Photograph 10
Near the top of Spivey Mountain.
This is a lot of cudsoe growing over the trees (and just about
everything else).
Photographs 2 + 8
These photos were taken in one of my favorite spots on
Spivey Mountain. I live in a cove on about three-quarters
of the way up Spivey Mountain. I found this spot one day while
hiking and my story, Finding Home, was written about finding
this spot. I found a mound of rocks and a handcarved marker that
told the story of this place; it is a place where people come to
leave burdens that are on their hearts. One is to take a stone
that respresents a burden and leave it on the mound of rocks.
These two pictures were taken in winter (obviously). I
was sitting atop the mound, looked straight up, and viewed what I
refer to as "The Tree Goddess". This is a very spiritual place.
I collect a lot of my birch leaves and ferns in this area.
Photograph 3
This was taken after a wild snowstorm we had in Asheville in April
of 2,003. I found this lone Birch leaf lying in the snow on
a mountain biking trail called "Red Dirt" in Bent Creek (Asheville).
This is part of Pisgah National Forest.
Photographs 1, 4 + 5
Another of my favorite hiking areas which goes from Craven Gap to Ox Creek.
Approximate Mile Marker 385.
Very lush, a winding path that passes through rhododendron groves, cactus, with stone ladders and wood ladders.
This is along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Pisgah National Forest. It is about 6
or 7 miles north of Asheville.
Photographs 6 + 7
Linville Falls, Mile Marker 316.4, Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest. Several short walks
to different views of really wonderful falls. Many different leaves including Post Oak and Turkey Oak.
Not Pictured
WAGON ROAD GAP, Approximate Mile Marker 412, Blue Ridge Parkway. Pisgah National Forest
MOORE COVE FALLS, Pisgah National Forest. Near Looking Glass Falls. This is a beautiful
walk to incredible falls that you can stand under. Where part of the movie, Last of the Mohicans was filmed.
I call my artwork, "Art Collages from the Forest". I love to hike and collect: leaves, wildflowers, bark, vines, and so forth. Most of my materials are collected around the area with I live and especially in Pisgah National Forest. In the National Forest, one may only collect berries, cones, and dead leaves. I therefore carefully collect things like ferns and Jack-in-the-Pulpits on my own property and I am very careful to re-seed.
I am very aware that if natural materials are left to their own devices, they would degrade and become part of the earth. In an attempt to slow that process down, I generally coat my materials with Golden Gel Medium. This is a non-toxic paint extender but collage artists are familiar with it's glue-like quality and often use it in their collages. Despite my attempt to carefully present these natural materials as part of my artwork, please note that they are rather fragile. They should be protected from direct sunlight and kept out of very humid places. If you purchase a piece of work un-framed, or you decide to take the piece out of its' frame, please be very careful.
I use mostly Golden paints; iridescent copper, silver, and gold, interference paints, and some metallic paints. I have discovered hand-made papers and that is such an incredible addition to my work. I generally purchase these but hope one day to be able to make my own.
I have been asked a lot about preserving the leaves, wildflowers and other natural materials that I use in my artwork. I have developed differing ways of preserving things.
Some time-honored ways to preserve fall leaves are either the use of wax paper or glycerin, both of which I rarely use. For wax paper, place a leaf between two layers of wax paper and then cover it with an old towel. Then press the towel with a warm iron. Now you'll have the leaf sealed between the two pieces of waxed paper.
To preserve using glycerin, make a solution of two parts water to one part glycerin. You'll have to put something on tope of the leaves to keep them submerged. It will take two to six days, they should have absorbed the liquid and will be pliable.
I preserve my leaves using a technique that I found myself. First, the leaf should be placed between some newspaper pages with a heavy book on top for a couple of weeks. Then, I coat both sides with gel medium. This is a non-toxic paint extender that artists use to thin their paints. It has a slightly sticky quality and therefore, will help the leaf adhere to the paper as well as preserving it.