A Thank You and a House

I was so surprised to be included in a blogging award. Kari over at Reese&Marie included me in a group of eight other bloggers. Thank you so much. Check out this charming blog here.

What the award is about..........."This blog invests and believes in the Proximity-nearness space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming ........these bloggers aim to find and be friends.They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propogated. Please give more attention to these writers!"

What you have to do.........Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award. Okay, I don't know a lot of bloggers, but here are a few of my new friends, or bloggers I read, but may not know, until I give them this award!:

1. Freckled Farm

2. Little Red House

3.Antique Therapy

4. Pure Style Home

5.Porchlight Interiors

6.Beulah Designs Blog

7.Garden Antiques Vintage

8. Marley & Lockyer

Visit these bloggers for great design and personal inspiration.

Now, come with me to visit yet another great Fredericksburg home. My friend, Debra, has a wonderful, warm home full of great furnishings and art. The front entry is minimally furnished and each piece is interesting and colorful. The nicho on the entry table was made my friend, Leslie's ,mom. She is an amazing artist who can take the most ordianary things and create exceptional art.

Debra's mother in law, Sandra Hulse, is a very talented artist of many different mediums. Debra has several of Sandra's tapestries hanging in her home. This one of a saint hangs in the entry hall.

The living room is comfortable and family friendly, with great art and a fabulous carved armoire that I covet each time I come over here!

Above the fireplace hangs an amazing assemblage by artist Liz Steving. The bird nest in the central part of the piece is a beautiful painting. Liz uses all kinds of found objects to frame and embellish her works. Notice the black and gold patterned border surrounding the bird's next. The flowers in the corners are metal roses encased in glass.

Flanking either side of the fireplace are two spectacular paintings by another very talented artist , Peruvian Martha I. Ochoa. Martha paints saints and angels in elaborate costumes in the style of the Cusco School - an artistic tradition that rose up in the former capital of the Inca empire after the Spanish conquered the city in the early 16th century. She uses special washes to give her work the patina of two or three centuries.

Martha, whose grandfather Francisco Olazo was a respected impressionist painter and one of the founders of the Cusco School of Fine Arts, started out as a landscape painter. About 20 years ago she was inspired by friend and fellow Peruvian artist Miguel Baca to begin using the technique and style of the Spanish colonial era.

If you follow my blog, you know that I love Mexican pottery as well as Mexican folk art. Debra's beautiful painted cupboard is filled with green Oaxacan dripware as well as fabulous Italian spatter ware plates, a tree of life and wonderful large pots.

The first thing one sees upon entering the dining room is another tapestry created by Sandra. Sandra's work has shown in various galleries over the years and her work is collected by many. You may have read about her in my post on my friend, Leslie's house.

Sandra uses a variety of textures and fabrics and has an amazing sense of form and color. You can learn more about Sandra in the book "Behind Adobe Walls, The Hidden Homes and Gardens of Santa Fe and Taos". Notice the details in the larger picture below.

My friend, Debra is a very talented artist in her own right. She painted the above painting that hangs over my fireplace. Thank you so much for the visit to your charming home, Debra!