibly building some planting space up where I don’t have to squat down, and serious critter and low-maintenance weed control methods, whether my husband likes it or not.

    Also, if I can grow enough or buy produce at a low cost, canning. Storing water and medical supplies. Have a couple of well-stocked bug-out bags at hand. Get serious about simplifying again.

    At least I don’t have children or parents or grandparents to take care of, so I don’t have those worries any more. Just the cats and Sandy.

    I was about to write “We’ll make it” but I no longer have any confidence in anything anymore, so I can’t honestly write that. Emigration has been seriously on my mind but I don’t want to give my great job up so close to retirement age. Our savings have mostly gone into the house and I’d like to enjoy it for a while.

    We have a big 40th anniversary trip to the United Kingdom planned and mostly paid for coming up in May. That is something wonderful to look forward to.

  • Bonaventure Cemetery

    I love to explore old cemeteries and imagine the stories behind the stones. Bonaventure is the Victorian (and later) cemetery that was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It was still cleaning up from the damage of Hurricane Matthew from about a month before our visit and parts of it were blocked off, but the beauty was still there.

    Although I love the beauty of old cemeteries, I do not want to be buried in one. I want my ashes scattered in a mountain river or stream, to eventually make their way to the sea. That’s the final journey I think that I would like to take when the time comes.

  • Savannah, Georgia

    We went to Savannah, Georgia for the first time on Sandy’s birthday, and here are some photos. We found a good deal on a little AirBNB apartment that was not in an expensive neighborhood, but had a lot of charm. The weather was perfect, and we left just as it turned cold for the first time this fall. Savannah was still cleaning up from the damage from Hurricane Matthew.

    Here’s the most photographed fountain in America, I believe I was told…

    A ghostly Sandy

    We spent some time at Savannah River National Wildlife Refuge. The nature drive was through a former rice plantation. I guess that alligators and Spanish moss just isn’t exotic to me – having grown up in the southern swamplands, it seems like home. This gator seems awfully bony. Maybe someone had been feeding it because it started swimming toward me once it noticed me.

    One day we drove to Fort Pulaski National Monument The Union forces were using cannons with rifled barrels for the first time and were bombarding from so far away they didn’t even know that they were hitting it. So it was a surprise for both the Confederates and the Union when the North won that battle.

    Me and the Dude. Wish I could have afforded one.

    The place I liked best was Bonaventure Cemetery. I’ll do a separate post for it.

  • A Bit of Catching Up

    Well, you know. You know how it is with me if you’ve been reading my blog for a while.

    Anyway, since I last posted, the election brought a lot of attention to North Carolina. Ben Harper showed up at the pub across the street, sang a few songs, asked us to vote for Hillary, then hung out for a while right at our table. I offered him some of my nachos and he took me up on it. I look drunk and excited because I was drunk and excited. Such a nice guy.

    Then a few days later Bill Clinton came to UNCG.

    I’m not a Hillary fan, but I dressed as close as I could to a suffragette on Election Day. I don’t do pantsuits.

    A couple of days later:

    So I’m marching in Washington on Jan. 21. I feel quite steamrolled and helpless, though.

    We got our front porch screened in! But we haven’t gotten the second coat of paint on it yet. The weather turned cold and rainy when we finally had the time. It has an outside electrical outlet and a ceiling fan now. We didn’t find a front door that has satisfied both our budget and the Historical Commission yet, though.

    Thanksgiving at my sister’s house at Lake Waccamaw:

    I just moved my studio from the church to Susanne’s house. I didn’t feel safe at the church any more and Susanne seems quite happy to have me there. It will be a much better situation.

    The “resistance” group of owners of Deep Roots that I’m involved in has managed to bring some positive changes to the co-op. Whether it will be too late is the question. But the manager is gone and it looks like it will begin to behave like a co-operative again instead of like a private business.

    Theo is looking quite frail these days. Diego and Pablo are plump and sassy.

    Sandy and I went to Savannah, Georgia for his birthday in mid-November. That will be a separate post.

  • Visiting family in Colorado

    ^^^My cousin volunteers at a bird of prey rescue and rehabilitation center. It is not open to the public but we were allowed to quietly visit some of the areas and see eagles, hawks, owls, falcons, and one turkey vulture. Adam, the bald eagle in the top photo, is an education bird and whistles and chirps adorably when humans call his name. He wouldn’t pose for me, though! The birds have long enclosures where they can practice flying and hunting safely before they are released to the wild again.

