Inside a millennial olive tree at the Pou del Mas open air museum in Spain. Spanish Olives By guest author Avery Bartlett-Golden In amongst a grove of millennial olive trees, my class and I tasted olive oils from the fall’s harvest. This semester one of my classes at UPV (Universitat Politècnica de València) is oliviculture, or the cultivation of olives. One of my favorite parts of the class are the fieldtrips we have gone on from visiting thousand-year-old olive trees, to practicing pruning the trees, and visiting oil mills. Our first trip to the Castellón region, between Valencia and Barcelona, was absolutely amazing, introducing us to some of the oldest olive trees in Spain, and in the world. First we toured a cooperative mill where we saw the machines used in producing olive oil. There olives from local producers are brought in by truck, weighed and washed. Then they are ground, centrifuged to separate the oil and mash, and finally the oil is filtered and bottled. Freshly bottled oil is sold regionally. After visiting the mill, we went to see one of the olive groves that had sent olives to the mill. Among more recently planted trees stood olives that had been cultivated by the early Arabs, as well as some that may have been established by the very last Romans in the area. In front of one of the venerable trees we tasted a sampling of oils from the farm and region. Our professors described the search for balance among the various elements of olive oil: sweet, salty, bitter, and finally the bite at the end after swallowing. As we listened, we savored and mulled over the complexities in the oils. Noting the differences between filtered and unfiltered and between varieties, we learned about the flavor profiles of the regional cultivars. Amongst the elders at Pou del Mas open air museum where many thousand-year-old olives grow. Next, we visited Pou del Mas open air museum, located next to the old Roman road known as Via Augusta, where one of the largest concentration of thousand-year-old olives grow. In one part, there were olives that had been planted around a late Roman house, and another grove marked the site of a Roman racetrack. Standing among these ancient trees was quite humbling, especially as there were no visible traces of the house or track remaining. It was also interesting to learn that while olives trees can survive for a millennium, they don’t produce growth rings that can be counted to estimate age, and often their trunks even become hollow. Thus, the most accurate historical datings have been made by size measurements and by carbon dating trees. Learning about olives on this trip has helped me understand how olives and olive oil have been an essential part of the southern Mediterranean diet for millennium. It has also given me an appreciation for these beautiful enduring trees and their importance in Spanish culture. Avery Bartlett-Golden is a Horticulture Science major at North Carolina State University. He is currently studying abroad in Valencia, Spain. In search of more olives in the Castellón region of Spain.
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@Annette Bartlett-Golden, Little Pinnacle Overlook and The Knob at Pilot Mountain. Oil on canvas, 9 by 12 inches. $180 Pilot Mountain By Annette Bartlett-Golden On a cool, cloudy day that felt nearly like spring, I arrived with a couple of my cousins at Pilot Mountain State Park for an afternoon hike. The stony, knob-shaped form of Pilot Mountain rises from surrounding forests to an elevation of 2, 241 feet (683 meters) above sea level. Located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina about thirty minutes northwest of Winston-Salem, it is an iconic area landmark. Looking out from the upper parking area, we could see the Yadkin Valley spread out below with the Yadkin River meandering through it and the billowing smoke of a distant fire. Park rangers down there were using controlled fire as part of forest maintenance, explained one of the rangers who had come up the mountain to observe the fire from above. With smoke wafting across the bottomlands and an overcast sky, the valley seemed shrouded in mystery. Here I am with Marcela and Ana at the Little Pinnacle Overlook. Behind us is the Knob of Pilot Mountain. We began our hike at the Little Pinnacle Overlook, where we could see more scenic vistas of the valley and an advantageous view of Pilot Mountain’s distinctive knob, called Big Pinnacle. As we stood at the overlook, we watched with surprise as some hikers brought their drone in for a landing. Then they kindly took our photo. From there we set off over sandy paths and an abundance of rock stairs hugging stone cliffs of colorful quartzite. Along the paths and on the mountainsides grew rhododendrons, mountain laurel and pines. Hawks or ravens flew overhead and roosted in scrubby trees atop the cliffs. Passing below, we paused to watch students from nearby colleges climbing the rock faces. Smoke in the Yadkin Valley (left) and a climber scaling Pilot Mountain's colorful rock face (right). My cousins, Ana and Marcela, Ana’s mom, were great hiking companions. We took our time to enjoy and wonder at the natural beauty around