Posted on December 10, 2022December 21, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Ineke Thomas

Blowing Rock, North Carolina

Ineke (pronounced Ee-ni-ka) is a self-taught artist who uses irregular fibers and found objects in her abstract wall art, creating a narrative wherein nature and man’s discards take on a second life.

Years of quilt making allowed Ineke to look at fibers in new ways. “Fiber art plus” as she puts it, as she is known to use scrap wire, pottery shards, buttons, beads, twigs, kimono and tie silks, netted onion bags and felted wool.

As much as possible, she uses invisible thread rather than glue. One of Ineke’s favorite materials to incorporate into her work is wormy chestnut bark, reclaimed mateerial dating back to the 1920s that she has carefully washed, dried and polyurethaned.

In her opinion, this type of backdrop serves her nature inspired pieces in a way man-made materials cannot. The results are stunning, layered pieces that draw the viewer in closer to appreciate the detail as well as the story told by the larger work.

About Ineke Thomas

Ineke has lived in Blowing Rock, North Carolina since 1986 where she has exhibited her work at BRAHM (Blowing Rock Arts and History Museum}, the Halpert Biennial Exhibit, Blowing Rock Historical Society’s Artists at Edgewood Cottage and the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

A native of Holland, she spent her formative years on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia and credits her love of nature to her years spent on a rubber plantation there. Ineke is a graduate of UNC Greensboro with a BA in German and French Education. She is an avid gardener, mother of two and grandmother of four.

“Success to me means living with a work for weeks while challenging my ability to manipulate the materials and process.” – Ineke Thomas

Posted on November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

GreenHill WINTER SHOW exhibition of contemporary NC Artists

Congratulations to Cindy Long who was recently asked to participate in GreenHill Center for NC Art‘s upcoming WINTER SHOW invitational exhibition, December 11, 2022 – February 15, 2023. Edie Carpenter, Director of Artistic & Curatorial Programs, discovered Cindy’s handwoven work on the NC Handmade website!

The exhibition presents works by 60+ artists from all over the state. All works are for sale. This year, after a two-year hiatus, GreenHill is returning to their Collector’s Choice gala opening to be held on Saturday, December 10. This event allows you to experience Winter Show, AND purchase art in advance of the public opening!

GreenHill is located in Greensboro NC and engages a broad and diverse community of artists, adults and children through dynamic statewide exhibitions and educational programs while providing a platform for exploration and investment in art. As a gateway to North Carolina’s creative community, GreenHill is dedicated exclusively to presenting and promoting the contemporary visual art and artists of NC. Inspired by a vision for cultural equity and inclusion, GreenHill’s wide-ranging initiatives build empathy and connection through expressive, innovative and thought-provoking art.

Posted on June 2, 2022June 3, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Sharing their gift

Sharing their gift

NC Handmade artisans are spreading the joy they find in their craft.

Weaver Cindy Long recently spent three afternoons demonstrating loom weaving with Miss Kelly’s K-6 art classes at Two Rivers Community School in Boone, NC. After showing the students how the loom works, she encouraged each of them to try it for themselves. Together the students created a unique scarf which they presented to the director of the school, Natalie Oransky. The kids had so much fun they made big, beautiful cards with special messages for Cindy to thank her for sharing her knowledge.

Quilter Marilyn Gore made a Zoom presentation, Talking Threads: My Journey as an African American Quilter and My Quilt History to the Charlotte Quilters Guild. She discussed how African American quilts follow a different set of rules where improvisation replaces repetition, off-setting is preferred over matching, and the grid is abandoned for a vertical strip format which results in wonderful and exciting energy. She showed examples of historic quilts and recommended some of her favorite quilters Roberta Horton, Harriet Powers, Roland Freeman and the Women of Gee’s Bend. Marilyn also offered an intimate look at quilts created by her own family.

One participant commented:

I also wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your lecture at our last Guild meeting. It’s plain to see that quilting is your passion as you just lit up when you started talking about your quilts. Thank you for sharing that with us. I don’t think anybody wanted the meeting to end.

Happy Quilting,
Dawn

Fiddlemaker Mike Anderson has a longstanding tradition of sharing the love of music by giving away one of his handmade fiddles to a young North Carolinian between the ages of 10 and 17 every year near the winter holidays. The prize is awarded based on a 300-word essay submitted by each entrant explaining why they or someone they know should receive a free violin. Mike says sometimes the essays are so good, he has a hard time picking just one. Essays must be emailed to fiddlemakermike@gmail.com between December 1st and December 15th and include all your contact information. ONLY North Caroline residents can win a Christmas Violin. The 2021 recipient was Ana from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Posted on March 29, 2022October 17, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Sheridan Watkins

PerennialPeaces, Winston Salem, North Carolina

Think about your most lightweight pair of earrings…these are probably lighter than that! All earrings are made from repurposed fabric and crafted into unorthodox floral shapes, patterns and colors!

