Voting Opens Today!

Vote Railroad Tracks on minted.™ Amanda Greiner vote for me!

Vote for The Alley on minted.™ Amanda Greiner vote for me!

Vote for Coast To Coast on minted.™ Amanda Greiner vote for me!

Vote for En trance on minted.™ Amanda Greiner vote for me!

Vote for Chair on minted.™ Amanda Greiner vote for me!

I've loved their stationary and wedding invitations... especially the one Craig and I used for our own special day, but then I discovered minted. is selling fine art prints and I kind of freaked out.  I freaked out because I learned they are enabling artists and preserving the integrity of the artist's vision.  They have different competitions for independent artists to enter their unique work in hopes of connecting with other artists and sharing their work with customers, and although monetary prizes are awarded, the community decides how the artwork is rated.  This rating is validation for the artist.

All art and artists should be appreciated, but validation as an artist comes when you know people saw your work and selected it.  Something about your work made the viewer stop and think... appreciate, understand, question... there was a connection... even if only for a second.  Then to have your work purchased by someone... they probably have an even greater connection with the piece!

I'd like to reach more people across the world with my work, so I've entered the Minted x Domino Round 2 Art Challenge.  domino, a fresh interior design magazine, is looking for artwork from independent artists for their print edition.  You've yet to learn that Craig and I are quite passionate about interior design, so the possibility of being part of this is very exciting!

Voting opens today, so please vote for the artwork that would make your jaw drop if you saw it in a restaurant or you wish it was on your own walls... the one that makes your neck stretch to see more on the computer screen, or the one that makes you feel funny cause your heart's happier than a second ago.

I hope it's the work I've submitted!

Visit minted.com, select vote at the top and search by designer for Amanda Greiner, or  vote by clicking the small image at the top of this post.

 

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A Walk Along the Haw River...

 ....and a morning spent inspired by the world around us.

Painting on the shores of the Haw River, or tracking an improbable count of 5 Ospreys fishing the flat water, creating art should not be limited to the confines of our home, our studio, or even our familiar surroundings.

Flowing wildly through the northern half of the Cape Fear River Basin, the Haw River is a far too little celebrated natural wonder. Spilling over six damns, the water flows gently from Forsyth county to Chatham County, North Carolina. Snaking its way through the largest water basin in the state, the river feeds Jordan Lake. Eventually, the Haw converges with the Deep River to form the well known namesake of the basin, the Cape Fear River, which only draws to an end as it spills into the Atlantic ocean. Through that 110 mile cascade, and the 14,000 acre lake it feeds, the Haw River brings many wild wonders to the area. 

A day spent on the river, is often met by the beautiful sights, sounds and smells of local wildlife, small rapids and wild flowers. Capturing the essence of those moments, we set out armed with paint brushes and cameras to enjoy both of our arts in the same surrounding. One artist admiring the landscaping - ripples in the water, eddies in the shadows, and river grass reaching for the sky - while another admires its inhabitants - king fisher, great blue heron, osprey...

The river is home to many splendors. 

 

One being the aerial battle of a long crow and those five hungry Osprey. In the end, the crow prevailed, ruling the sky...

Map provided by: www.regions.noaa.gov
Haw River facts provided by: www.hawriver.org

The Cubs Turn One - A Lion's Birthday at the Zoo

A little over one year ago, on July 30th 2014, Mekita and Riley became proud parents. So...Who are Mekita and Riley you may ask?

Well, Mekita and Riley are the proud parents of four lion cubs who just celebrated their first birthday. In an age of growing concern, and international attention to the fate the biggest of the big cats,  we here in North Carolina have had the gift of watching this majestic family blossom at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC. The proud father - Riley - the mother to be proud of - Makita - and their pride - Savanna and Lololi, the girls, and brothers Khari and Kirabo.

Savanna and Lololi, Khari and Kirabo, were the first new cubs born at the Zoo since 2006 - and though little cubs no more, the excitement is not over! To celebrate their birthday, their keepers decided to through them a party. A party complete with life sized, paper-mache Red River Hog and Zebra. For the first time, the young cubs were able to experience the thrill of the hunt.

View the rest of the photographs from the birthday bash, and see the cubs in actions, at our community events gallery at GreinerStudio.com.

I Want a Rooster.

