Georgia Mountain Laurel

Georgia Mountain Laurel • March 2010

January issue February issue March issue

Get your tickets to Bloomin' A Musical Celebration of Youth and Renewal to benefit Richard's Kids & Kid's Place by calling 706.982.9197 or visit the Rabun County Chamber of Commerce or the Macon County Chamber of Commerce. Seating is limited! Click here to visit www.BloominShow.com

Click here to download our 2010 Media Kit "Advertising is completely unnecessary... unless you hope to make money" Jef Richards

MARCH COVER ARTIST - Judith Hendrix

When Rabun County artist Judith Hendrix took watercolor lessons, she was taught to paint in the background first. She does it the other way around and doesn’t consider her technique backwards at all; instead, she believes it gives life to the painting.
It’s not the first time in her life that Judith has “broken the rules” for a good reason. When deafness traditionallydictated that she should lead a life out of the mainstream, Judith said “NO!” Trained to read lips, how to put others at ease and how to function in a hearing world allowed her to advance in a corporate environment where many didn’t even realize she was hearing-impaired.
Nowhere was that advantage ever more precious, however, than on her deck on the north face of Screamer Mountain when, thanks to medical technology and an implant that actually allowed her to hear, Judith heard the birds singing.
That was double validation, because Judith has spent a lifetime painting endangered species of animals and birds, not many of which are native to Georgia. And she painted those various wild inhabitants by her rules.

The animal was the main character in the painting. Just as she paints this main character first, Judith begins with the eyes and works outward from there. Until she was willing to give up the rules, she found her work somewhat stifled. “Once I said, ‘to heck with the rules, the inspirations started to flow.’”

But the artist whose frogs and other assorted creatures of nature hasn’t always lived on the mountain with the beautiful view. Nothing could have been more unlike Rabun County than the Middle East where she lived first as a child, and later as a wife and mother. Her father was in the oil business, so Judith grew up among the sand and the traditions of another culture. She speaks Arabic and Farsi, skills that came in handy in her adult life when her executive husband was posted in that region as well.

Featured Articles

Bloomin' Takes The Place of Because It's Christmas March 27th, 2010

When the curtain parts and the stage of the Rearden Theater at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School comes alive with the sights and sounds of spring on Saturday, March 27th, those in the audience will be in for a treat. While not a Christmas show like the previously scheduled “Because It’s Christmas” sponsored by the Georgia Mountain Laurel magazine and the Blue Ridge Symphony Orchestra, the new show promises to be even more entertaining and enjoyable.

Home Improvements

Home Improvement - It's Whatever You Make It This Spring

There’s just something about that pesky itch that always accompanies a case of spring fever that causes homeowners to want to clean up, spruce up, even renovate or remodel. In case you haven’t checked the calendar lately, spring is upon us. It’s time to begin thinking about what you’re going to do to get rid of the old and bring in some new. In the pages that follow, Georgia Mountain Laurel magazine provides you with some inspiration to help jump-start your project. Big or small, simply cosmetic or structural, pocket-change tab or mortgage size, the scope of the project is less important than the fact that you’re making some changes. Home improvement is subject to your definition of the word. So go for it!
If you’ve been thinking about building new, there’s no better time than now, when building costs are down, interest rates are, well… very interesting and contractors have time to deal with your project.
Or perhaps you’re less ambitious but equally determined to give your existing home a fresh new look, here are some things to consider as you make plans.

Integrated Landscape Design Yields Cohesive Lifestyle

Landscape Trends 2010

Trends in landscape design have evolved as much as home design has over the past few years. The most recent changes we’ve seen are movements toward spaces that connect to each other and utilize natural materials. Important elements to customers today are hard surfaced areas such as patios, steps and pathways, water elements, garden architecture, a wide mix of color and texture in plant material and most importantly functionality of the space. Customers are no longer satisfied with just looking at their outdoor spaces, now they want to participate in them. And they want the ability to move between those spaces easily.
Architectural entrances help to welcome the visitor to the outdoor space both visually and psychologically. Arbors appear to be experiencing a resurgence in popularity, as are gates and trellises. They can be constructed of a wide range of materials, although many that we incorporate are built of Mountain Laurel, Poplar saplings or vines, all by client request.
Patios and pathway systems are important to successful design in leading the visitor through the landscape and helping with division of space. We often position patio areas at an intersection of pathways as a stopping off point to relax or as a destination. There has been an increase in the requests for in-ground fire pits as well as free-standing braziers as a part of patio areas.

Sandblasting for your Metal Projects

Sandblasting Makes Cents!

As you contemplate the changes and improvements you want to make to your home this spring, don’t forget the role a process called sandblasting can play in saving you money and giving you a unique accessory for your home or garden. Sandblasting is a general term used to describe the act of propelling very fine bits of material at high-velocity to clean or etch a surface. The primary use is to clean a surface of anything that may be clinging to it prior to painting or finishing, especially when normal sanding processes either are too time and labor intensive or cannot reach into every crevice and crease
David Connell owner of Furniture Barn outside Franklin, NC, notes that the uses for this process are numerous. Anything made of steel is prime material for sandblasting, be it patio furniture, antique iron beds or even a 1957 Chevy for example. Soft metals aren’t suitable candidates. And while the name “sandblasting” derives from the sand used when this process was developed in the late 1800s, corn husks, dry ice, glass beads even walnut shells can be used as the abrasive. The material being cleaned helps dictate which media is employed.

In the Garden

Hoe Gardening

I got a bee in my bonnet…so to speak. I decided that I wanted to garden. Yes, me. My husband, Tony, laughed — college son Joel laughed and even Luke, my 9-year old red-headed son laughed. However, it’s not the plowed-up, row-stomping and lined with beans and corn kind of garden; it’s more of a country with a city flair raised-bed kind. It all started with a magazine I saw at Walmart. It had pictures of raised bed gardens surrounded by beautiful swaying wild flowers that were breathtaking! I wanted one…now.
So, I talked to my Dad. Yup, it was Dad—not Tony. Tony wanted to make it for me, but he’s just not the carpenter/gardener type. He writes checks. Dad loves to garden so he bought the wood and he and Joel nailed together a 10-foot by 4-foot raised-bed. It was exciting.
Then they had to position it. Joel and Tony carried it to the special place in the back yard off to the side. This was the only place that gets sun – other than the front yard. Dad suggested that. Of course, I acted appalled, but truth is, I could have because there are no covenants…but I drew the line at beans growing up my mailbox.
So, the side-yard was where it was placed and it is there that we quickly discovered the yard was not level. So, Joel took a pick-axe… (Yikes!), and as manly as he could, he dug out enough dirt for the wood box to sit level.
Oops…as he picked he pulled something out. Yes, it was the phone lines. But bless Bess, he did not pull hard. Good job…Joel! Phone lines were saved. The box was pushed over a few inches and Joel completed the digging. Dad watched, instructed and approved.
Dad then wondered out-loud about the dirt.