Against the Grain
byOne might think Sam Benbow deserves a break from wood. At his regular gig, he works as a kitchen and bath contractor, creating custom…
Art + Craft
A New Use for Power Tools
byInspiration doesn’t always strike in the loveliest places. Metal artisan Pam Holthouser was working as an apprentice for a professional painting contractor, lending a…
“Real Men Buy Dolls”
byThe intimacy of making art is nowhere better represented than in the tactile bond between hand and needle, needle and thread, thread and fabric….
Unmodified Vision
byKirsten Stolle’s art provides a useful lesson in the difference between looking and seeing. Her 2016 series Chemical Bouquet, for example, is, at first…
Next Chapter
byEvery book, says Mary Carol Koester, holds two histories. The first fills the pages — the genealogy in an old family Bible, for example,…
Rhapsody in Blue
byAt 69 years old and with nearly 40 years of “slow cloth” work under her belt, Eileen Hallman of Black Mountain is in no…
Primitive Tech
byWhen Matthew Shirey was 19, he phoned his father and told him he had found his life’s calling: to become a blacksmith. “You’re never…
The Craft Behind the Craft
byIt often seems as though the pace of life is quickening at the expense of quality time — and quality goods. If there’s a…
Solving the Puzzle
byWhen Gilbert Jason Contreras entered remission after six months of chemo, he knew he couldn’t return to his old life. “My oncologist told me,…
Turned Around
byWhen Joel Hunnicutt encountered a wood lathe more than 20 years ago, it was love at first touch. He’d decided to take a community-college…