Sheri Wren Haymore

Fall Into Art!

WENDY JANE CREATIONS

Time and again, I am impressed by the many ways artists express their creativity. Take quilting, for example. Personally, I do well to sew on a button. Wendy Carriker of Wendy Jane Creations in Mt. Airy, on the other hand, turns out beautiful, unique quilted pieces, seemingly with ease. Wendy told me that she got her start in the late 1970s in Burlington, NC, stitching for the needlework industry. At the same time, she co-owned a cross-stitch shop, offering retail and wholesale supplies. In 1984, when she moved to Mt. Airy with her four-year-old daughter and a husband whose work took him on the road, she reached out to cross-stitch designers and expanded into the design end of that business. Eventually, Wendy joined the Surry County Handcrafters’ Guild, showing her work at their craft show twice a year at the Armory. For the past twenty years, she has participated in the Autumn Leaves Festival downtown. When I commented that I knew from experience what hard work that is, Wendy laughed and said her friend comes down from Michigan to help, and they peoplewatch while she sells her wares. Again, she makes the very thing that gives me anxiety sound so easy! Back in the day, Wendy smocked dresses for little girls. And, she told me, if you see a Mt. Airy Bears appliqued flag round town, it’s most likely her work. An embroidery machine helped her expand into aprons, towels, and “Mug Rugs,” cleverly designed, embroidered coasters for your beverages. The pandemic pushed her to purchase a longarm quilting machine, and this is where Wendy’s work becomes truly original art. She found a company in Durham with the capability to reproduce a photo or a painting onto fabric. Wendy already had access to quilt blocks stamped with artwork of U.S. states, and she showed me a gorgeous wall hanging featuring the state of North Carolina. But there were no quilt squares available of local mountain scenes. The fire on Pilot Mountain was the impetus for Wendy to move forward with an idea that had been brewing for a while. From her own photographs of Pilot Mountain, as well as a painting of the mountain by a Winston-Salem artist, quilt blocks were reproduced that Wendy now turns into quilted pillows and wall hangings. These are truly oneof-a-kind works of art that I am very sure will be a hit at the Autumn Leaves Festival, especially the pieces featuring fall colors. And I can’t wait to see where this original idea takes her work next. Having seen her work in person, I can attest that Wendy’s pieces are exquisitely detailed. Even her lively Halloween lap quilt boasts blocks quilted in a spider-web design.

Wendy Carriker

Wendy told me that she puts a great deal of thought into each pillow and wall hanging. She finds the work therapeutic and says that she can solve the world’s problems working at the sewing machine far into the night. When she needs a sounding board, she calls on her daughter and her Michigan friend, who both often have fresh ideas for ways to put together fabrics and colors, keeping her own creative juices flowing. If Wendy Carriker’s name sounds familiar, she has been on the Mt. Airy City Schools Board of Education since 1996 and serves as the National First VP for the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Look for Wendy at her booth at the Autumn Leaves Festival this month!

ARTWORK BY BONNIE

Having passion for their calling is something I often hear from the artists who tell me their stories. Bonnie Marion Hawks, who creates under the name Artwork by Bonnie, says she could sit in her sunroom and paint for hours, until her achy back protests. During her forty-year career in banking, Bonnie longed to pursue her art but didn’t feel she could invest the time or money. After retiring as VP of Business Banking for PNC in 2018, she knew the time was right to go for it.

A couple years before that, Bonnie had painted Halloween motifs on pumpkins and set them on the stacked-stone wall near the street as decoration. She noticed that people stopped and took photos of her pumpkins. Despite vandals later stealing the pumpkins, the comments were favorable, making her want to keep pursuing her art. Bonnie describes herself as self-taught – experimenting with techniques and allowing the creative process to move her work forward. She began by painting flowers and abstract beach scenes; now her work shows more detail and depth. Over time, she has developed her own style. The medium for her work is quite varied. She might paint vintage gas pumps on antique tin shingles or birds on old wooden boards. An antique window might frame a Pilot Mountain scene or a field of happy sunflowers. Flowers, stripes, or initials grace terra cotta pots. Bonnie welcomes commissioned work, such as a client’s old truck or 1961 Ford Galaxy or favorite local landmark.

In particular, Bonnie enjoys painting on canvas. Her inventory includes fun, smaller paintings as well as large, heavy, museumdepth canvases intended to make a dramatic statement in a large space. Of course, she paints with brushes, but she also works with palette knives to create texture and depth. Bonnie finds that this method, known as impasto, gives an authentic look when she’s painting an old church or barn, or even flowers and leaves. I found it fascinating that she doesn’t sketch out a drawing on a canvas before she begins. Bonnie has the confidence to put paint to canvas, then stand back and see what the painting needs by eye. She keeps working on it until she’s pleased with the finished piece. When I visited Bonnie in her sunroom/studio, I felt a tingle of creativity! From a huge, bright floral abstract to a colorful boating scene to a young dancer in costume to a stylish field of poppies, her work is delightfully inspiring.

You can find Bonnie’s flowerpots and smaller pieces at Wyatt’s Trading Post and her larger paintings at Brannock and Hiatt— both stores in downtown Mt. Airy.

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