One of the Hawaiian Islands, referred to as the Garden Island, Kauai, is known for it's natural beauty.  It is also known for it's high population... of Roosters!  While this is not fact, having recently stayed on the island, we're pretty sure the wild rooster population outnumbers the people residing on the island.  They are everywhere!  We saw them in parking lots, parks, beaches, backyards, even on the sides of mountains as we hiked the Na Pali Coast.   There are many stories as to how they got to the island, but it seems most logical that they were brought to the island by the Polynesians as a source of food and then were set free after Hurricane Iniki decimated numerous chicken farms and coops in 1992.  They are large, boldly colorful, brave fowl... very protective of their lady fowl and little ones.  They just don't seem to know that they're supposed to crow when the sun comes up.  They are free though... free to "Cock-A-Doodle-Doo" at all times of the day and night.  Unlike many people, I fell for them... aren't they gorgeous!

  Here's one we caught...on camera, and then rediscovered it's beauty with oil paint on canvas.

 

 

 

 See more paintings at GreinerStudio.com.

How To: Jewelry Holder

Let's create a unique piece of art that's functional too.  Better yet... we're re-purposing something instead of throwing it in a landfill that eventually turns into a sink hole that... wait positivity...

 Isn't it beautiful!?

 

 

You can use any old piece of wood... of whatever size you like... you can paint it or strip the paint off of it... I chose to go with a vintage country feel and repurpose an old door that had cobwebs and paint chipping off of it... so with some wire brush scrubbing and a good wash, the wood in the door brightened up and I started drilling holes where I thought door knobs would look nice.  Just remember to remove the hardware you do not want on the finished product first so that it's out of the way. 

You will need to use a router on the back side of the door where your hole is.  This is so that the nut and bolt, seen next to the fancy doorknob below, can fit inside the wood when screwed on to the doorknob.  The hole on the front after drilling is on the left, and the same hole, from the back, after using a router, is shown on the right. 

A ratchet (small one shown below) matching the size of the bolt will need to be used to tighten the doorknob securely in place.  When you are done, a tool called a dremel (not pictured), can be used to cut each doorknob's screw flush with the wood after the nut and bolt are secured.  Remember, safety precautions should be taken any time you or someone near you is using a power tool, like a drill, dremel, or hacksaw (not pictured), which is what I used in this case.  A hacksaw is not as easy to use as a dremel, but can also do the trick.   

     

 

 



The back of the resulting door with doorknobs, nuts, and bolts attached are shown on the left.  The door will now rest flat on the wall.  In order to hang it, simple, supportive hardware, like the saw tooth hanger above, can be attached with small screws and a screwdriver, also shown above.  Try to center it as much as possible at the top of the wood, however, there is forgiveness with a saw tooth hanger.  Flip it over and check out the jewelry holder you've just created!

See what else is going on at GreinerStudio.com.

"Browns vs. Greens" - The Secret to Composting

Remember that old saying, "you are what you eat"... well, we like to look at it this way:

what you eat can build you up, or it can break you down...

We aren't going to tell you what to eat... your body does that and your brain tells you what it thinks about it; so how does this correlate with the thought above?  Well, think about the last time you ate ice cream and then went for a run... your brain didn't fully think that through and your body let you know it by "breaking down".  So, let's break our food down so that it can build us up. 

We know that we need to consume healthy foods in order to live healthy lives.  Therefore, the healthy foods we consume need to be grown in healthy natural environments. 

Soil is at the root (wow... I surprised myself with that one) of a healthy environment for the majority of our food... even the icecream.  Strawberries, vanilla bean, even chocolate, which originates from cacao, is grown in soil.  The meat we consume, comes from animals grazing on grasses grown in the soil they walk on.  This is why we have decided to start growing our fruits and vegetables in healthy, organic soil, which we are creating through composting.   

Not only does composting help to enrich the health of the soil we use, it helps cut down on landfill waste.  The same natural waste used in composting, put in a landfill, can take significantly longer to break down due to other landfill waste, such as a refridgerator or washing machine that is unfortunately only going to help create a sink hole in the future (maybe that's for another post).   

 healthy soil = healthy lives  

(breakdown what you eat = build up your soil)

 

What to compost to create natural organic soil: 

• fruit scraps                                                                   

• vegetable scraps                                                         

• toilet paper rolls                                                           

• unused toilet paper and tissues                                                    

• unused paper towels without ink
• cut grass and weeds
•  used tea bags                                                                

• used coffee filters

Note: The smaller the food scraps, the thinner the paper products... the faster the break down.

What not to compost to create natural organic soil:  
Non organic matter and organic matter containing bodily fluids (ex. meats, cheeses, used tissues).