    ^^^On Friday, my aunt, cousin, and I went to the Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings Museum, where Anasazi cliff dwellings were removed from McElmo Canyon and relocated by train and rebuilt brick by brick between 1904 and 1907. This was just before the 1906 Antiquities Act was passed by Congress and Mesa Verde was protected as a national park. The purpose was to preserve them from destruction.

    Before that we ate some of the best Middle Eastern food I’ve ever eaten on Manitou Avenue at the Heart of Jerusalem Cafe.

    My cousin drove us home through the mountains near Pike’s Peak which was a beautiful drive. We got to see the incredible destruction of the huge Medano fire in this area which began when Sandy and I visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park on the other side of the range in 2010. I should have taken photos but I didn’t.


    ^^^On Saturday, Sept. 17 we went to Longmont, Colorado where we ate lunch at this incredible French bistro and shopped at the adjoining shop. They are located in a former power station built in 1931. Beautiful renovation! We enjoyed walking through downtown for a bit and I looked at the different Craftsman style houses in a couple of neighborhoods to get ideas for painting our house.


    ^^^Saturday night my cousin and I went to hear her husband Kenny Perkins and band play at the 20 Mile Tap House in Parker. This couple got up close and personal – they seriously dug the guitar solo. We danced and had a great time.


    ^^^Views of the Front Range to help with future artwork. The moon was huge on Saturday night, and hung over the mountains every morning.

  • Back Forty Update and Market Report

    It finally got cool enough for my butterbeans (or lima beans) to produce again. They will keep going now until a heavy frost.

    My field pea crop is winding down. I prefer to eat them freshly shelled (not dried like this photo) with “snaps” – the immature pods snapped like green beans. This year they have been besieged by big black ants who hang out at the top of each pea and will run up your arm and bite you. You have to be very careful when you pick them. I don’t know what I’ll do about this next year. At least they are not fire ants.

    The fig tree has gotten huge again. I’ll have to cut it down by at least half this winter. Again.

    The last fig of the season is now in my stomach.

    Market report:

    Back in the early days of this blog, the focus was on Slow Food, especially on local food at a time when Greensboro markets and restaurants were just beginning to get on board and understand the meaning and implications of buying locally. I was a member of the board of the Friends of the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market before that volunteer group went through an weirdly political totally insane lie-based attack resulting in its dissolution. Since that time, the management of the market passed to a non-profit group who has brought the market back to a wonderful community again, which I am particularly grateful for since the insanity migrated over to Deep Roots Market. But that will be the subject of another post.

    This morning at the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market, I bought the following:

    Water buffalo cheese from Fading D Farm of Salisbury, NC. WHOA! And so good!
    Buttercrunch lettuce, hydroponically grown from Tony
    Stoneground yellow grits from Old Mill of Guilford
    Small sweet peppers
    Okra
    Soap from Carol at Mimi’s Soaps
    From Anna at Zaytoon:
    Baba ganoush
    Tzatziki
    From Rudd Farm:
    Sweet bicolor corn, my favorite
    Watermelon
    Tomatoes
    Butternut squash
    Eggplant
    From Daniel at Nimby Farm:
    Onions

    Normally I also buy milk, meat and bread there too but I ran out of money this morning! I have a lot in my freezer, though.

    I used to go to Deep Roots Market after the market visit to buy what I couldn’t find, but honestly nowadays I find most of what I need at the farmers’ market. I’ll go to Costco or Bestway or Harris Teeter or Earth Fare to find the rest of my needs until Deep Roots changes course, if it survives. I do still go to Deep Roots occasionally to buy things when they have the owner discount month to buy only products that are cruelty and GMO free. Today I’m heading to the other stores.

  • Art Makers Denver


    ^^^McNicols Building

    I’ve just returned from a new-to-me art retreat, Art Makers Denver, where I took a paper painting collage class from Elizabeth St. Hilaire. I’ve been following her work online for a while and since I like to visit my family near Denver in September I jumped at the chance to combine that trip with this retreat this year.

