1. Book Signing in Williamsburg ... I'm
excited to have a book signing Saturday, June 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at
the William and Mary Barnes and Noble on Duke of Gloucester St. in
Williamsburg. It will feature my new book, Hearts Across Forever. I will also be signing my hardcover book, An Artful Animal Alphabet. Hearts Across Forever is the first book in my "Passenger to Paradise" series.
2. In Three Juried Shows ... This spring, I was honored to have paintings accepted for three juried art sh. Artws that hung during April and May. On the Edge of Xanadu,
watercolor on canvas, was in the Art Speaks, Seventh Annual Juried Show
featuring Virginia artists, Janly Jaggard, juror. My watercolor
painting, Searching for Xanadu, was selected for the March-May
Juried All-Media Show at Crossroads Art Center in Richmond, Virginia.
Ellyn Parker, Exhibitions Manager at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, was
juror for the show. Point of Entry, a mixed water media
painting, was chosen for the Gloucester Arts on Main Regional Juried
Show by Juror Jennifer Morningstar, Gallery Manager of the Charles
Taylor Visual Arts Center. I was excited to win second prize in the
Gloucester show.
4. Spirit Visions Soul Songs Is Published ... My new book, Spirit Visions Soul Songs is up on Amazon, both as a printed book and in Kindle format. More information and purchase options on Amazon. I believe this book of paintings and writings will be meaningful to
everyone. It can also be just a pretty addition to a coffee table and
might start conversation.
Beyond my writing studio windows, I can view massive trees in the
forest that inspire me. As words and images came to me intuitively, the
idea for this book was formed.
"It is the zodiac moments that guide our spirits in the long
journey through the green valley," the words say. "From under the little
trees, the fairies come and lead the zealous to the land of angels."
This is a book to lie quietly on a coffee table until a seeker
reaches out to its pages. I hope it will bring joy in times more
troubling than I ever imagined they might be.
From the Chesapeake Bay Writers Club Website on Hearts Across Forever ... Kathryn Calder is dedicated to her NY city career until an unexpected
assignment to Jamaica changes the path of her life. From the moment she
arrives on the exotic island, she is haunted by odd memories from a
distant past. Is Flynt Kincade, the stranger she meets in an art
gallery, part of that past? Kathryn senses he is, especially when dreams
connecting her with Flynt grow more vivid. A visit to Rose Hall Great
Plantation draws Kathryn into a scene from long ago when evil reigned in
Jamaica and the white witch of Rose Hall was a part of the danger. Can a
love affair from old Jamaica reach across forever and bring Kathryn and
Flynt together?
When artist/writer Mary Montague Sikes first visited Jamaica, she
has no thoughts of writing a book set there. But the bright tropical
colors and the sweet, perfumed scents inspired her. Somewhere along the
way, she visited Rose Hall Plantation and grew fascinated with the tale
of Annie Palmer, the white witch of Rose Hall. That excursion started
her thinking, "What if?". What if a love lost over 200 years ago could
be revived in the present day? Would that love be lost again, or were
lessons learned long ago enough to create love found? Sikes’ fascination
with a simple love story and her desire to study more about
reincarnation in the works of University of Virginia scientist, the late
Dr. Ian Stevenson, led to the writing of her first novel, Hearts Across
Forever. The award-winning book was re-released by High Tide
Publications. Hearts Across Forever now available an Amazon
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Eve Mackintosh with Tapestry for Peace project ©MMSikes |
"Angel of the Marshland" is one of my favorite angel paintings of all
time, and I've been painting angels forever. This painting and my
Tapestry for Peace project painting were both inspired by Eve Mackintosh, a lovely lady with whom I
had a meeting in Denver, Colorado only a few months before her untimely
death in 2005.
I don't remember exactly how Eve and I connected, but I know it was through the
National League of American Pen Women.
During a trip my husband and I had planned to the Colorado mountains,
Eve and I arranged to meet in the lobby of a hotel located in a Denver
suburb . When I first saw her, I felt as if we had always known each
other. She was vivacious, energetic, and filled with joy about the
Tapestry for Peace project she had instigated and that was being sponsored by the Denver Branch NLAPW.
 |
The first panel that Eve Mackintosh showed me in our Denver meeting. |
That day, Eve told me about a vision she had in 1997 while driving along
Florida I-10. She saw a gigantic angel in front of her, reaching high
with the planet earth in one hand and holding another planet close to
her heart. Overcome with wonder, she pulled to the side of the road
where she heard the words, "There's a place in space for peace."
Eve was uncertain what to do, but she knew in her heart she must do something. She remembered the bloody war scenes depicted by the Grand Bayeux
Tapestry of the 1066 Norman Conquest of England. In contrast, she wanted
to create a giant peace tapestry that would inspire children to look to
the future without thoughts of battle but with dreams of peace. She
contacted Masters of Linen in New York City who donated 120 yards of
fine linen for the project. When she became an active member of the
Denver Branch NLAPW, she shared her story and idea for the tapestry and
thus found the help she needed to bring the Tapestry for Peace to
fruition.
When
Eve described her vision, I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of
her project. Using a piece of her linen and Robert Doak intense
watercolors, I created "Angel of the Earth and Skies" as a contribution
from Virginia Pen Women for the project.
 |
"Angel of the Earth and Skies" ©MMSikes |
The angel image is the dominant feature of the art
work. Beneath the angel, five
oak leaves, representing the earth, float. Three stars,depicting faith,
hope, and love, shine in the sky. Above the
angel’s head, two doves fly with a banner of peace. The angel holds three
golden and silver ties in her hands. These are the ties that could bind the hearts of
people all over the world in an atmosphere of love.
