Thursday, November 8, 2007

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.

33 comments:

Danika Dinsmore said...

Julia - those are gorgeous. I love the terrarium installation.

I came over to tell you I picked your rendition of the poem on my blog poetry challenge. Send your address to openchannel at gmail dot com and I'll send you the poetry package.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Wow, Danika! Thank you so much!!

Addicted to crafting said...

Beautiful work!!!! The artist is gifted!!! :)

Happy TT!

Unknown said...

What bright, colorful work. That terrarium was amazing.

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

That's incredible stuff, Julia. Where do you find such cool people to populate your world with? I'm jealous!

Happy TT! Thanks for that great comment you left me. It was awesome to wake up to.

Darla said...

Oh, I love these--all the bright vibrant colors! Thanks so much for brightening this gray cloudy day! :)

Carrie Lofty said...

Oh, I really like Hare and Goldfinch. The human faces didn't work for me, but the more organic nature scenes are just breathtaking. Thanks for sharing!

Ann said...

Awesome post, that terrarium is beautiful. Happy TT.

Karina said...

Wow, these are some wonderful pieces! Thank you for sharing them with us. Thank you also for the wonderful comment/pep talk you left on my blog yesterday. I'm going to print it out and tape it to my wall, so that if I get discouraged while writing, I'll just read it and it'll get me going again!

Kailana said...

She's a fabulous artist. I did a project on her in university.

Akelamalu said...

Those are so beautiful. I particularly love the waterlilys.

Tempest Knight said...

Oh, I love #4 and #12!!! Gorgeous work!

MsSnarkyPants said...

Those are just beautiful! I just love The Big Wet Kiss! So cute!

Ire said...

Her work is amazing. I love the colours...the theatre and the terrarium installation are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

Sandee said...

This is all so beautiful and so colorful. Wow, and have a wonderful festival. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, wow, wow, wow.... what stunningly beautiful work! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

Jill said...

I really like #4,8 and 12!!
We see that her work is extra special to you because of the cause she has embrace!!

Miriam van Veen said...

Wow...amazing works of art.

http://miriamwritesromance.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

absolutely beautiful...I especially loved the dragonfly. Breathtaking!

Anonymous said...

Julia - I had a dream about a green lizard last week. I think #5 should be "Shelley's Dream". I love the vibrant colors in these. The terrarium is beautiful. I can see that on my wall.

Red Garnier said...

DROOL, DROOL, DROOL!!! OMG, Julia why do you do this to me. My wallet just got restless, yes siree! ;)

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Red - (tee hee)

Flowerpot said...

what an incredibly talented person - those are amazing they really are!

Tink said...

Holly is a very talented artist, I love her work!
Thanks for visiting my symbols TT.

Dorothy said...

Fascinating...Wow! The colors are spectacular.
Thanks for sharing this piece on Holly Carr.

Camille Alexa said...

Love those animals -- swans, hare, peacock, raven -- very cool.

Danika Dinsmore said...

Julia - sorry, haven't mailed your package off yet and it's a 3-day weekend. I promise to get to it on Tuesday...

I post a weekend writing workout every Friday (sometimes saturday morning), so come back and play some time. :-)

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful and personal tribute, Julia. Btw, my favorite was #3.
Blessings,
~Toni~

Dewey said...

Wow, I love those illustrations. They're so lush and saturated with color.

Rhian said...

ese are incredible! i love the whimsey and gorgeous colors!

Joy Renee said...

these are breathtaking; gorgeous. my fav is the peacock in a pear tree. but it is hard to pick. the wet kiss made me laugh out loud.

Annelisa said...

Beautiful images

Durward Discussion said...

Thanks for the invite. You really know how to throw a party.