This is a group project done by all the member’s of the fall drawing and painting class taught by painter Robert Johnson and botanist Ken Moore. Titled A Closer Look at Nature, class combined drawing, water color painting, geographical exploration, botany, and plant identification.
The Studio Tour event, sponsored by the Toe River Arts Council (TRAC), is held twice a year: on the second weekend in June and the first weekend in December. This weekend’s self-guided free tours offer the visitor an opportunity to search out the professional artists and craftspeople working in the coves and hollows of the two rural mountain counties. Many stops on the map will showcase more than one artist.
Art lovers create their own tours, travel at their own pace, and stop for lunch on their own schedule, with help from the TRAC Studio Guide, and arrowed Tour signs.
Over 100 artisans and galleries open their doors and invite the public. It is a rare opportunity to visit the actual workplaces. From world-class to emerging… glass blowers, potters of every description, wood turners, basket makers, printers, painters, fiber artists, photographers, sculptors, jewelers, metal workers, and more. No wonder it is known as the premier open studio tour in the country.
The Spruce Pine TRAC Gallery at 269 Oak Avenue will host a reception to “meet the artists” on Friday, November 30 from 5 to 7 pm.
Tour map guides can be picked up ahead of time or during the Tour at either TRAC galleries, the Yancey or Mitchell Chambers of Commerce, participating studios, galleries and other local businesses in Mitchell and Yancey counties, and many other regional locations.
“Be aware of beauty.” “A phrase I have been hearing at home for as long as I can remember.
“I wish to carry, through my art in jewelry, the message further; and what could be more prominent and enhance beauty more than a jewel? I strive to design and create pieces of jewelry that will present beauty that is beyond trend, that others will be able to relate to and to weave it into the ongoing process of their lives.
“I am a tactile artist, drawn to earthy substances. The texture and pliability of porcelain and cement and the way they are incorporated into rigid metal structures, is what I find most exciting. When these elements come into contact with the live skin, the different way that the body’s temperature suffuses them is what enables a full expression of their beauty.”
“Finding ways to express my creativity, to keep innovating, while avoiding trivializing jewelry design, my goal is to make others be aware of beauty.” – Ruth Reifen
In this class we will explore wax carving and sculpting to produce original compositions for casting and electroforming. These processes can be used for one-of-a-kind designs and for reproduction. A variety of materials (primarily casting rubbers) will be used for mold-making, to create multiples from our individually crafted work. Once we have cast them in metal, we will practice silversmithing techniques to complete finished jewelry pieces. Then more prototypes!