us. Also, we took many photos. Sitting for a moment, ensconced among the stone, we picnicked, chatted and admired the views. Partway through our hike, we got confused about which trail to take but a rock climber and some other hikers set us straight and we returned to the parking lot unscathed and in good time. For awhile, I had wanted to visit Pilot Mountain because, in addition to hiking, I wanted to make a series of paintings of this distinctive mountain. The colorful stone with its rugged appearance and the distant views gave me much interesting material for painting. Sometimes it takes a visit from family or friends to propel us to go out and see the interesting places around us! For more information about Pilot Mountain State Park visit:http://www.ncparks.gov/pilot-mountain-state-park. @Annette Bartlett-Golden, Cliffs at Pilot Mountain. Oil on canvas, 9 by 12 inches. $180
Ana in front of some neighborhood woods. Winter Trees
By guest author Ana Delfina Mejia Since I first arrived in Greensboro, I have been fascinated by the trees. I live in Panama City, Panama and we don’t have so many trees there. The ones I see always have leaves, because in Panama we don’t have seasons like in North Carolina. The only difference between summer and winter is that in winter we have rain all day long. What I like so much about the trees here are that they don’t have leaves now. Seeing the sky through their branches is my favorite thing about them. I like the different shapes of the branches; it makes them more interesting. Also, I enjoy that I’m able to see the entire form of the tree. For me, it’s as if I am looking at a painting. Guest author Ana Delfina Mejia is a high school student in Panama City, Panama. She spent her summer break in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ana experimenting with oil paint colors. Teaching Ana to Paint By Annette Bartlett-Golden I was about seventeen when I took my first oil painting class and I fell in love with painting in oils. So teaching teenagers to oil paint is especially dear to my heart. For a month I have had the pleasure of teaching Ana, my fourteen-year-old cousin from Panama, the basics of painting with oils. I started with an introduction to the care and use of materials. Then Ana experimented using ultramarine blue and paint thinner to make a variety of brushstrokes. She discovered that a little paint here creates a pale line, there a lot more paint on the brush makes a dark solid stroke. First experiments with ultramarine blue oil paint by Ana. To introduce Ana to tonal values (a range of darks and lights), I had her make a monochromatic painting. I set up a cube under lights and Ana made a painting of it using only black and white paint and three shades in between, which she learned to mix. Ana gained an understanding of the importance of values and how they can define form and the appearance of space. Of course a great part of the joy of oil painting is the range of possible colors. For the next exercise, I played music for Ana and asked her to paint her emotional response to the music by using her choice of paint colors. Before starting the exercise, she added her own twist by placing strips of blue painters’ tape on the canvas. After she had finished, Ana removed the tape with excitement, revealing a new composition. This process let her experiment freely with colors from the paint tubes and notice how they mixed on her canvas. On the left is Ana's music painting with the blue tape and the finished result is on the right. I set up a simple still life with an orange sitting on a blue cloth lit by a small spotlight. I had Ana begin by drawing the composition using burnt umber mixed with a paint thinner and then painting in the dark and lighter areas. This is called the underpainting. Over that Ana painted the blues of the cloth and the colors of the orange. Although the painting is unfinished, Ana achieved the purpose of the exercise which was to paint a scene from life with a good composition using tonal values and a few basic colors. I think it came out well. Ana's unfinished still life of an orange and a blue cloth. You can see parts of the underpainting peeking out at the edges. After that it was Ana’s turn to choose the subject for the next painting. She decided on trees so we put on our jackets and walked up the street to take reference photos for her tree painting. Back in the studio we made drawing and painting sketches from one of the reference photos. Experimenting and refining the composition for a painting is one of the purposes of preliminary sketches. Through this process, Ana realized that the scene she had selected was too complicated for her. I selected a simpler version for her that featured just a few tree branches rather than the canopies of several trees. Over two more classes Ana worked on her tree painting. I reminded her to observe the areas of dark and light carefully and to step back from the painting often to gain perspective. Ana working on her tree painting over several classes. Ana's finished tree painting! We still have a couple more weeks for painting classes. I’m excited about our next projects and to see what else Ana can accomplish!
