2020-What a Year!

We don't have to tell you that 2020 is an unprecedented year. Changes have happened so fast and everyone has scrambled to find their bearings. Our new vocabulary includes "social distancing" and "Stay at Home" ordinances and it all happened in the blink of an eye.. And now with horse shows canceled, workshops and classes canceled, in fact all events with over 10 people canceled, we have had to regroup to keep afloat.

But enough of the current affairs as there is always a light at the end of every tunnel and we are seeing a slow re-emergence. We are continuing to do what we have always done-paint and create. So let's bring you up to date!

So for our Horse Show clients: Steve, after a hiatus with neck surgery has updated his popular blog !As many of you may know he has become known for painting outside the rings at many horse shows. In fact over the years, with so many changes taking place at some of the show grounds, he has been told that he is painting the history of some of the long standing events!  With that in mind there are several of his horse show oil paintings available.
Below is an 8' x 10" oil of the Upperville in gate. So much has changed over the past 15 years at Upperville and his paintings reflect that. You can find more information here 


 


 You probably have to be a certain age to remember the old stables at the Warrenton Horse Show. But if, in the days when no one had the glitzy barns of new show grounds, you kept your pony or horse here, the painting below will hold a definite nostalgia for you! An 8" x 10" oil with details  here.



 


 Some Historic showgrounds which used to be on the outskirts of cities and towns are beginning to crumble under the steady growth of  progress. One such show is the Sedgefield show outside of Greensboro, NC which faces a sale and re-zoning.


Stephen Filarsky painting the old Sedgefield Barn

All the original oil paintings that Stephen Filarsky painted on site have been sold, however there are prints available!

 For prints of Devon and Deep Run, visit his blog

          
 

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The Portraits continue to be a mainstay of our "Filarsky Brown Art Studio" with both Theresa and Steve creating in their favored mediums of oils, pastels and watercolor.









24" x 36" pastel by M Theresa Brown  "Greg Best on Gem Twist"

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For those who didn't realize that Theresa was also a printmaker in college and has, for the past 10 years included that among her creative pursuits, well you can enjoy a peek at that art form at The Silk Thread.
As well as painting and printmaking, she brought back her dormant sewing skills to create her own artisinal fashions with her fabrics!  The past month or so has been crazy with sewing and donating many masks to needy organization. If you have need of one with a horse design, you can find them in her Etsy shop.!



The matching button headbands are designed so the elastic loops over the buttons, saving your ears!
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There are so many ways to reach us! We have found that our Facebook pages can be updated far faster than a website! We confess our long time websites are a bit out of date BUT we both solved a part of that by using the Etsy format to add photos and keep pricing up to date!  Our long time landing page On Road Artists will share our many links!
For Theresa's portraits  https://www.etsy.com/shop/mtheresabrown
For our Filarsky Brown Art Studio Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FilarskyBrownArtStudio
For Steve's Facebook paintings:  https://www.facebook.com/sfilarsky/

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That's plenty to absorb for now :-)
We hope you stay safe and follow the guidelines. Together we will all get through these times!

Warm Regards
Steve and Theresa

When you want more than a copy of a photo!

The Internet has provided opportunity for learning never experienced in the past! No longer do schools need volumes of books or shelves of audio visual  equipment. All one needs is an Internet connection and the time to watch videos and read stories on every conceivable subject!

There are huge benefits and huge pitfalls in this age of mass marketing and communication and in my area of expertise-the arts-everyone has become an artist! Now that's not a bad thing. In fact today's kids and adults have the tools to learn all kinds of art forms unavailable to my generation of artists :-). I was delighted to get the cardboard packaged in my dadd's shirts from the cleaners (yes they came folded!)  Now there are art toys that do all the drawing for the kids. Becoming an artists used to mean practicing over and over to become good at a subject (lol-horses come to mind with me) but now there is very little of that. Children (and adults) do not develop "the eye". In a class environment, kids can create wonders!