    The retreat was smaller than most of the ones that I’ve attended elsewhere, which made for smaller classes and more attention (if you like more attention). I had a big table all to myself, which was great since I tend to push into other people’s spaces. The venue was the recently renovated McNicols Building in Civic Center Park, a spacious and light-filled place. Delicious lunches were provided on two days and on the third day we were each given a $10 voucher to use at the food truck festival in the park outside. We got lots of extra goodies such as locally made sodas and juice drinks, healthy snacks, a copy of Uppercase magazine, and various arty thingies.

    I was really looking forward to taking one of Leighanna Light‘s book classes because she is, well, AWESOME, and because I learned so much about connecting found objects and working with metal in the class I took from her a few years ago, but her classes were canceled. I looked for Helen Hiebert, who is huge in the papermaking world and I simply wanted to meet her, but her classes didn’t make either. So hopefully this retreat will become more popular as it matures and more people learn about it.

    One other note before I get on to the other photos…this was the first time that I took the bus round trip from Westminster, a suburb of Denver, to downtown. It was an easy, clean, flawless experience. I heard good things about Denver’s new light rail system too. Although the train trip to the airport is a bit pricey, it still beats the price of a taxi or renting a car, and costs less than paying for parking downtown.

    ^^^Since Leighanna’s class was canceled on Sunday, I spent an extra day painting and printing papers in Elizabeth’s class. I didn’t mind, because I love doing this. I went as fast as I could without overthinking. The only things I kept in mind were the colors I might need for the collage and layers. Lots of layers. I used old book pages, dictionary pages, sheet music, map pages from a book about Colorado mining towns, washed and dried coffee filters, handmade papers, and the backs of some of the papers I painted and printed in Albie Smith’s class at An Artful Journey in 2011.

    ^^^Some of Elizabeth’s demonstration papers using alcohol droppers and spritzing with liquid dish soap on top of wet paint.


    ^^^Beautiful art installation to which the attendees were asked to decorate a tag and hang.

    ^^^Because the nearly full moon was huge over the weekend and I could still see it hanging over the mountains each morning, I hoped to do this painting as a collage after my apple. But time ran out. I’ll do it here in North Carolina.

    ^^^Everyone in class painted an apple before class in acrylic on a firm surface such as a canvas covered mat board or wooden panel. Elizabeth wanted us to work with a simple shape where we would learn about light and shadow. I’ll work a little more on my background, but my apple is done. Even though two people told me they thought it was a pumpkin. o_O

    ^^^More Denver scenes.

  • In downtown Chicago

    I didn’t spend very long in Chicago. On Thursday afternoon I was sleep-deprived and it was drizzly.

    On Saturday afternoon I spent a few hours in the Art Institute of Chicago, where I took dozens of photos, but I’ll only share one painting photo. Everywhere I turned I saw a slide from one of my art history classes! It was quite impressive and very overwhelming. I couldn’t begin to see it all, so I concentrated on early 20th century paintings, my favorite period.

    I was so pleased to see this Franz Marc painting. He is one of my very favorite artists and he died young in WWI so not only was his time cut short on this earth, not much of his art survived the Nazis.

    I had never been to Chicago, and I didn’t have much time, but now I will have a better idea of what to do next time I’m there.

  • In South Bend, Indiana

    Reflection in the Century Center next to the St. Joseph River

    These photos are from my brief trip to see the American Tapestry Biennial 11 at the South Bend Museum of Art on Sept. 2, 2016. See my previous post for photos from the exhibition.

    I arrived late Thursday night on Amtrak after flying to Chicago and hanging around downtown most of the afternoon. I booked a great inexpensive AirBNB room near downtown near the river and hospital, so if you ever need a recommendation for an AirBNB in South Bend, contact me in the comments. The only struggle I had in South Bend was finding a good cab service. Yellow Cab finally came through for me. I walked around most of Saturday and early Sunday morning. Even though the town’s downtown streets and sidewalks were torn up for widening the streets, it was still a pleasant experience. I needed some river time.


    In tiny Pier Park next to downtown, I became fascinated with the old paving bricks. I think that I might use these in some kind of artwork. Maybe tapestry.

    I never went over to Notre Dame University, but downtown had interesting architecture. Some unusual small shops, a natural food co-op and a yummy Italian bakery are on the east side of the river. I went to Fiddler’s Hearth and ate a banger boxty and drank a couple of pints for a late lunch. They had trad music later that night but I ended up back in my room early, since I had plans to explore the Art Institute of Chicago the next day and needed to catch the train early. Next post, Chicago.