HP Pelzel & Sandra Boyd-Pelzel - Raku June 30, 2012

“Raku Vases”

HP Pelzel & Sandy Boyd-Pelzel

Ceramic

$22 each

     The raku pottery process is a very unique ceramic firing process.  Special clay that can withstand thermal shock is used to create a pottery piece.  After the pottery has been bisque fired, it is glazed with special raku glazes and fired to a temperature of around 1800 (F) in a propane fired raku kiln.  After about 30 minutes the pottery is removed from the kiln with specially designed raku tongs while it is still glowing hot and placed in a can with combustible materials such as paper, wood chips, leaves, pine straw etc.  The heat from the pottery ignites the material and after a minute or two the can is sealed.  The fire quickly uses up all the oxygen and creates a “reduction stage” causing the wonderfully unique, unpredictable and spontaneous pattern of color and metallic luster.  After 15 minutes or so, the can is opened and the pottery is cooled and then washed off.

Here is a link to a YouTube video of the firing that HP and Sandy did at the Cary Art Center that created these and other pieces of beautiful raku pottery:  http://youtu.be/L8-LMNlubww.    ~ HP Pelzel & Sandra Boyd-Pelzel

Note:  The Pelzel's pottery sales benefit Cancer Research.

Orlan Johnson Cutting Boards June 29, 2012

“Cutting Boards”

Orlan Johnson

Woodwork

$32 - $60 each

I have always hated to throw things away, so I started making these years ago from the scraps of wood in my workshop.  People always really liked them (and used them).  Giving a cutting board as a gift is so easy, it is never wrong or not appreciated, and always seems to fit any occasion.  Now I don't have enough scrap wood anymore, so I use other peoples scraps.  All of the wood used to make these cutting boards would go in the land fill or get burned if I did not recycle it.  ~ Orlan Johnson

Kate Ladd Bistro Table & Chair Set June 28, 2012

“Bistro Table & Chair Set”

Kate Ladd

Painted Furniture

$275

Just arrived!  Sunny pedestal table and two stools. A super set for a small kitchen, a screened porch, or a beach house.  ~ Kate Ladd

Wouldn't this be cute on your porch or covered patio?  Just right for an relaxing breakfast among birdsong or an intimate evening of wine and fireflies!

Gerald Dukes - The Haw River June 27, 2012

“The Haw River”

Gerald Dukes

Photography, 5” x 30”

$225, Matted Unframed or $400 Framed

           The Haw River has multi-colored leaves ranging from golden yellow, awesome reds dangling from beautiful trees in the Fall. Back in the day this was a two lane bridge not four. It was so easy then to see the water fall but not now. So one morning in the fall I wanted to capture this BEAUTIFUL Haw River so it is easy for everyone to see it. The panoramic photograph is seven different shots put all together so we can see all the beauty the Haw has to afford. I love to capture moments like this because every thing around us is changing so fast and this is the only way that I can make time stop.  

~ Gerald Dukes

Lisa Garber - Origami Goldfish Earrings - June 26, 2012

“Origami Goldfish earrings”

Lisa Garber

Paper with Sterling Silver and Glass Crystals

$18

Lisa Garber’s creative name is Senba Designs. 

Senba refers to senbazuru (literally, a thousand birds or a thousand wings), the thousand origami cranes famously folded by atomic bomb victim Sadako Sasaki with a prayer for the end of suffering.

I believe no one should suffer for beauty and am always looking for ways to be kinder to people, animals, and the planet.  I use responsible materials for my jewelry as often as possible.  These include but are not limited to repurposed beads and paper, fairly traded stones, upcycled items, and 100% recycled sterling silver.  ~ Lisa Garber

On a Monday

They look like relatives, young adults with slight figures, penetrating brown eyes, dark hair, a certain presence about them. They browse engagingly, as people love to do here at the Jewel. 

He's recovering from a demanding school career. 

   I ask what he does. Music, he says, opera.  

   There are many people around here who enjoy opera.  Maybe you'd sing here some time. 

   I could sing for you, he humbly offers.

There and then, or here and now, his beautiful round face disappears into another world.  His eyes close. In a moment, with changed countenance, his eyes and voice open, singing to me, and me alone. Italian opera. Mozart. I can hardly breathe. My eyes never leave him, though he is in a private world right now.  His friend stands nearby, transfixed as if she's never heard him before. When he's finished, Julia walks the length of the store from her studio, hands clasped over her heart. I'm bowing. He's glowing.

Really, too personal a moment to share.

Yet, such things happen with me all the time.

On a Monday.
Sharon

Mary Broda Everything is Connected

 

 

“Everything Is Connected
Gaia Spirit Wall Hanging

Marty Broda

Mixed Media, $400

Gaia Spirit Wall Hanging “Everything Is Connected” combines energies of the Four Directions and Four Elements.  Featured is the interconnecting webbing vine that grows into and out of itself.  Egg & birdnest, snakeskin, feathers & shells, gems & crystals, bring their magic.  This piece was 12 years in the making from finding the interconnected vine to collecting the component pieces, design and assembly.  Below is a detailed section showing the intricacies.

Detail of "Everything is Connected"

Forrest Greenslade "Masai Mara Momma"

Masai Mara Momma

Forrest Greenslade

Watercolor & Colored Pencil, 28 ¾ x 24 5/8” framed

$800

This engaging piece was painted from a photograph that Forrest took on a camera safari when he was working in Kenya, Africa in the late 1980s.  Forrest said pregnant cheetahs can’t run as fast and often don’t make it through to bearing their young.  They usually only have 1-2 cubs.  This cheetah incredibly had 5 kits, all looking healthy!