But what I am seeing today in adult artists are copyists. Few are "seeing" their subjects. Most have learned the technique of copying and pasting with their computers and printers and so longer seem to have a "hands on" approach to painting. Have they actually walked in the woods to see that landscape? Watched the clouds and the weather roll in?  Handled that dog or horse? Or more importantly, drawn "from life?"
When you compare art that is copied to art that is created from knowledge and goes beyond copying, then you are seeing a true artist at work :-). Think about that the next time you might be thinking of investing in a portrait. You really often do get what you pay for :-)

A few dog portraits

A few horse portraits

People and their pets

Often it is the moment and the feeling!

Holiday Open House at our STUDIOS!

2 Artists Studios!

 

Saturday Dec 16 from 11-3! Come see the art studios of 2 long time working artists and see the
variety of, dare we say, amazing art! A perfect place to pick up those last minute hand crafted
gifts 🙂
Meet our ponies, Helen and Shadow, feed a peppermint to Bella, our alpaca…
yep-the chickens will visit you as well as our dogs! See examples below.
Enjoy some light refreshments in the large studio (our painting one) and do some shopping!
Kids are fine, leave your pets at home though please..rain or shine.
Located at 2109 Old Mill Farm RD., Franklinton, NC 27525.

Email Theresa@thesilkthread.com with questions.

 

 

Our chickens sometimes claim the studio front porch!

Silk work by Theresa

Plenty of portraits to see by Theresa

Steve’s watercolor table

Steve hand lettering on glass

Theresa Painting

Welcome 2017! More art, more silk......

Wow I have been keeping up with so many blogs that I forgot about this one! Whew-my own name!
But not to worry I won't spend pages catching you up, instead I will share several links. One is  from my silk blog:http://thesilkthread.com/posts/
The other is from my DreamHorseArt.com site.

 

Facebook, here we come!

It’s taken me awhile to make a separate page for the Dream Horse Art on Facebook. After all I have The Silk Thread Art,  Art Career Experts, Art Student Academy…..um let’s see, Filarsky Brown Art Studio.  So I am busy administrating let alone creating!
BUT I have now done so and it is there you can see my latest posts. There can be a lot because although the site celebrates the HORSE, I have fudged a bit and added portraits that may not actually (gasp) include a horse. But after 25 years of full time portraiture, I can’t leave anyone out!

A few dog portraits

So although I may have traditional people, horse and dog portraits, I also have my abstract horse on both canvas AND silk (well fiber art)!
I am excited to finally feel more organized.
I know we are on the cusp of a New Year and 2017 promises to be as busy and as creative as ever!
Enjoy a few images and right now, for shopping, I am sending you to my Etsy shop!
Happy 2017 everyone!
Theresa

Three Muses

Horses on Silk

News from our studio and SHOW schedules!

Early Spring (March), 2016


March and there is SO much going on. Many art shows and horse shows coming up this spring. We  love to show and tell so scattered throughout this newsletter are some of the many art pieces we created for our collectors. 
Also meet our newest family member, Bella, our baby alpaca. Theresa is already deciding what to do with all of her fleece when she is sheared the end of March.


What's Happening:  Shows where you can find us, as vendors or on the grounds with our easels   (Remember to check back with us on our calendar as sometimes this changes)

March 12 Triangle Farms C horse show, Hunt Horse Complex, Raleigh, NC ! Look for us on just Saturday, March 12 at the show! At the Hunt Horse Complex. We'll be there with portraits and silkwork (oh the horses!)  http://www.trianglefarms.com/

March 17-20  Triangle Farms A horse show, Raleigh NC    Steve will be at this show part of the time with his paintings. Check with us for the dates!  http://www.trianglefarms.com/



March 18-20  Spring Carousel Gift Market  Raleigh, NC, At NC fairgrounds, Jim Graham Building  Theresa will be there with her all of her silk art. https://www.facebook.com/springcarousel

March 23-26  You will find us at the Spring Premier Horse Show at the Hunt Horse Complex in Raleigh, NC.  Portraits, paintings and silk art in our indoor booth!
http://www.raleighspringpremier.com/