Each pair features fun textiles and incorporates wire, resin and a beaded center! You will get questions about where you got your earrings so be prepared :

They feature surgical steel ear posts. These handmade pieces may feature slight imperfections, variations or inconsistencies that in no way affect their functionality.

Maybe you’d like a smaller or bigger size or something created from a favorite shirt or dress. Custom orders available. Please contact us for more information.

About Sheridan Watkins

Sheridan says, “Growing up, I’ve always strived to be different. Not to bring attention to myself but to create my own identity that wasn’t defined by anyone else. This worked for and against me. I can remember starting some trends, but I also remember wishing the day would speed up so I could get home because my outfit choice was not a hit with peers that day.

And then you grow up and don’t even realize the emotional baggage you’ve carried with you into adulthood. I found myself censoring parts of me in fear of what others thought. And I didn’t like that…So I went back to what lit me up as an adolescent…creating something different.

Now I create jewelry that gives you a way to express yourself. So keep shining because you can only be who you are!”

In a world where we may feel like we don’t have control, hold onto the fact that you actually do.

Posted on January 17, 2022February 17, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Marilyn Yvonne Gore

Marilyn Yvonne Gore

Stitching and Stirring, Charlotte, North Carolina

A bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars.
Marilyn Yvonne Gore

Stitching and Stirring is dedicated to art and preservation of quilts that represent African American culture and history.

Marilyn is a life-long quilter who has stitched literally hundreds of quilts using traditional, paper-piecing, and crazy quilting techniques in her hand-quilted creations.

She uses 100% cotton fabrics. Most of her quilts are scrap quilts made with African-inspired fabrics, batiks, and leftover fabrics from other projects.

Her purpose is to bring joy not only to herself but to others… one beautiful quilt at a time!

Featured products

Custom orders available. Please contact us for more information

About Marilyn Gore

Marilyn has been sewing and quilting since the age of 14. Born and raised in the rural farming community of Bolivia, North Carolina, sewing and quilting were necessities. Marilyn’s first sewing experience was helping her mother make woven and tied floor rugs from feed sacks and tobacco twine. Her mother, Mattie Pearl, also taught Marilyn how to embroider and decorate homemade pillowcases.

Home economics was a required part of Marilyn’s high school education, and it was there that she learned to construct garments. Under the tutelage of Lizzie Mae Mitchell, home economics teacher at Southport – Brunswick County High School, she constructed her first garment. Scraps from this garment were used to make an eight-pointed star quilt. With the help of her mother, Marilyn made her second quilt, a lone star, from scraps of polyester fabrics.

She graduated from Bennett College with a degree in home economics, clothing, and textiles. With the encouragement of Professor Louise G. Streat, she continued her studies at Howard University, Washington, DC. Marilyn’s masters thesis centered on a historical study of North Carolina quilt-making.

Marilyn retired from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension in 2007. Her career — 19 years with the University of the District of Columbia and 12 years here in North Carolina — were very rewarding to her. She served in several national executive board positions with the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS), including as the 2004–2005 president.

She is a member of the Charlotte Quilters Guild and the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church Quilting Ministry.

Custom orders available. Please contact us for more information.

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William F Minor

Mar 11, 2022

by William F Minor

First of all, I worked with Marilyn all those years at the UDC/CES. I loved the work Marilyn shared with the entire D.C. community throughout... view more

Posted on January 7, 2022September 2, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Mike Anderson

fiddlemakermike.com, Louisburg, North Carolina

Mike has been making fiddles for over 20 years and a woodworker since childhood. He loves music and has a passion to create!

The wood Mike uses, North Carolina red maple and Virginia red spruce, is cut and harvested locally by him.

It is stored and air dried for a minimum of four years before working the wood into a fiddle.

He uses traditional 400 year old handcrafted methods for building his beautiful instruments.

About Mike Anderson

Mike traces his interest in string instruments back to his childhood. His great-grandfather played the fiddle and his mother played classical music when he was a small child. “I heard so much violin music as a small child, I think it had an impact on me,” says Mike.

His interest in carving started at 5 years old with a bar of soap. Eventually wood became his material of choice and he took up making bowls and spoons. But he craved a challenge that would keep him striving and learning in his craft. Mike has been carving string instruments for decades now and he mentored with the late legendary luthier, Arthur Conner, of Copper Hill, VA.

