Sidney Nisbet

THREE RIVERS AREA — Behind an iron gate, the Melbourne home and art studio of Sidney Nisbet reflects her love of nature. Guests are greeted by Bernie, a solid white Great Pyrenees, and his brothers Jasper and Baby Ozzie.

Trying to corral the huge dogs, a man introduced himself as Gordon Jackson, Nisbet’s assistant.

Nisbet, aka The Orchid Lady, may be a small woman in stature, but her energetic zest for life is quite large.

It was windy and cool, but Nisbet insisted on a tour around the grounds. A short hike up the hill, near the horse barn, one can see mountaintops miles away.

During the tour around Nisbet’s art studio, which is now her part-time home, she points out the more than 1,000 trees that she and Jackson planted on her property. She said that after finishing her home/studio in 2003, she took a break from her art and dug holes for about 10 years.

“For a period of time, I thought I was more consistent at digging holes than painting,” she said with a smile. “I had to reinvent myself.”

Nisbet’s aunt Fanny Mennin is well known for the Plum Nelly outdoor art show she held at her home on the backside of Lookout Mountain, Ga., for almost 30 years, beginning in 1947.

Nisbet said she always knew she would be an artist.

Nisbet said she had her first art show at the age of 15, and she found herself having to overcome severe shyness.

Nisbet went on to graduate from the Art Institute of Chicago, then earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis.

Her career began when she went to work for Lenox in St. Louis as a designer. She said she was head designer on several of the company’s china patterns and its Temperware line.

Jackson removed a place setting from a cabinet. It was part of the Woodspice collection that Nisbet designed. Woodspice was produced from 1974 to 1978 and has since been retired.

In her studio/home, as Nisbet tossed a green salad in a large bowl, she seemed very comfortable in the kitchen as she prepared lunch, and rightly so - her mother, Celia Marks, made a name for herself in the kitchen. Marks was a food columnist for the Chattanooga Times newspaper, and she also wrote several cookbooks, including the Southern Living Party Cookbook, which is in its 13th printing.

Although Nisbet doesn’t paint anymore, her love of nature is evident in her artwork. She has found a way to incorporate her love of photography and nature into an art medium that she said has no formal name.

“It’s like a photographic collage,” she said as she thumbed through several prints in her upstairs studio.The treehouse like setting allows the artist views of the treetops from the studio’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

She merges her photographs - of which she has a large collection - in layers to make collage like interpretations of her subjects.

“I’ve always loved photography, and it seemed like a good way to blend it into my artwork,” she said. “What I’m doing looks like my paintings, which is odd, but no matter what you’re doing, you look at everything the same.” She incorporates her orchids into many of her works, too.

For about 30 years, Nisbet raised orchids, and in 1995, Nisbet hired Jackson to help her in the greenhouse with the orchids, which are at her Cherokee Village home.

Jackson referred to himself as becoming “the servant who does all.” “I ended up doing shows and competing,” Nisbet said.

“I was breeding a bunch of orchids and named them for all my relatives.” She said about 35 orchid varieties that she created had never been seen before, so she was able to name them.

“Sidney’s love of nature infuses everything she does,” said Joel May, her cousin and neighbor. “She treats her home in Melbourne as a preserve or sanctuary, planting extensive gardens through which her dogs and cats roam freely. She wants nothing more than to make the property a true botanic garden. … She is really an Arkansas treasure.” To learn more about Nisbet and her orchids, visit her website, arkansasorchidlady.

com.

Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.

up close

getting to know Sidney Nisbet

Birth date: July 21

Occupation: Artist

Hometown: Chattanooga, Tenn.

Biggest influence: Celia Marks, my mother.

She was the most amazing person. She was a

multi-talented, interested and curious person and

never lost her curiosity, and she was almost 99 when

she died.

Bucket list: I want to perfect my art and do a little

more with that. I want to plant 25,000 more bulbs.

Three Rivers, Pages 118 on 01/15/2012

Print Headline: Sidney Nisbet