Searching for cork in the Parque Natural de La Sierra de Espadán. On Cork By guest author Avery Bartlett-Golden Often when thinking of oak trees, an image of tall stately trees comes to mind. However, the oak genus has a strong connection to wine - from the barrels used to age wine in to the corks sealing the bottles. Quercus suber is the tree from which cork is harvested. The cork tree, Quercus suber, is an interesting plant, intermediate in size with deeply fissured bark and evergreen leaves. At home in the Dehesa of Spain and Portugal as well as the Mediterranean Rim, it has evolved a unique strategy to resist the regions’ forest fires. Commercially used as an insulator, cork bark also functions as insulation for the tree, insulating the trunk and branches from the heat of forest fires and allowing swift recovery. While very rare, the bark can grow to 20 cm thick if the tree is left to grow naturally. Limited in range primarily by the presence of suitable acidic soils, Q. suber requires around twenty years before the first harvest of bark, and depending on the region, nine to fifteen years to reach a suitable thickness necessary to produce wine bottle stoppers. Last semester I took a class called Protection of Forest Health: Wood and Cork. As part of the class, we took a field trip to the Parque Natural de La Sierra de Espadán to learn about cork. Near the park we visited the Sierra Espadan Corks company and watched the cork manufacturing process first hand. View of the Parque Natural de La Sierra de Espadán. The first peel of bark from the cork tree is usually too rough for making stoppers and is commonly used as a decorative substrate for orchids and other epiphytes in cultivation. Planks of bark to be used for stoppers are usually dried from six months to a year before being boiled in water to clean and improve the workability of the cork. Once dried, the planks are cut in strips the length of a stopper and manually or mechanically punched. The blanks then get sorted optically by machines and by hand into differing grades and defective stoppers are removed. The blanks are then labeled with ink for red wines and branded for white wines where ink could potentially bleed. Finally, the blank is usually waxed with paraffin or silicone, although some manufactures use naturally derived paraffin of beeswax. After sorting, washing, trimming, stamping, and waxing, the corks are finished. The Sierra Espadán Corks company is one of the very few to use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified cork which ensures that the product comes from sustainable forests. The company also uses cork from the natural reserve, one of the only parts of Valencia where cork grows. The conditions here require fifteen years between peels but the end result is a special cork sought after for some of the finest vintages of Spanish wins. After seeing the factory, we hiked through part of the Sierra Espadán reserve and observed cork trees in different stages of growth. We also noted fungi and diseases in Q. suber and intermixed pines. This was a grand experience in very gorgeous country. Guest author Avery Bartlett-Golden is a Horticulture Science major at North Carolina State University. He is currently studying abroad in Valencia, Spain. Students walking through parts of the Parque Natural de La Sierra de Espadán near Valeancia, Spain.
©Annette Bartlett-Golden, Boquete House. Oil on Board, 24 x 18 inches. My mom's house in Boquete, Panama. Return to Panama By Annette Bartlett-Golden Last week I met my sister, Angelique, in Panama. We were there to sell my mom’s house in the small mountain town of Boquete where my parents retired a dozen years ago. Blue-green mountains of volcanic origins, now worn and rounded, ring the small valley where Boquete is situated with the Caldera River rushing through it. On the main street, a little way up from the town, my mom’s picturesque two-story yellow house sits with a view of almost daily rainbows and the mountains. There I am standing in front of my mom's house and a view of the rainbow and mountains seen from the side of the house. Since I first visited my parents there, Boquete, and the surrounding areas, have been a source of inspiration for me. My dozen or so paintings of mountains, rivers, and my parents’ house evolved into the Panama Series. These paintings are both records of that region and my visits there, becoming more dear to me with the passage of time for the memories they hold. That is especially the case now, as we begin the process of selling my mom’s house. Although my parents no longer live in the town of Boquete, I still have a deep connection to Panama. It’s my mother’s birthplace and home to most of my aunts, uncles and cousins. So for me, Panama has always meant family. Angelique and I were very happy to see many relatives during our short visit. And this time, I returned home to North Carolina with my young cousin, Ana, who is here visiting for a few weeks! You’ll hear more about that next time. Me with my sister, Angelique, in the back garden of my mom's house, in Boquete, Panama.