 

Select a location and container:

After our amazing honeymoon on the island of Kauai at Hale Mala Pua, LLC, we've brought back the heightened desire to take care of our immediate environment with environmentally friendly household products.  Our host showed us simple changes we can make, like how to prevent and keep away ants naturally and still have pineapple and mango juice all over the counter each day.  She introduced us to the OXO Good Grips POP Big Square 4-Quart Storage Container 

We highly recommend a household container like this one (Thanks Holly!) to keep your food scraps in for the day, the week, maybe the month, depending on how much organic waste matter you produce, because of it's seal.  We don't have ant issues or weird smells.  Compost smells...  and not like fresh soil, until it is fresh soil.  So we also recommend a sealed stationary container like a metal drum and/or a stationary structure that you can easily turn the soil in as it builds up, with a shovel.  There are also, rotating containers, which are intended to make turning the soil easier.   

 

Turning the compost:

Using a sealed metal drum will trap heat inside, stimulating rapid breakdown of the waste, yet it can be difficult to roll and empty.  We like this method because it speeds up the breakdown and can be right next to your garbage and recycling containers.  It then gets rolled on it's way to being dumped and turned with a shovel because not all of it will be broken down.   Make sure you maintain a pile as you turn the compost.  The greater the pile, the higher the temperature, and the faster the breakdown.  If you want to make sure that your pile maintains a constant temperature or a certain temperature, there are thermometers made specifically for composting. 

 

How to balance the soil nutrients: 

You'll first want to check the loaminess of your native soil. 

To test loam with a Mason jar: 

1. Use a clear, clean jar with a tight sealing lid. (A Mason jar is perfect.)
2. Fill the jar half full with soil. (Do this in different jars for different areas of the garden.)  
3. Fill the jar almost to the top with water.  (Leave room for shaking.) 
4. Tighten the lid and shake the jar for several minutes or until all particles are suspended.
5. Set your shaken Mason jar aside for several hours so the particles have a chance to settle.  (Do before work or bed and check later.)

They will separate from top to bottom in this order:

• floating organic matter
• water
• clay 
• silt
• sand
• rock

20% Clay, 40% Silt, 40% Sand = Ideal Loam

 

Note the color of your soil.  The darker the soil, the more nutrient rich it is. 

Soil can be more acidic (low pH) or more alkaline (high pH).  It's important to know what type of pH the plants you want to grow need and what type of pH is native to your area.  The pH comes from the interaction between native rocks, plants, and weather.  It's a measurement of how concentrated the  reactive hydrogen ions (H+) are. This can change based on changes in climate and physical surroundings.  Test your soil before planting to maximize growing potential.   

There are many ways to do this and electronic devices you can use as well as places you can send samples for testing.  

To test soil pH with vinegar and baking soda:

1. Collect 1 cup of soil from separate parts of your garden (each cup is a sample). 
2. Put 2 spoonfuls of one soil sample into a container (Mason jars are perfect). 
3. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the soil.  If it fizzes, you have alkaline soil (pH between 7 and 8).
4. If it doesn’t fizz, add distilled water until all the 2 spoonfuls of soil is muddy. 
5. Add 1/2 cup baking soda. If it fizzes you have acidic soil (pH between 5 and 6).

If your soil has no reaction, it is neutral (pH of 7).  This is great!  You shouldn't have to make any major changes to your native soil! 

• Repeat this for the remaining soil samples. 

 

"Browns vs. Greens" is key! 

We try to make neutral soil so it can be used anywhere with slight changes toward being more alkaline or more acidic in certain areas of the garden.  To do that, it takes a conscious effort on our part to think of what we call "browns vs. greens,"  better known as the Carbon-Nitrogen ratio (C:N).  We want a balance of brown matter, being things like paper products that are dry, and green matter, being food scraps that are moist.  If your composting doesn't appear to be working, you may have too much Carbon.  If your compost absolutely stinks like ours did... you have too much Nitrogen.  It's a balancing act.  Keep adding the right waste matter to your compost and you will be successful!  

You're on your way to producing the soil pH that your garden needs to be a healthy natural environment fostering a healthy life for those consuming your produce.  Isn't this exciting!?       


If interested, buy your own OXO Good Grips POP Big Square 4-Quart Storage Container

See what else is going on at GreinerStudio.com.





Composting Facts Provided by:
http://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/gardening-techniques/soil-ph-zm0z14amzkin.aspx
http://preparednessmama.com/jar-soil-test/
http://preparednessmama.com/testing-your-soil-ph-without-a-kit/
http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/carbonnitrogenratio.html

Look Within

"Art moves through us.  It is colored by our individuality, but we are not precisely its origin.  Or, to put it differently, a piece of art may originate with us, but we originate somewhere larger ourselves.  We are, each of us, more than we seem, more than the sum of our merely human components.  There is a divine spark animating each of us, and that divine spark also animates our art'...'There is a breath of the divine that blows through us as artists and blows through our art as well." 

 - the Artist's Way Every Day by Julia Cameron

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