Spring Went Where?

Yes where did spring go? All that I can remember is dressing in multiple layers of clothes for the Farmers Market up until a couple of Saturday's ago. I vowed that I was going to wash my long john's for the very last time until winter arrived again later this year. So with most days now pushing into the upper 80's where did spring go? Did it even happen?

Thank goodness for the outside studio where there seems to be an impression of normalcy happening. WoodArt is being created on a daily basis pieces continue to find their way into many happy homes across the nation. Many mothers received happy jewelry, bowls, bud vases and cooking utensils all uniquely and patiently hand crafted by only artist Steve. How lucky they all must feel. Now with Fathers Day around the corner I am sure the same will be for so many lucky dads. Bowls, flat platters, free form containers and the likes there of will put a smile on many a dad's face soon.

And so with summer actually starting in a few weeks I wanted to share our current schedule with you as it has expanded.

          Harrisonburg Farmers Market every Tuesday and Saturday, 7am - 1pm

          Daylily Festival July 20-21 2013 Fishersville, VA

          Gallery Shop at the Smith Center 20 S. New St. Staunton, VA

          Lost River Artisan Cooperative Route 259 Lost River, WV

To keep up to date with our what's, whys and where's this summer follow us on our facebook page.  

Until we meet again... choose the right branch.

New Growth

Spring brings with it new growth. After the cold seemingly long winter the breath of fresh air is great to breathe in. Everything that seemed to look old is new again. Trees start to flower with their beautiful blossoms of pink and white. Earth in the garden area is ready to be tilled and plants to be planted. Yes it is all starting again.

As for the studio the pace is just picked up a bit. Steve no longer needs to wait for the stove to warm the place up in order to turn a bowl or carve a spoon. And so all the designs that spin in his head the night before can now be brought to fruition one at a time. Yes one at a time because it is only Steve who does all the work. There are no secret wood elves that stop into help him out.

As for me, my WoodArt Studio life picks up the pace also. With springtime comes an additional farmers market day in Harrisonburg. While we have dropped one of the galleries that we were in we added another in Staunton, where we had wanted to be for some time. The Smith Center Gallery Shop will now be offering an assortment of our unique incredible cooking utensils.  

 

We are also adding a show or two here or there. You will find us at the Daylily Food & Wine Festival in Fishersville, VA; July 20-2, 2013. More information will follow which we will post on our facebook page. If you don't follow us there now would be a great time to do that. Much more is posted there on a regular basis. You know how we all love to be on facebook.

And so that is how we are growing a bit this windy spring.

Until next time… pick up the right branch



Away no, Busy yes!

I bet that some of you out there may have thought that we fell into the deep Shenandoah Valley, but I am here to report that we didn't. As so many of you already know and those of you who have guessed it is me, Debbie, wife who writes these blogs. I had read so much about blogs before I started this one and the one thing that I clearly noted and had promised to do to you and to myself was to be consistent with posting. So I owe you all the big apology for breaking the promise.

Life has been oh so busy and sad to say that writing, which does not come as second nature to me, has taken the rear seat in my life; although I have to say that I was a tiny bit good and did keep up with the Studio Gallery part of this blog. We have added new pictures and have posted to our facebook page and have kept up with what items have gone to happy homes. This segues into the question… Why do you keep sold items up in the gallery? Well to us it is kind of simple. Even though a piece cannot be exactly duplicated due to wood being unique unto itself, sometimes and I repeat, sometimes the design can be simulated. So this way if you found the piece that you liked on our site or in one of our selling venues and hesitated in the purchase of it, soon to find that someone else also liked it and did purchase it you can contact us and talk about what we can do to satisfy your need for wood. Sometimes he can and sometimes he can't and the moral to that tale is don't hesitate. Purchasing an original piece is what makes it all the more special for you.

Now back to the life in and out of the studio. Steve has been busy creating various pieces big and small. I have just finished doing a count and see that we have 69 pieces Sold in the Studio Gallery and 73 pieces waiting to get to your home. Well I didn't like that balance so I just finished adding eleven new pieces for your eyes. Even had a bit of fun making them a bit larger on the viewing field. At the end of September Steve was invited to host the James Madison University Lifelong Learning Institute group for a mini demonstration on woodturning. September also found Steve at the 2012 Virginia Woodturners Symposium which again was a wonderful experience. So much wood and so little time. October has us involved with "The Wonders of Wood" exhibit at C'VilleArts in Charlottesville and Steve will be in the gallery on October 14th. So stop by if you are in the area and say hello.