Before I
sent my tapestry panel off to Denver to be part of the Tapestry for
Peace project, I displayed it at Petersburg Regional Arts Center. It is
on view in the photograph against the old staircase in the main gallery
at PRAC. (That staircase is restored and is now a focal point in the
Grand Gallery at the Ward Center for Contemporary Art.)
When
the angel left me for its long journey, I missed her and decided to
create another angel painting with acrylics on a large canvas. Thus,
"Angel of the Marshland" was born.
 |
"Angel of the Marshland" ©Mary Montague Sikes |
This
week, as I began to recall the stories and events that led to these
angel paintings, I forgot about the ceramic angel that "posed" for both
pieces of art. During a Tuesday night thunderstorm, I was emphatically
reminded. That angel is one of three now sitting on a dresser in our
bedroom. Every time, thunder sounded and lightning flashed, that angel
sounded a little rumbling noise and lit up with light. The other two
angels, although they are the ones with batteries and small light bulbs
inside them, did not. The ceramic angel spoke to me as she had once
before inside a Pennsylvania store where I knew I must purchase her.
My
panel "Angel of the Earth and Skies" is part of the 264-foot long
"Tapestry for Peace". "Angel of the Marshland" is on view now at Dara
LeBlanc Haynes' Mathews Country Galleria. The ceramic angel stands ready
to pose for yet another painting. The new painting will probably be
"Angel of the Trees" because I look out into our woods and wonder where
angels might hide.
Our
nation and our world is in dire need for peace. Perhaps the Tapestry
for Peace will one day come out of storage and travel the world
inspiring the children. That is what Eve Mackintosh planned all those
years ago.
Notes Along the Way
October
2015
Creativity
and Fitness Can Improve Your Brain
Over the years, I have taught art to students at every age
level from pre-school to older adults. I love witnessing their creativity and
excitement over their accomplishments. I especially like seeing the joy that
art brings into their lives.
For older people, creativity provides a goal, a reason to get up in the morning
and go out to an art class or head to an easel or art wall inside their own
homes. The creative activity can take the form of painting, sculpture, pottery,
jewelry and more. Crocheting and knitting are art-crafting endeavors enjoyed by
people of all ages, especially older ones. Some studies show that crafting
provides a large benefit but not quite as much as painting.
My mother loved to crochet. She would sit for hours crocheting colorful pieces
that she later put together in afghans to give as gifts. Although she did not
grow up in a time when physical fitness was stressed as it now is, she kept her
brain healthy with the bright strands of yarn dancing on her needle.
A recent article by Leslie Mann, Tribune Newspapers, describes studies that
show the value of doing artwork for people in "their middle and old
ages". One Mayo Clinic study found that those who created art during those
later years were "73 percent less likely to develop MCI (Mild Cognitive
Impairment)". (MCI is a problem that can lead to dementia.)
Because people are living longer, the 85-plus age is a fast-growing population
segment. It's a group of people who can be inspired because of creative
potential or they can be led into depression by those who do not understand
their needs for purpose in life.
Like Georgia
workshop, GAMi in March
If
people are encouraged to take more art classes and more art workshops, I
believe they will be happier. They will have less reason for depression. They
will need fewer drugs.
Notes Along the Way
August 2015
Ward Center for
Contemporary Art
Open House, Friday
August 14, 6 to 9 p.m.
"Passenger to
Paradise" exhibition by Mary Montague Sikes


Two large
seascapes in this show were created from photographs taken by the artist as a
hurricane approached a beach in the Bahamas. Other works developed from
pictures captured in Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad, Barbados, and Hawaii.
"Dunn's River Falls" features the water cascading over falls rocks
during visits to Jamaica. An earlier painting created of the falls became part
of a collection of art purchased by the Marriott Hotel in downtown Richmond
when it first opened. Waterfalls in Kauai are the subject of a smaller painting
in the show.

Workshops:
Please check
with me at monti7olen@verizon.net for information about upcoming workshops I'm teaching in September. I have a
three-day workshop, "Painting Like Georgia", at the Art Academy of
Hilton Head Island SC. I also have a three-day workshop, "Painting with
Texture and Design", in Hilton Head.
Farrah's Art Show at Arts Alive in West Point
Farrah Ferand, the
heroine of my new novel, Evening of the Dragonfly, has come
alive in an unusual way. The book character has a series of original paintings
in an invitational art exhibition at Arts Alive, opening on September 15.
Among the works is a
painting called "Moonshine" relating to tales her mother and her
grandfather told Farrah about relatives making and selling moonshine in the
back woods of western Virginia. Several paintings in the show evolved from
Farrah's dreams that are featured in the novel. "Farrah's Dream" is a
painting about one of those dreams.
When Farrah sees a
dragonfly or groups of them, she feels optimism. Although the pretty flying
insects seem connected to the death of her grandfather and then the death of
her mother, she believes sighting the dragonflies is like seeing the spirits of
her departed loved ones. These symbols are depicted in the painting,
"Optimism".
The opening reception
will be Saturday, Sept. 19, 6 to 7 p.m. at the W.T. Robinson/Sture G. Olsson Civic Auditorium and Fine Arts Center in West Point.