Fiddlemaker Mike has a longstanding tradition of sharing in the love of music by giving away one of his handmade fiddles to a young North Carolinian between the ages of 10 and 17. The prize is awarded based on a 300-word essay submitted by each entrant. Two times he has given away two violins because sometimes the essays are so good, he can’t pick just one.

Custom orders available. Please contact us for more information.

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Posted on November 19, 2021February 17, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Linda Dease Smith

Fun and Funky Fabric Art, Blowing Rock, North Carolina

Linda Dease Smith sews with fabric and thread, by hand and machine, and often embellishes her pieces with beads, buttons, and found objects.

She enjoys creating her own designs and patterns, and each piece is one-of-a-kind.

She decided several years ago that, rather than buying new fabric, she would first use up the fabric that she has. She’s still working on it and actually enjoys the challenge of creating with what she has on hand.

Her interest in upcycling has also led to many fabulous thrift store finds she incorporates into her art.

About Linda Dease Smith

Linda has been creating with fabric since the 1970s when she moved to the North Carolina mountains. Even though she knew nothing about sewing or quilting, Linda decided to make a king-sized Bicentennial quilt. “What was I thinking?” she asked herself. It took several years, but she finally finished it. At about the same time, Linda finished three quilts that her great-grandmother had pieced, but never quilted. She was hooked! In fact, she has never stopped working with fabric and gets more excited about it every year. While her love of fabric has never waned, she’s continually looking for new items to make. Linda no longer makes bed quilts, but uses fabric to make anything else she can think of, including wall art, clothing, jewelry, and scarves. Linda’s latest passion is upcycling and repurposing clothing into wearable art.

Custom orders available. Please contact us for more information.

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Posted on November 9, 2021January 15, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Julia “Julie” Ottesen

Julia (Julie) Ottesen

July 31, 1931 – October 9, 2021

It is with deep sadness and profound respect that we acknowledge the passing of Julia Ottesen, one of the first artisans to join NC Handmade.

There were many iterations to her creative life. In high school, she played violin in the orchestra and studied art, dreaming of becoming a portrait artist someday. She married her high school sweetheart only weeks after graduation and started a family. She opened a home-based dressmaker/seamstress business called A Stitch in Time in Clinton, New York, while her daughters were young and in school. To augment her business, she learned millinery and tailoring, but what she loved most was the creative sewing. Customers would come to her with an idea or a beautiful bolt of fabric bought on vacation and together they would create a garment that was theirs alone and fit to a tee.

She took a break from handmade crafts after meeting her future second husband and moving to New York City with him. She went to work as the office manager for his special effects business (EFEX Specialists) in Astoria, New York. Their company created special effects for films and commercials such as The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), King Kong (1976), The Wiz (1978), and The World According to Garp (1982).

In October 1985, they retired and bought a boat named the Magic Dragon. They lived on the boat for a couple of years as they built their dream home on Pungo Creek in Belhaven, North Carolina. Julie studied stained glass, watercolor painting, and basketmaking, and she later started Belle Port Baskets, traveled to craft shows around the southeastern United States and was accepted into the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Making baskets was her passion! She loved the process of making each one—from one made of white oak she cut down, hand split the splint and hand-carved the handle under the tutelage of the McColley’s of West Virginia to the precise, meticulous Nantucket baskets for which she was known.

After frequent hurricanes in the 1990s, they decided to relocate to higher ground and moved to Traphill, North Carolina, where she continued her basketmaking into her eighties.

To see some of her basketry, visit Julie Ottesen’s artisan page.

Posted on April 29, 2021February 17, 2022 by Lauren Sinclair

Karen Casey and Arlen Custer

Karen Casey and Arlen Custer

Karen Casey Fused Glass Designs, Durham, North Carolina

Karen Casey and Arlen Custer are Durham, North Carolina, artists who have worked with glass for over 30 years.

They love color and interesting shapes for their glass pieces. You will find fused glass jewelry, hair accessories, vases, and dishes. Designs from elegant to wild!

They have specialized in fused glass for the last 15 years. Glass pieces are cut, designed, and fused in a kiln. Pieces that have a shape such as bowls and vases go in the kiln a second time to be slumped into shape.

A combination of dichroic glass and other fusible glass give their pieces a unique look and make each piece one-of-a-kind.

