Green House
Nature-inspired painter and sculptor, Forrest C. Greenslade, PhD lives with his wife Carol-Ann and creates in Fearrington Village, North Carolina. Fearrington is a lovely rural community with many creative residents just South of Chapel Hill. You can stay in a real artist's garret in a real arts community. Contact us at 919-545-9743 or on AIRBNB
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Fine Art Froguery
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
A Celebration of Fearrington's Donkeys
Years ago, Mary Alice came to Fearrington to protect our young Belted Galloway cattle from predators. She had a spunky boy named Jasper in 2007. Later on she had a lovely girl, Charlotte/
MaryAlice and Jasper Acrylic painting |
Fearrington artist Forrest Greenslade celebrated Jasper's arrival with an acrylic painting and of Charlotte with a watercolor.
Mary Alice and Charlotte Watercolor painting |
Polymer clay model |
Jason installing sculpture |
Forrest, Jasper and Mary Alice |
Photo by Jim Fink |
Monday, November 29, 2021
Henry and the Tushrooms
Henry Castner came up with an idea and design for mushrooms that folks could sit on and take a rest while walking on our Creekwood Trail. He and I worked on the construction in our back yard. After a few false starts, we got three done -- Concrete and steel. Henry called them Tushrooms.
Photo by Chris Ridley |
Our hardy crew of trail keepers joined Henry and me in hauling the sculptures down the trail to the spot that Henry had envisioned them living.
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Henry Castner Obit
Henry Castner was born in Louisville, KY to Charles and Ida Walker Castner. He passed on Friday, November 19, at the University of Chapel Hill Health Center at the age of 89. Henry attended Centre College of Kentucky and Vanderbilt University, receiving BA and BMeE degrees in 1955. He worked three years for Westinghouse Electric Company before returning to academics. At the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he received advanced degrees in geography and cartography. In Madison he met and in 1964 married Claire Connors of Danbury, CT.
He spent 25 years at Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada teaching and conducting research on map design and production, map perception, the history of Russian cartography, and most recently, the relationship between vision, mapping, and geographic education. He was a founder, and served a term as President of the Canadian Cartographic Association, and was later President of the North American Cartographic Information Society. He represented Canada on several different Commissions of the International Cartographic Association (ICA). On his retirement from Queen’s in 1989, he became Emeritus Professor of Geography.
In retirement, he
continued his participation in the ICA Commission on Cartography and Children,
and was active in his community of Fearrington Village by making maps of the
Village for the annual Directory, and in helping to develop a
system of walking trails. He presented a course, Travels with
Henry, in which he shared his travel experiences, to two Education in Retirement
groups.
He is survived by
his wife, Claire; a daughter, Catherine (Erin) Thames Castner Lord of Quechee,
VT; and her daughter, Finley Blue Castner Lord; a son, Henry Christopher (Kip)
Castner of Baltimore, MD; a brother, Charles Beaumont Castner of Louisville,
KY; and three nieces and three nephews.
In lieu of flowers,
memorial gifts can be sent to the Chatham Habitat for Humanity, 467 West
Street, Pittsboro, NC 27312; the Cabbage Patch Settlement House, 1413 South
Sixth Street, Louisville, KY 40208; or to Queen’s University, Kingston,
Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6 or https://www.givetoqueens.ca/
A
memorial service will be held at the Fearrington Gathering Place on Tuesday,
January 4, 2022 from 2:00 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Henry Castner, Fearrington Trail Blazer, has passed away
Henry and Claire Castner had lived in their lovely wooded Fearrington neighborhood since 1989. They moved to Carolina Meadows a couple of years ago. Henry died in November 2021
Henry on Creekwood Trail |
Henry’s journey to Fearrington, like many of us, was circuitous. He grew up through high school in Louisville Kentucky. “After the war, my father bought a dairy farm,” he remembers. “The experience of farming teaches people to be real problem solvers – using what is around to fix what needs fixing,” he explains. This skill became a real asset in his later endeavors here in Fearrington.
Henry pursued an education in engineering at Centre College
in Kentucky, Vanderbilt, U of Pittsburg and earning a PhD in Cartography from University
of Wisconsin. He taught cartography in the Geology Department at Queens
University in Kingston Ontario, Canada for 25 years. The Castners came to
Fearrington, where a family member lived, upon his retirement.
Henry’s experience in mapping made him acutely aware of space
and people. “I looked at where our mail kiosks were located and thought about
how people went every day to get their mail,” he explains. He noted that each
kiosk was 15 minutes from where people lived.
“I realized that Fearrington was meant to be a walking community.”
As a component of R. B. Fitch’s planned development, 15 percent of the land area had to be left as undeveloped space. Areas where houses would not be easily built, like along creeks and low lands were allotted to FHA. In 1995, while serving on the FHA Board as Director of Grounds and Facilities, Henry and Board President Lovick Miller explored the FHA property along the Creekwood stream. “It was a beautiful place just right for a nature walking trail,” Henry realized. There was a deer path along the little creek and some people walked their dogs along it. Henry and a few friends slowly began to make it easier to access and enjoy the area.
Over the years, the walking trails have been developed
completely by volunteers in additional areas of our community. The cadre of
volunteers has included over 30 Fearringtonians. They have built 11 bridges, 4
stair ways, a labyrinth, and placed 30 benches around the community. Like his
dairy farmer father, Henry and his crew have solved problems inexpensively
using resources readily around the community. On the North Langdon Trail, an
interesting experiment is being conducted. We have a challenge of the deer
population destroying vegetation throughout the community, including our
trails. The volunteer crew has made a fenced area along the trail to determine
whether native plants might recover without deer grazing. As part of our Arbor
Day celebrations, trees have been planted in our trail areas.
“Fearrington's
trails allow residents to dive into the forest just outside our houses,”
asserts Carol-Ann Greenslade, a previous FHA Grounds and Facilities Director
and leader of the Arbor Day celebration in Fearrington for many years. “They
provide us calm and natural beauty, encourage us to get outside. We love the
creeks and the quiet, and our dogs love smelling the wildlife and vegetation.”
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Artist Studios at Fearrington Village spring Tour
Artist Studios at Fearrington Village Spring Studio Tour
Saturday and Sunday, April 13 & 14, from 10 AM to 5 PM
each day
The high-spirited artists who live and conceive unique
works of fine art at Fearrington Village will open their studios to welcome and
share their creations with art lovers, Saturday and Sunday, April 13th
& 14th, from 10AM to 5 PM each day. Come and enjoy seeing watercolor, oil, and
acrylic paintings; pastels, screen prints, basketry, jewelry, wood art, photography,
mixed media and sculpture at many charming locations, all within a 1 mile
radius. And for collectors, art items
will be available to purchase. Allow
some extra time to visit the unique gardens, shops and restaurants in the charming
Fearrington Village Center, and to simply enjoy the scenic drive through the
woods in between the studios. In
addition, visitors can arrange to meet artists at a pre-tour, preview reception
in the Fearrington Gathering Place on Friday evening April 12th from
7 to 9 PM.
Monday, October 15, 2018
Fearrington Phase 3 Autumn Party
Photos by Chris Ridley and Bob Oram
We enjoyed the wonderful food: