81st American Crafts & Historic Homes Tour
I turn functional and art forms on a wood lathe using traditional tools. I use primarily domestic wood but occasionally use responsibly harvested exotic woods. The character and flaws/feature of the wood always dictate the final design and form of the finished piece.
I also make charcuterie boards using multiple species of woods. Some of the designs require up to 6 to 7 hours to make a single piece.
Traditional Methods
When building a piece of furniture, it all starts with a conversation and a simple sketch. From here, we source lumber from local hardwood suppliers in the Blue Ridge area. After the wood is sourced, it needs to acclimate in the shop before building begins. Every piece of furniture we build has hand-cut joinery with traditional tools such as saws and chisels. Many of these tools once belonged to my wife’s grandfather and have been passed down through generations, connecting the work done in the shop today with the traditions of craftsmen who came before.
Demonstration
We will have several biology experiments that show how wood expands and contracts from moisture; the goal is to learn about wood movement. For our tool demonstrations, we will teach how to cut mortise and tenon joints with handsaws and chisels. Visitors will also learn about drawboring joinery and see the process demonstrated. Lastly, we showcase how applying an oil finish helps slow moisture exchange and limit wood movement.
Historical Connection
Our shop uses modern tools, but our approach to building furniture is drawn from the traditions of early American craftsmen. We opt for interlocking joinery such as mortise and tenon over screws. While traditional practices provide greater structural integrity, joinery alone isn’t enough; understanding wood movement is what makes furniture last.
To build quality furniture, you not only have to understand the basic biology of wood, but also how wood interacts with its environment. Craftsmen in years past not only understood their materials, but also implemented techniques that allowed for seasonal expansion and contraction in the pieces they built. This is the precise reason why a lot of furniture from the 1800s is still passed down generations later.
I am a textile designer and artist from Zimbabwe with over three decades of design experience, currently residing in Mocksville, NC. I hand paint with many different methods, such as Batik, Shibori, tray dying, salt and watercolor applications. All items start out as a white blank canvas!
– The Batik method is the application of melted wax, which resists dyes, resulting in the motifs and design. The wax is then carefully removed with heat.
– Shibori and Tray Dying is a process of folding, pleating and scrunching during dye applications.
– All of my creations are unique and one of a kind so no two are exactly alike. Any minor imperfections are part of all the handcrafted processes, which indicates the authenticity of this garment.
I am a flower preservation artist working primarily in resin, creating functional and decorative works from real botanicals gathered from weddings, memorials, and other meaningful occasions. My pieces include display blocks, trays, bookends, clocks, tables, jewelry, and other keepsake forms intended to preserve both the natural beauty of the flowers and the personal histories they represent.
Each work is designed and made entirely by hand, with careful attention to the color, form, and character of the original blooms. Flowers are preserved through a combination of traditional drying and pressing methods alongside contemporary botanical preservation techniques, then arranged into finished compositions. Depending on scale and complexity, the full process of preservation, assembly, curing, and finishing can take 6–18 weeks. Larger works may also incorporate handcrafted wooden bases.
My work is informed by the long tradition of botanical preservation and sentimental decorative arts in 18th- and 19th-century America. During the colonial and Victorian periods, flowers were commonly pressed, dried, and kept as memorial objects, personal keepsakes, and elements of domestic decorative craft. Natural resins, varnishes, and pine-derived pitches were also widely used in early American craftsmanship for sealing, finishing, and protecting handmade objects. My work continues within this lineage of material preservation and memory-keeping, translating historic practices of botanical keepsakes into contemporary form.
Just as flowers have long been used to mark affection, remembrance, and significant life events, my work seeks to preserve those fleeting natural moments as lasting objects of memory through contemporary botanical artistry.
I am a self-taught artist inspired by the folk art traditions of rural Pennsylvania, specializing in hand-inked and painted fraktur and decorative furniture based on historic examples. My work reflects years of study and a deep appreciation for Pennsylvania German art, and I have been listed in Early American Life’s Directory of Traditional American Crafts since 2000.
I create reproduction representations of Fraktur drawings inspired by 18th- and early 19th-century Pennsylvania German reference materials. Each piece begins with a careful pencil sketch derived from period sources. I then outline and embellish the design using a traditional metal nib pen and India ink. For authenticity, I work on laid-finish paper that closely resembles early Fraktur examples, which I hand-antique to achieve an aged appearance. The finished drawings are painted with watercolors in keeping with historic techniques and materials.
The frames are an integral part of each work. They are handmade by a local cabinetmaker and purchased unpainted, allowing me to finish them using traditional 18th-century grain-painting techniques. This process involves applying a glaze over a base coat and manipulating it into wood-grain patterns using tools such as feathers, putty, torn paper, and other simple implements. I use two period-appropriate glaze methods: one made with vinegar and dry pigment, and another using oil paint. Some frames are further embellished with stenciling or hand-painting. Each frame requires a minimum of six layers to achieve the desired depth and character. Whenever possible, I use antique or reproduction glass to complete the presentation.