Thursday Thirteen - 30 - 13 Works by Nova Scotia Artist Holly Carr

Holly Carr is a silk artist who makes her home in Canning, Nova Scotia, along the Minas Basin in King's County. She's created limited-edition works in support of the 16th annual Festival of Trees, taking place from November 23-25.



"Someone’s mother. Someone’s father.
Someone’s husband. Someone’s wife.
Someone’s brother. Someone’s sister.
Someone’s daughter. Someone’s son . . . "






The Festival of Trees supports the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, and as the wife of a bipolar husband, I'm always so very touched when this festival begins. Money raised from the sale of these Harmony Angel silk pieces - modelled here by Ms. Carr - go to programs funded by the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

Photo by Peter Parsons

Ms. Carr designed and created a 3-D tree for the 2003 festival which included panels of the 12 Days of Christmas. For the 2007 Harmony Angels, Ms. Carr says, "I like the idea that absolutely no two are exactly alike. We use the same design - one angel has a star, the other a horn - the same colour combination, but every little face is different. And they are all hand-signed."


This year Ms. Carr has designed these limited-edition Christmas ornaments which honour the Canadian Forces as well as benefiting the Mental Health Foundation. The ornaments hang from a yellow ribbon, evocative of the ribbons used by the public to show support for the troops. Carr's angel holds a star that echoes the line: 'Star of wonder, star of night' from the carol 'We Three Kings of Orient Are'.


For today's Thursday Thirteen, I'm very pleased to bring you thirteen works by Holly Carr, whose work I've long admired. Let's stroll along my cyber gallery, shall we?


1 - "Urban Decoration"
















2 - "A Night of Theatre"













3 - "Pastries"











4 - "Crane Arrangement"
















5 - "Wendy's Dream"
















6 - "Taming the Dragon"
















7 - "Big Wet Kiss"












8 - "Waterlilys"














9 - "Raven's Egg"












10 - "Hare and Goldfinch"









11 - "The Muse"














12 - "Peacock in a Pear Tree"
















13 - "Terrarium"

An Interactive Installation at Halifax's Museum of Natural History
which ran from June-September, 2003






Holly Carr oversees the installation














Five panels from "Terrarium"







Ms. Carr has toured Canada with Stuart McLean's "Vinyl Cafe", working on original art pieces onstage. She participated in an onstage theatre event called "Private Views" through the Atlantic Theatre Festival, again creating original pieces during the performance. For the Festival of Trees, Ms. Carr will paint a new piece which will be auctioned off at the sold-out black tie gala on November 24th at the World Trade and Convention Centre.

Here's the artist now. She's chatting with 'Chronicle Herald' entertainment reporter Andrea Nemetz.

"Because I handpaint with a brush and use no reproduction process, I knew I would be doing at least 250 paintings," she says about the Harmony Angels silk runners or wraps. "In the end it was 500 pieces. Which was overwhelming, but fun and challenging."













Here's a handpainted silk scarf my mom received as a gift from her friend Carolyn several years ago. I love Ms. Carr's angels!





Thank you so much, Ms. Carr for this opportunity to share your work on 'A Piece of My Mind'. And deeply heartfelt thanks for sharing your talent and time with all the families whose lives are kept ontrack through the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

Thursday Thirteen - 27 - 13 of My Favorite Illustrators

Tomorrow night, my husband and I will be flying into Toronto for a week and a half of visiting his family, so there's lots to do here to get ready. I don't know whether I'll have internet access or not - my blogging may be sporadic or non-existent for awhile.

But until then, here are some of my favorite works by illustrators I love. Why aren't these pieces of art? Well, in my opinion, they are. But in art circles, commercial art is often referred to as illustration. Rather like the romance novel in the literary world.

Let's have a leisurely gaze at some visually stunning pieces:

1 - Theodor Seuss Geisel, or Dr. Seuss

An early favorite!

















2 - Pauline Baynes

Mr. Tumnus from 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'












3 - Aubrey Beardsley



















4 - Edward Gorey

The creator of 'The Gashleycrumb Tinies'
















5 - Gustave Dore

'Paradise Lost 4'




















6 - Greg & Tim Hildebrandt




















7 - Edward Robert Hughes

'Midsummer Eve'





















8 - Victorian Ephemera

I can never get enough of these illustrations done for advertisements, greeting cards and calendars




















9 - Cicely Mary Barker

The Flower Fairies























10 - Garth Williams

The Little House series




















11 - Carl Larsson

'Around the Lamp'










12 - Alex Ross

He illustrates the characters of the DC universe, including Superman.





















You can see where the art director/cinematographer for 'Superman Returns' got their inspirations for this shot.

13 - Frank Miller

Panel from '300' by Dark Horse Comics












Still from Zach Snyder's film '300'

Thursday Thirteen - 24 - 13 of My Mom's Paintings

Welcome - feel free to stroll about my cyber art gallery. Today I'm featuring artist Paulette Phillips.

We first met 42 years ago as she donned the motherhood hat. From my perspective, an excellent fit.

Paulette began painting in the early 1980's, beginning with oils but switching to watercolor ink and sand. She prefers the textures she achieves with that medium. Enjoy your visit and thanks for dropping by!

1 - 'Lava Flow'



















29.5 x 22.5 in. (75 x 58 cm)



2 - 'The Way Home'














5.5 x 7.75 in. (14 x 20 cm)



3 - 'The Voice'



















13.25 x 8.5 in. (35 x 22 cm)



4 - 'Goat'
















8.5 x 11.5 in. (22 x 29 cm)



5 - 'Jesus Blesses the Children'




















14 x 10.25 in. (36 x 27 cm)



6 - 'Ships at Sail'




















10.75 x 8.5 in. (28 x 22 cm)



7 - 'Fairy Dance'




















17 x 14.5 in. (43 x 37 cm)



8 - 'The Bee'
















8 x 10 in. (20 x 26 cm)



9 - 'A Study in Yellow and Green'
















9.5 x 11.5 in. (25 x 30 cm)



10 - 'Earth Tracks'




















14 x 10.5 in. (37 x 27 cm)



11 - 'Free Spirit'




















9 x 6.5 in. (23 x 17 cm)



12 - 'Stare of the Dragon'




















9 x 7 in. (23 x 18 cm)



13 - ' Triptych'













12 panels at 9 x 12 in. (23 x 31 cm)



Oh - there she is - let's get in a little closer. She's putting down her champagne - "Hi!" she's saying (big hug to you out there in the Blogosphere.) "I'm the Mom - Paulette. I want to thank my sweetheart daughter Julia for showcasing my art. I'm happy to share it with all of you and I'm inspired to create more."