News
ENLARGE
Anna Oates' Alta Sierra home is filled with embroidered pictures, paintings, crafts and woodwork.
A roadrunner made out of zippers and colored sand, paintings of mountains, deserts and oil wells, fluffy rugs with brown and blue squares, pendants made out of shiny buttons, lampshades standing on the heads of ceramic peasants, a fully-stocked wooden bar made from the boxcar freezer of a train and large embroidered cats are among Oates' creations.
One work has earned Oates a Best of Division award at the recent Nevada County Fair and a special reputation: Thirty years after starting on a large basket of embroidered wool flowers, Oates resumed the project, finishing the vibrant crewel-work bouquet in 2009.
The artwork — along with two ribbons — hangs on her living room wall.
Oates, 81, has lived in Alta Sierra for 32 years. She began working on her award-winning embroidery after ordering the pattern from Family Circle Magazine.
“I would work on it for a couple weeks or even months, then I'd get sick of it,” Oates said. “I kept thinking, I won't live long enough to finish this.”
But she did, in June 2009. She did not consider entering her art into the fair competition until she showed her doctor. He encouraged her, and she entered it on a whim.
During the fair, which ended Sunday, Oates attended a conference with Toastmasters International, an organization that advocates communication and leadership.
She returned to Grass Valley and picked up her embroidery on Monday — surprised to see a first-place blue ribbon and a purple Best of Division ribbon in the Embroidery Advanced—Non-computerized class.
“I was so excited,” Oates said. “It was hard to concentrate driving home.”
Oates is not working on any new art, but is planning to write a memoir about the travels she and her husband, Charles, have enjoyed. She may look for art or woodwork to enter into next year's fair, but none would beat the feeling of learning how this year's judges received her embroidered basket flowers.
“It's a feeling of accomplishment,” Oates said. “But being rewarded for my accomplishment, that's the fun part.”
Gabrielle Irvin is an intern from the University of Nevada. To contact her, e-mail girvin@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4811.
A roadrunner made out of zippers and colored sand, paintings of mountains, deserts and oil wells, fluffy rugs with brown and blue squares, pendants made out of shiny buttons, lampshades standing on the heads of ceramic peasants, a fully-stocked wooden bar made from the boxcar freezer of a train and large embroidered cats are among Oates' creations.
One work has earned Oates a Best of Division award at the recent Nevada County Fair and a special reputation: Thirty years after starting on a large basket of embroidered wool flowers, Oates resumed the project, finishing the vibrant crewel-work bouquet in 2009.
The artwork — along with two ribbons — hangs on her living room wall.
Oates, 81, has lived in Alta Sierra for 32 years. She began working on her award-winning embroidery after ordering the pattern from Family Circle Magazine.
“I would work on it for a couple weeks or even months, then I'd get sick of it,” Oates said. “I kept thinking, I won't live long enough to finish this.”
But she did, in June 2009. She did not consider entering her art into the fair competition until she showed her doctor. He encouraged her, and she entered it on a whim.
During the fair, which ended Sunday, Oates attended a conference with Toastmasters International, an organization that advocates communication and leadership.
She returned to Grass Valley and picked up her embroidery on Monday — surprised to see a first-place blue ribbon and a purple Best of Division ribbon in the Embroidery Advanced—Non-computerized class.
“I was so excited,” Oates said. “It was hard to concentrate driving home.”
Oates is not working on any new art, but is planning to write a memoir about the travels she and her husband, Charles, have enjoyed. She may look for art or woodwork to enter into next year's fair, but none would beat the feeling of learning how this year's judges received her embroidered basket flowers.
“It's a feeling of accomplishment,” Oates said. “But being rewarded for my accomplishment, that's the fun part.”
Gabrielle Irvin is an intern from the University of Nevada. To contact her, e-mail girvin@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4811.