April 23 Bynum Bridgefest!  A one day art and craft event (on the Bynum Bridge) between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, NC that meshes with Earth Day.  Come see Theresa with her fiber and silk art!   http://www.bephilarthropy.com/

April 30:Cary Spring Daze!  Long URL to a long established one day art and craft show held in a beautiful park in Cary, NC!  http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Parks__Recreation___Cultural_Resources/events/festivals/springdaze.htm

May 6-7: The Handmade Market    We're still waiting to hear back on this art and craft event but if it's a go, Theresa will be there with her silk and fiber art! http://www.thehandmademarket.com/site/



May 21 & 22 Keswick Horse Show: Like last year, Steve will make his annual jaunt to the Keswick Hunt Club (in Virginia) and can be found around the grounds with his easel painting the scenes at the show!

May 20-22  Artsplosure  A very busy, super fun art and craft show in downtown Raleigh, NC. Theresa will be there with all of her fiber and silk art! http://artsplosure.org/

Well that's probably enough to keep all of us busy! There will be our long time horse shows in June, July and August including the 2 weeks at Blowing Rock, NC and possibly  some Virginia shows. YOU can easily keep track of where we will be through our Facebook pages!

ART classes and workshops (March-August) 
These are classes held at our studio location and others. If you would like us to set up a workshop with your art group, just drop us a note. Sign up for our separate art student academy newsletters that are just for our painting students!
Theresa is teaching some new classes with the Vance Granville Community College (http://www.vgcc.edu/coned/personal-interest) in the Personal Enrichment program, including some Heritage Programs coming up. Make sure you are signed up for our Art Student Academy newsletters to stay on top of all art classes!   http://artstudentacademy.com/

SHOP with US!
A great landing page to branch into the areas we have that interest you is http://www.OnRoadArtists.com  From there you can read our blogs, see what we are painting and so much more! But additional locations are below:
Theresa's  portraits are online, is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mtheresabrown
Theresa's abstracts and silk art: http://www.DreamHorseArt.com....go to the shop section to see what is available!
Visit Steve's store with his paintings is:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sfilarsky




To reach us, all you have to do is go to ONE page:
http://www.OnRoadArtists.com 
There you will find links to our blogs, Facebook pages, various websites, phone numbers and emails!

New work images posted regularly on our Facebook pages! Watch for our updates!
Until next time!
Theresa and Steve

Mother Nature’s Colors in eco-printing on silk

So painting on canvas is not the only thing I "paint."
Enter my silk scarves (which can be found on www.TheSilkThread.com)





My last “batch” before leaving for a trip to Oregon earlier this month.  Grinding, then boiling cochineal bugs and laying out plants on silk, I worked on about a dozen eco-printed silk scarves as well as some silk noil.

Laying out the plants

Cochineal extract

And the results? Oh my, what fun!

Collage of Mother Nature’s colors

Detail of an eco-scarf.

cochineal bug extract

    

Close up of vegetable plants on silk

Bella watching the silk dry.

  Almost 3 weeks in the Pacific northwest and I could not leave without expanding my collection of leaf matter.  Check out the monster Big Leaf maple.  The weather promises to break, the snow is melting and the sun will make it possible for me to create more of Mother Nature’s Art

Big Leaf maple

Pacific northwest oak leaves

Oil portraits from Christmas

January 2016. That's kind of crazy. As usual, the last quarter was hectic and 2 things slowed me down-the hard drive on my 6 month old computer crashed (thank you 1 year warranty!) leaving me scrambling to do even the basics, let alone photos, book work and correspondence. Sorry but my android phone just doesn't cut it. :-(. The other was a rotten cold that, for the first time in years, was bad enough for antibiotics....so today I am coldless and have my computer back (a ridiculous 3 week hiatus) Life is good!

So what have I been painting...too many to put up here so how about a few oils? 

Maureen and Duncan-oil 20 x 24

Favorite Hunter-oil 16 x 20

Oils take longer than my pastels but they do sort of "pop" don't they?
I am off to Portland Oregon Jan 10-27 so let's see what I come back with!