Some of my many houseplants in their usual spot. It’s a Jungle in Here! By Annette Bartlett-Golden If you came to the Holiday Open House Art Show or saw the photos you would little have suspected that I have at least fifty potted houseplants. Fifty-two to be exact. That’s because for a couple weeks half of them were congregated in the spare room where they were intermittently kept company by the cat during her long afternoon naps. One day in the spare room endeavoring to squeeze past the sharp thorns of the lemon tree to water plants on the far side, I marveled with some annoyance at how I had ended up with the care of so many plants. There was a time I didn’t have a single plant - although I was quite young then. A portion of my houseplants sojourning in a spare room and the African violet. The collection of houseplants tends to fall into four categories: purchases, propagation, gifts and offspring. I bought the African violet because it was beautiful and the Anthurium because I wanted to make a painting of it. My son couldn’t resist buying bromeliads, begonias and many others at his university’s plant sales. Even my husband bought an agave. Some plants, such as the three young pineapples, were intentionally propagated from the leafy tops of pineapple fruit bought at the grocery store. My son nurtured these with the hope of one day harvesting his own fresh pineapples. Right: The cockatiel Meg perched on the staghorn fern. Left: ©Annette Bartlett-Golden, detail of Happy Anthurium. Watercolor, 5 x 7 inches. $100 A good number of the plants came as gifts. The Christmas cactus, shamrock, aloe and philodendrons were given to me by friends over a decade ago. An elderly woman gave my son orchids and neighbors gifted him with jasmine, a floppy cactus specimen, a Sago palm, the lemon tree, a staghorn fern and many other interesting flora.
As if that wasn’t enough, a whole lot of these plants multiplied. The aloe constantly has children, the philodendrons reproduce from just a leaf put in a cup of water and the bromeliads, after flowering, grow new shoots that will mature and flower in their turn. Even the magnificent elephant ear outside had a child which I dug up and potted to winter inside. So what is a plant lover to do? This is the gift giving season and a great time to share my bounty of plants! Release poster for the comedy The African Doctor. The African Doctor By Annette Bartlett-Golden When a book or movie stays with me and keeps me thinking long after I read or saw it, I know it’s something worth sharing. The comedy-drama The African Doctor is just such a movie. (The movie’s original title is Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont.) It tells the story of a gifted and conscientious doctor, Seyolo Zantoko, who leaves his native country in Africa with his family for a better life away from deep rooted corruption. Although warmly invited by the mayor of a rural French village to fill the long vacant post of doctor, Seyolo and his family are not welcomed by the villagers. Facing constant adversity of all sorts with determination and humor, Seyolo, his wife and their two young children struggle with the difficult task of finding their unique place in the community and acceptance in their new home. Finally, on Christmas Eve, there is a break through moment and things begin to take a positive turn. I love how this charming story is told. Set in the 1970s, the story is based on the life experiences of Kamini Zantoko, one of the movie’s cowriters, growing up in the only black family in the French country village of Marly-Gomot. There is a lot of humor mixed in with the everyday struggles. Also, the pacing of the movie is similar to the pace of life in a rural village and there is a strong sense of the times. Perhaps because of this – I was also a child in the 1970s - I found it particularly easy to identify with the children and their parents. The ending, which involved the children, was a lot of fun, too. Many of the movies I enjoy the most are foreign films because of their interesting perspectives, and this one is too. What I kept thinking about after watching this very enjoyable film was my own experiences as a newcomer and how difficult it often was – at school, in a job, in a group, in a new town. These sorts of things tend to be part of life but dealing with all of these at once plus negotiating a very different culture, as the Zantoko family did, is a challenge on a different level than anything I have experienced. Eventually the Zantokos became respected members of their community and found home. That made me wonder about ways we could all help make our own communities a better place in the coming year. Perhaps this film will inspire you, too! ©Annette Bartlett-Golden, Snow Pigeon II. Watercolor, 9 x 12 inches. $175 The Snow Pigeon