Eucalyptus

As for me I also have been busy. We are still at two markets a week which keeps us on our toes at all times. In fact Steve has also started to do some of the markets when I am over at OASIS Art Gallery being the docent of the day. I have also taken huge leaps with my GenealogicalAppointments. Not that I have blogged much there either but I have started to teach again. I have just finished up three classes with beginners starting at age 11 and heading on up from there. They were an amazing cluster of students eager to learn what all of those leaves mean and how to organize them on their tree. I am preparing class schedules for late winter, early spring at the moment so watch for that information in addition to all of the wood stuff that happens in and around The WoodArt Studio.

And so I will try my best to be more consistent with this blog, especially as we head into the active holiday season. Remember that we are always at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Saturdays, barring horrible rainy snowy weather. We are trying to add a few more mini shows in between also. The Market will also have its first ever unofficial-official Thanksgiving Saturday Market on November 24th from 9am to Noon. Posting on that event will be on facebook.

Create an awesome day for yourself and until next we meet…. Take the right branch.

Never too Late

For those who love and long to be loved it is never late. In fact it is never too late for anything in life. New hobby, more education, friendship, love, life. Hope for it all. With the pretty nice and yet unusual weather we have been having it gives us hope to spring forward with so many new / old activities.

The studio has been giving birth to some awesome pieces of late. If you have been following us on facebook or on our Etsy site you will have seen some of what has taken place of recent. We have a total of 45 pieces listed in our Etsy store and that will still be growing. I would never have believed that we would have pieces being offered America wide. (No we are not yet worldwide). Just about everything that gets on our Etsy shelves ends up on facebook also but we do realize that not all of you get to travel to all these places. After all I will admit who has all that much time on their hands.

Some of the new studio pieces are of past inspired shapes while others are new to the table. Hope that you like them all or maybe you might favor one over another for some reason. We want to hear back from you so drop us an email or comment please.

Since I am literally a day ahead of my blog schedule I am going to work on the Studio Gallery so don't forget to stop over there and visit. No it's not too late for a Valentine's Day (Feb 14th) or a Friend's Day (Feb 11th) gift. See us at the market on Saturday, at OASIS Art Gallery, C'Ville Arts, Etsy or just plain email us. I know that we have the right wood lover gift for you.

Until next we meet...     

Take the Time

Where did the week go? Looking back at last weeks post date it has reminded me that we are already into July and summer. Where does the time go, especially as we get older? I know we all have so much to do in our daily lives and there are still times that I think God has just not given us enough time in each day, but then my senses kick in and realize that He has given us just the right amount of time and that it is up to each one of us to use it properly. In balance as some may say.

So this week we played on the 4^th and on the 5^th we celebrated both Steve’s birthday and my daughter, Elizabeth’s birthday. Yes who would have thought two very important people born on the same day? Wednesday brought us to OASIS Art & Craft gallery for our monthly service time there. While walking around the space and relishing in all of the awesome work of several talented area artists I felt blessed that I could be there and yet saddened by the thought that there are several of you who for various reasons can not make it to the gallery. While I would love to share with you each and every artist’s link, time will not allow me to do that at this point. But I thought to myself how I could share with you a medium size shot of the art that Steve has there. 

And so the ah-ha moment arose and late last night I put the picture pieces together. Using the ever popular social networking venue of facebook I was able to create an album: The WoodArt Studio at OASIS Art & Craft Gallery, which I believe if you click on this link should bring you directly to the album whether or not you are a member of facebook. All pieces, as of today, are still available for purchase. Email us for more pics, pricing and shipping. Remember the 2011 wedding on your list with an incomparable gift from The WoodArt Studio.

So my desire for you today is to take a few moments from your busy life, enjoy your mini trip to the gallery and the medium size section known as The WoodArt Studio courtesy of cyberspace.