A Lovely, Quiet Holiday Gift Gallery

The annual Pink House Holiday Gift Gallery is open on Fridays from 11am to 8pm and Saturdays from 11am to 5pm through December 23rd, as well as when the Open signs are out or by appointment. Lots of "doing" for friends in need this year, so call me when you can make it to the Pink House. I'd love to see you. 

And so many wonderful gifts! Many by talented artist friends, some made by me, all carefully selected to help you find the Special Something for your Special Someone! And I am happy to ship to you or your dear ones!

Pilllows and Plant Prints 

The Eco Prints Department

The Gift Solution - a Gift Certificate for a workshop or scarf or tiny birdhouse or .....

Wool Hats by Ann Clarke I

Wool Hats by Ann Clarke II

Crepe de Chine Silk Scarves by Pat Pauly

Colorful Linen Pillows by Pat Pauly

Rustic Pillows by Cris

Fragrant Candles

Little Framed Eco Prints

Zen Rocks by Chad Pattison

Lots more for Heart and Home.  Hope to see you soon! 

How to See PINK on the Radio

Mammoth sunflowers and pink coneflowers greet visitors to the Pink House in Saranac Lake. Photo: Todd Moe

A lovely thing happened today. The interview recorded with me last week by the fabulous Todd Moe of North Country Public Radio aired on the "Eight o'Clock Hour" program. If you ever wanted to know a little more about Art at the Pink House and my view of this business, click HERE for Todd's audio interview and some photos.

I am SO grateful to every person and every organization that brings my business to the public with such good wishes! My Humble and Everlasting Thanks!

Cris Winters enjoys being surrounded by flowers and art, creating fiber designs in her home studio and tending her front garden at the Art at the Pink House in Saranac Lake. Photo: Todd Moe

Magical Process on Silk Scarves

Great group with their colorful new scarves.

My friend Lynne Taylor taught another workshop at the Pink House Studio recently that involved applying color to silk. (She taught a workshop on silk painting in August - see my post from August 14th "My New Studio in Service!").

Lynne showing us how it's done.

This time, she taught us how to draw on the silk with Sharpie markers and then to move the color around with rubbing alcohol. It was much like using watercolor paint - lovely and somewhat unpredictable results that are permanent after heat setting. And because there is not an issue with the type of fiber used, the method works on cotton and blends as well.

Lynne brought an incredible array of Sharpies for us to try. Huge range of colors, a variety of tip choices including a brush. Even Sharpies specifically for fabric! There was also a range of results from the various pens too, when the rubbing alcohol was applied.

By the way, some ventilation is required once the alcohol is brought out. It gets pretty strong! 

Alcohol sprayed on the drawings on the silk.

Note the marks on the green square made by the spray.

Sharon's silk scarf with a spritz of alcohol.

Sharon's scarf with more alcohol applied.

 The first set of lovely scarves.

Carefully-rendered drawing with alcohol applied to the dots on the left.

Carefully-rendered drawing with alcohol applied very freely, including spitz.

The similarity to watercolor painting is very appealing to me. As you can see above, being careful with the drawing is not worth much in the end. Love it!

Gallery at the Pink House

Mixed media by Susan Andrews

More by Susan Andrews

I'm having so much fun showing the work of my artist friends at my gallery. The exhibit "Arrivals & Departures opened on Friday, featuring the work of Susan Andrews. Here are some highlights:

Art by Lynne Taylor, Deborah McDonald, and Carol Boyer (r to l)

Art by Pat Pauly, Cris Winters. Carol Boyer, and Lynne Taylor. (r to l)

Art by Pat Pauly and Cris Winters (r to l)

Zen rocks by Chad Pattison

My Big Adventure

Since early last autumn, I have been on a very personal journey to find a new home and a new life. My marriage came to an end, by mutual and amicable agreement. And I saw that I had a huge opportunity to find my ideal life. Not a small undertaking.

Then I found this little Pink House. Once I found it, it was clear that it was mine. All that journaling, thinking, talking I had done for months told me it was the obvious choice. So I leaped.

It took awhile for it to become truly (and legally) mine. While I waited, I made this fabric collage. The peeling paint, old carpets, and scary basement don't show here. Only the magic and the dream.

Now I'm spending my days with helpful contractors, cans of beautiful paint, and wonderful friends who are helping make it all come true. In a few weeks, I'll be living and working there.

In the meantime, lovely things are showing up!

Thanks so much, Dear Friend!