By Annette Bartlett-Golden This month I applied to a show that would feature a body of my work. That phrase means a group of paintings that have similar characteristics such as medium and subject matter so I chose five watercolors of birds to exhibit, should I be selected to participate in the show. The thing is, I recently sold two of the paintings I planned to enter in the show, Blue Heron and Snow Pigeon, so I needed to paint a couple more bird watercolors. A few days ago I finished the first one,Snow Pigeon II, which shows the bird in a slightly different pose than the one I sold. I’ve already shared the story of how I came to paint the blue heron so today I’ll tell you about the snow pigeon. Last winter there was a heavy snowfall near the end of January. This sort of thing doesn’t happen very often here in the Piedmont region of North Carolina so I decided to hurry out for a walk before the snow melted. I went down the street and through woods to the park to see how the geese were doing with the snow. It was a bright clear sunny day but the pond looked frigid. Having my camera with me, I took a number of photos of the ducks and geese swimming among the shards of ice and congregating at the top of the bank. It was only after I had taken all these photos and was looking through them that I noticed a small white something among the geese and ducks. There, almost imperceptible against the snow, huddled a white pigeon standing on one leg with feathers fluffed. In all the times I had been to the park before, I had never noticed this pigeon! Edging closer, I took more photos of the pigeon. When she began to stroll away at a stately pace I followed at a little distance. Because the pigeon wasn’t particularly scared of me I was able to continue photographing her. I was thrilled to end up with about seventy good photos of the snow pigeon. For a moment I wondered if this was someone’s pet. She was sleek and beautiful and looked quite healthy. However, pet birds usually have leg bands and this pigeon did not. Also, she seemed quite at ease in the park among the ducks and geese. Later, on several more occasions, I was delighted to see the snow pigeon again. Other people told that they often saw her in the park. I’m very happy to have had the pleasure of meeting this nice resident pigeon on a magical snowy day when clearly she was none other than the Snow Pigeon. Our young lemon tree grown from seed. Lovely Lemons By guest author Avery Bartlett-Golden Cultivated for the last millennium, the lemon has fascinated people since its beginning as a hybrid between a citron and a sour orange. Thought to have originated in East Asia or India, the lemon made its way west and may have been a novel plant in Roman gardens. The first written records of cultivation come from Arabic texts in the tenth century. Lemon trees are an important part of traditional Arabic and Mediterranean gardens, where the lemon fruit is valued for its scent, oil, and juice. In Spanish the word azahar or flor de azahar refers to the citrus blossom and is derived from the Arabic word for flower. In Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia and southern Spain in general, the scent of oranges and lemons wafting on the breeze are a cherished part of early spring both in the countryside and cities where citrus are planted as street trees. In North Carolina and most parts of the United States, we sadly can't grow acres of lemons, but we can grow lemons in pots. A couple years ago our plant loving neighbors up the street gave me a small lemon tree, around two feet tall, planted from the seed of a grocery store lemon. This year my tree began flowering at the end of July but lemon trees can flower anytime during the year. Since I first got it, my plant has continued to grow and this year it produced eight lemons! Two are ripe now and the others will be soon. Lemons ripening on the young potted lemon tree at the beginning of the month. The easiest way to propagate lemons is from seed. If you use seeds from a regular store lemon, the chances are that it is a “Eureka” cultivar. Like most oranges, lemons will be true enough to seed (except for the Meyer lemon). Plant lemon seeds in good potting soil and keep the soil moist. It is best to consider lemon trees a patio plant and to be prepared to move them outside once the frost risk has passed.
Outdoors, lemon plants prefer a very sunny site protected from wind and lots of water. During the hot summer, lemons in Spain are perfectly happy in blazing squares and courtyards. Lemons also require lots of nitrogen in the summer. I prefer to use blood meal since it is easy to apply, decently long lasting, and has low risk of burning leaves. In the fall, special care should be taken to bring in the lemon plants before the temperature drops to 45°F since they suffer greatly at temperatures below that. Although fruiting takes time, usually 2-5 years, lemons are still very handsome decorative plants. In time, lemon trees will grow rather large, but they can be kept a manageable size, and still maintain their beauty, with careful pruning. It is also good to know that while young lemon plants from seed, like mine, have a few thin thorns, they gradually diminish with age. Finally, if you happen to get bored with your lemon tree you can always graft other types of citrus onto it for an orangerie in a pot! Guest author Avery Bartlett-Golden is a Horticulture Science major at North Carolina State University. He is currently studying abroad in Valencia, Spain. |
Annette Bartlett-Golden paints a wide range of subjects from landscapes to animals and makes abstract works with paper. Using vibrant colors, she imparts a sense of immediacy, vivacity and optimism to her paintings and paper collages. Archives
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