79th American Crafts & Historic Homes Tour
Master wood carver Adam Willie has been practicing the trade since 1990 and specializes in hard-carved wood signs and customized horse (tack) trunks and stable products. Adam works with each client to ensure a unique and distinctive design and uses only the finest materials to create a one-of-a-kind product that will leave a lasting impression.
Good leather products are useful and last for years! The smell, the feel and beauty never gets old.
Leather crafting began when I was 12 years old. Gifts of woven leather braids in belts and bands developed into carvings and monogramming wallets and pocketbooks. Once I developed the talent to carve flowers, animals and landscapes, our variety of leather items became limitless. Jim Linnell, international expert leather craftsmen, praised the quality of my carvings.
Our family owned business progressed into a wide variety of items from custom made cases, knife sheaths, wallets, sleigh bells and moccasins to leather seats for ATV’s, motorcycles and lawnmowers. Our belts, leashes and collars are made with high quality leather for durability.
Every leather item we make has been made with care and special attention to detail.
“A cord of three strands is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12) became the scripture for our business as we strive to honor the Lord who weaves us together, in His love, to become stronger.
Our products are handmade from start to finish using original recipes. The soaps contain no animal fats and are scented with plant essential oils or cosmetic grade fragrances. Each hand cut bar weighs at least 3.5 ounces and is wrapped in cotton fabric with a recycled paper wrapper. Our vegetable oils are non-GMO certified, our fragrances are phthalate free, and our palm oil is RSPO sustainable.
I have a creative background earning a BFA in graphic design, working as a graphic artist and photographer before beginning my work with polymer clay. I love the creativity that this medium allows and the surprise each new piece brings. I love color and whimsical designs and strive to bring that out in my work.
I create my designs using various techniques to combine the different colors of clay into the patterns and designs that you see on my work. Nothing is painted on. Sometimes only the clay is used to design my piece and sometimes it is created over an existing object made of glass or ceramic.
I hope you enjoy my work and that it can add an element of whimsical delight to your life and your home.
The founder of Kirk Ceramics, Roger Kirk, makes functional and decorative ceramics in his studio in Washington, D.C. He also teaches high school and adult ceramics classes in Montgomery County, MD.
Roger has been making ceramics since 2009, when he took his first ceramics class at UCLA. Many failed and successful pots later, he sells his work at markets and through his website.
Roger’s style is inspired by traditional English and Japanese pottery, but with a contemporary twist. He hopes the handmade feel, functionality, and professional finish of his ceramics will help to make people’s homes happier places to live.
A mixture of traditional goldsmith, silversmith and blacksmith techniques are used to create gold & silver jewelry, predominantly through a modified repousse technique I developed in 2002. Other techniques include hand forged gold & sterling silver; 14K, 18K gold & sterling silver sand and lost wax casting, and hand made/hand soldered bracelets & chains in sterling silver & 14K gold. Most of my tools date from the 18th and 19th C. With respect to style, my knowledge base is heavily influenced by historic texts, paintings, etchings, and probate inventories while many of the techniques used have been reverse engineered using methods learned as a historic archaeologist. The modified repousse’ technique I developed arose from this type of work.
Born the oldest of five into a modest family, I learned early on that to have the material things I fancied I would need to make them myself. I soon became adept at seeing a piece of clothing or an accessory and reproducing it using the materials at hand. This ability to thrift and fabricate came in useful in my early career where I not only wrote and acted but designed sets and costumes for the theatre. Later, on a whim, I took a workshop in metalsmithing, and my love of sterling silver was born.
In learning to manipulate hot metal; bending and diminishing, piercing, adding granulation, fusing, and soldering, I soon realized my uncanny talent at reproduction had found an artistic home. I love to see something that piques my interest and then figure out, first, how it is made and second, how to make it my own using mixed metals and unusual components like glass, leather, and metal clay. Often working in a series or with a particular design element, each of my creations is one of a kind. My customers enjoy choosing from the different looks that spring from the same design family. Together in our studio my husband and I produce sterling silver jewelry with pearl, gemstone, 14K gold, and bronze accents.
I am truly inspired by other jewelers, art deco architecture, and kinetic sculpture.
I use acrylic paints in bold primary colors to create abstract images on canvas. I sketch the image and then layer the paints using a brush or palette knife for a textured effect. I enjoy painting spiritual, musical and landscape images. I have been a full-time for over 20 years, after working for the federal government.