When one is confronted with a prize to take a trip “anywhere”, it's a little daunting. As the recipient of a WUNC radio prize -- I had the unusual option to decide where I might want to travel. My decision was to take a river trip named Waterway of the Czars and travel down a major waterway from Moscow to St…
Making cane starts with picking up a piece of color bar that has been preheated to almost 1,000 degrees on the end of a steel rod, then heated and shaped. This is the center color of the cane. While one person is doing this, another is preparing a different chunk of color in the same way to cover the first color…
I thought I would take a moment to jot down some tips about some of the great things you can see in NYC right now. We were just there. The Metropolitan Museum. There is a really nice exhibit about the way in which Matisse documented the revisions he made of many of his paintings. He had a friend who was a photographer…
Special thanks to Sara Gress, the owner of the NC Crafts Gallery, for the opportunity to interview her for this timely blog article. Timely because this is the gift giving season and NC Crafts Gallery is just around the corner in Carrboro, NC. Sara has been supportive of OCAG and has included the work of many OCAG artists, who are…
Most photography shot courtesy of OCAG artist, Barbara Tyroler! Sandra Milroy - The 2012 OCAG Open Studio Tour was an exhilarating, absorbing, and altogether enjoyable experience for me this time. I have a new studio, completed the night before the first Saturday. It's on the lower level of our house, with a private entrance and it felt like the best…
The 2013 Calendar full of Whimsical Animals debuts this month. I have been creating calendars for 5 years. Each month is a sturdy trading card which displays the versatility of my style and themes where humor prevails. Past years contained portraits of both wild and domesticated animals, birds of North Carolina, and Carolina scenes. 2013's original oil paintings of animals are…
Every art show I attend, I have people of all ages walk into my booth and ask me what effects, filters, program...insert digital media here...I use. I proudly answer "none" and watch a variety of expressions that range from delight to confusion dart across their faces. It seems that as a group, we assume anything vibrant and colorful to be…
I am an airline hostess. This August, I worked a flight from JFK to CDG, and decided to take off for a fabulous day in Paris. The nice thing about a layover is you can take your time and enjoy the ambience, because you can always return for another day. I first met up with another flight attendant and we…
Life Decisions. Funny how they are made. In January of 2012 I decided to set out in a new direction and see if I couldn't find the abstract world within myself. It remained evasive and a total mystery! I am not the type who gives up easily but my spirit quickly became disillusioned with all of my attempts. A few…
For a number of years, I have kept my eye on a particularly interesting show for clay artists, the International Cone Box Show. The pieces for this show are small sculptures that are able to fit inside a cone box (3 x 3 x 6 inches). This year I decided to apply. If you are not a potter, the following…