Eco printing, alpacas and time travel

What? It's December? When did that happen? :-)
I have run through 2 months of combining silk work and portraits and December simply brings a bit of panic into it!

I dug into the eco printing and have had some gorgeous results!

Various kinds of eucalyptus

It takes practice but in the end...the thrill (yes it is) is in not knowing what you'll create!

But knowing that I'm printing Nature's colors exclusively is another appeal to this art form.

I spent 10 days in October at the NC State Fair as the silk artist in the Village of Yesteryear

rose leaves from Seven Sisters

Heirloom roses and pineapple sage

and although it was tiring with daily 12 hour days, I met SO many people who were happy to add a scarf to their handmade collections!
November seems to have dissipated and I don't know where it went to. I do know that I am on a borrowed computer as mine bit the dust (although Best Buy is determined to make it work since it is under warranty) and I had no idea how many of my photos were on the other computer. Luckily I have Carbonite backup but having to make temporary folders to store work is time consuming.

I'll pop some portraits up in my next post...seems odd to mix them with the silk. :-)

Oh and I must add one more image....Bella! The newest member and a future supplier of fiber for adding some roving into some of my silk!

Meet Bella!

The search for dye plants

We spent a gorgeous day recently collecting sample plants of nature's bounty to do some "eco-dyeing" on silk scarves.
Our current roadsides are awash with wild helianthus and pokeberries. Wild sumac encircles abandoned ponds and we're careful to collect only what we will use.  But my own mini-farm offers up Rose of Sharon, wild buttercups, a lot of mimosa and pokeberry as well as grapes, dogwoods, oak, pear and maple...a lot of trees on my land that are soon to turn glorious colors.   In the meantime we go with greens, yellows...lol, even red clay and tobacco!

The bounty

Water from a spring and wild picking

 I soaked the scarves in a mordant, then layered our finds on top, covered them up, rolled and wrapped them and two days later, walla! Eco dyed scarves.

It's a lot of fun to collect, a lot of time to "do" and in the end, the appeal will be to a certain kind of scarf collector.  

But the search is inspiring, restful and a soothing "back to the earth" kind of methodology that I'll employ a bit more into my fiber art :-)

DIY hanging rack from a baby crib! (the practical artist!)

DIY hanging rack from a baby crib!

Taking off the pegged top piece on rail

As professional artists, we have 2 art studios on our property. The larger one is big, beautiful and built from a torn down 1910 house!
Our smaller one is my "cabin in the woods" and was a tired 10 x 20 storage building that we renovated for additional room in our ever expanding art business!

 So in my small Art studio that I use for my silk making, I needed a place to hang my scarves while I worked on them. I use an outside clothesline which is perfect for drying. But in between some stages of my techniques, I needed a place to gently hang silk without folding it or dropping it on the floor :-)

Crib rail hinged to wood attached to wall.

 The solution came in the form of parts of a free baby crib! Used cribs can be found at yard sales for next to nothing and the sides can be used for any number of creative projects!


My idea was to attach hinges to the bottom , attach it to the wall of my small studio and have it fold down from the top.  When in use, the lightweight chains would let me lower it to pretty much any height I wanted. I did not want it level, just out a foot or so from the top of the wall. When not in use, it folds back up to the wall and hooks with regular latch hooks :-)

Small chain, latches and hinges are easily found in any hardware store!

A little paint on the wood the piece is hinged to will make it look finished :-)

As you can see, the lightweight silk dangles easily from the rack away from the wall. It could be closed as well if I choose.
A perfect solution for everything from fabric to paper to your laundry room.

Raise the chains higher if heavier items will be hung. The ceiling is barn style so hanging this from the ceiling where the lights are was not an option-too high and the lights were in the way so this "Murphy style" rack was the perfect solution!

An easy DIY project accomplished in an afternoon or less! (Depending on the number of breaks and how long it takes you to find the tools you put down somewhere!)