Anniversary Time Again

Time to celebrate and dance to the music all over again. Where have the two years gone. Four years ago this business was only a dream, a maybe possibility, a distant future goal. Now look at us with 2 candles on our cake.

When New Years Eve comes around almost everyone is reflecting on the past year and setting all sorts of goals for the next. So here we are with over 750 pieces designed, created and hand crafted by Steve and Steve alone. Ok so I, Debbie, wife of The WoodArt Studio artist Steve has added the neck cords to all of the necklaces that were added to our inventory line this year. Nineteen pieces were specially created from the Stonewall Jackson Prayer Tree that fell last May. We have our functional art in over 25 states here in America and several overseas. Two more galleries here in Virginia now carry several of our bowls, ornaments and utensils.

We survived several wind storms and lost one of our staunch supporters, our dear neighbor Jerry B. You could always count on Jerry for a kind word, helping hand and overall friendship. He will be sorely missed around the studio. We attended the first annual Highland County Old Time Fiddlers Convention where we sold not only WoodArt but fiddles along with having the pleasure of hearing some great old time music. There is such talent in the area.

Our future will hopefully hold several more functional art pieces entering into many homes across the world. We are busy searching for yet another Farmers Market to enter into along with possibly a couple more outside fairs. We might like to do some home parties. Are you interested? Contact us and let's talk. Maybe even an open studio one weekend?

So for now join us in celebrating two wonderful years. Thank you for supporting us here for without you there would be no WoodArt Studio.

Anniversary Time in Virginia

Yes you heard us right. One year has come and gone and Steve is still in the studio everyday, well almost everyday dreaming, creating, carving and causing wood to spin on the lathe. The beginning of July he officially opened the dream door to The WoodArt Studio located in Virginia. The end of July, today in fact, Steve was at his first Farmers Market experience in downtown Harrisonburg.

Steve had applied for a booth a couple of weeks prior, as you have to be accepted into the market venue and we got the call the day before the Thursday market asking if we wanted to start that next evening. Well you think that you told us to run through the candy store and grab all that we could. Quick trip to purchase a table, find a table cloth, create a shelf rack, tag the pieces and sleep a bit. Thursday evening would come soon enough. And thus began a wonderful friendship with fellow vendors and awesome shoppers.

A rapid 365 days later we are at the market every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, through the coldest of winter days or the sweltering heat of the summer. Several other pieces are also available through OASIS Art & Craft Gallery or purchased directly from us via this website. Steve’s pieces are no longer Steve’s but are now in the homes of many caring and thoughtful shoppers in over 15 states, Canada and Japan. With out you The WoodArt Studio wouldn’t be celebrating it’s anniversary today and so we thank you very much.

Thus an anniversary should not go by without a celebration. To honor you all for keeping us going we are offering 20% off of our current market inventory from July 28^th through July 30^th. Sorry but this does not include the OASIS Art Gallery pieces. So stop by, say hello tomorrow at the market and let us thank you for your patronage. For those of you who live out of the area, email me and lets see how we can help you solve your desire for a WoodArt Studio creation.

Just a Touch of Turquoise

Ailanthus, aka the Tree of Heaven, especially down here in Virginia is very appropriate for Steve and me as we often think living in Virginia is a slice of heaven. Just so happened that one spring 2010 day we had one of the Ailanthus in the front of the property come crashing down onto the driveway. Lucky we were not out for our morning walk about. Well nothing else to do except locate the chain saw and get sawing. Several nice chunks were salvaged from that tree that became weed pots and bowls of various sizes and shapes.

One of the pieces that he fashioned is what you see here. It is a free form bowl with a naturally formed fissure through the side of the bowl. Part of this fissure was filled with my favorite semi precious stone, turquoise. If you are unaware turquoise has been a stone that you will often find in Native American jewelry and is a stone of peace and tranquility. Some believe that it will increase wisdom, balance, strength, friendship and love. I find many of these qualities in this piece as I am sure that Steve did while giving it birth.

#289 Free Form Ailanthus Bowl w/ Turquoise

Sold

I know that it is hard to envision the beauty in this piece, especially when I only give you a small taste with one photo, so if your appetite is whet and you want to see more it is currently at the OASIS Art and Craft Gallery in Harrisonburg, VA. Is the valley to far to drive? Email me and I will send you more photos. It would make a truly special wedding gift for your bride and groom or if you are celebrating a 5^th anniversary, wood is traditional and turquoise is the gemstone. Until next week…