About Karen Casey

Karen is also the owner of The Artisan Market at 305 located in downtown Durham. She is excited to have a woman-owned business and appreciates Durham’s inclusive, welcoming, and diverse reputation. The storefront at 305 is the home for Karen’s art as well as around 40 other local artists from across North Carolina. In addition to being an artist, Karen is a speech language pathologist with the specialty of augmentative communication.

She is incredibly grateful that her husband, Arlen Custer, is also very artistic, handy and has enthusiastically joined in all her endeavors and provided hours of support.

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Posted on April 16, 2021April 16, 2021 by Lauren Sinclair

“What Happened to Our School?”

"What Happened to Our School?"

Recently I happened to receive an invitation to the virtual film release of a documentary on the Old Fort Mural “What Happened to Our School?”. It piqued my interest and I accepted. The premiere night arrived and I clicked in to the event. I met the most amazing people who were responsible for making this vibrant mural happen and bringing a piece of history forward for all of us now to contemplate and understand. The story of Albert Joyner, Sr. and George Sandlin and their effort to fight racial injustice is inspiring. I needed the reminder that personal courage is how change really happens.

The mural project and subsequent documentary film came about as the group says, “because a community member came up with the idea and suggested it, then others got together to discuss how they could make it happen, including organizing folks to work on various aspects and raising money. This is possible for any community, anywhere.”

Through their experience they developed a great guide for developing your own grassroots collaboration. If you would like some guidance regarding how to launch a successful community effort, the ‘Shift Happens Tool Kit’ may be useful a guide for you.

Credits for the documentary go to respected documentarian John P. Kennedy and six-time Emmy winner David Saich. Both are based in Asheville, North Carolina. Mural artist Don Rimx is based in Florida, but travels extensively to create his art. And thank you to musician David LaMotte for hosting the film release and sending the invitation.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to visit Old Fort and see the mural for myself. If you happen to visit the area, I heartily recommend checking it out. It is beautiful!

Old Fort Mural

Old Fort Togerther.org

Ineke Thomas

Featured products

Reconstructed stripes quilt

Circles, squares and triangles quilt

Gold and silver necktie quilt

Necktie linings quilt

Pastel pink and blue all silk neckties quilt

Sample of custom quilted piece – small

Sample of custom quilted piece – large

About Ineke Thomas

Sharing their gift

Sheridan Watkins

Featured products

Single felt sunflower

Large felt rose

Individual felt rose – standard size

Cork textile necklace

Teal silk textile ring

Teal silk textile necklace

Kente textile ring

Kente textile necklace

Gingham pink, red and white ring

About Sheridan Watkins

Marilyn Yvonne Gore

Featured products

Paper-pieced stars quilted wall hanging

Orange suns and hearts quilted wall hanging

Lady with a bowl quilted wall hanging

Queen-size Arkansas Traveler scrappy quilt

King-size African Shadows quilt

King-size Pretty in Pink scrap quilt

King-size African scrap quilt in burgundy

King-size African scrap quilt in orange

About Marilyn Gore

Mike Anderson

Featured products

Fiddle no. 52, mermaid

Pocket or pochette fiddle no. 4

Viola no. 51

Fiddle no. 69 special scroll

Fiddle no. 36, 5-string

Fiddle no. 59 ol’ goat

Fiddle no. 66, scroll

Fiddle no. 35, guitar shape

Fiddle no. 70, dinosaur

Fiddle no. 68, scroll

Fiddle no. 63, eagle

Fiddle no. 67

About Mike Anderson

Linda Dease Smith

Featured products

Blue and green quilted geometric pattern wall hanging

Full moon quilted wall hanging

Batik leaves yellow and orange quilted wall hanging

Colorful geometric pattern wall hanging

Tree in winter quilted wall hanging

Colorful houses geometric quilted wall hanging

About Linda Dease Smith

Julia (Julie) Ottesen

July 31, 1931 – October 9, 2021

Karen Casey and Arlen Custer

Featured products

Shimmering blue-green dichroic glass 3.5-inch barrette

Bright blue dichroic glass 4-inch barrette

Sparkling blues with wispy white overlay 4-inch barrette

Diamond-shape purple, blue and green dichroic glass pendant

Oval blue dichroic glass pendant

Red glass star ornament

Blue glass star Christmas ornament

Smoky blue with hint of purple 3.5-inch NON-dichroic glass barrette

Teal non-dichroic glass 3.5-inch barrette

Subtle mauve, brown and deep purple dichroic glass 3.25-inch barrette

Blues, gold and black textured dichroic glass 4-inch barrette

Blues, gold and black textured dichroic glass 4-inch barrette

Blue, gold and green pebble texture dichroic glass 4-inch barrette

Multi-stripe 4-inch dichroic glass barrette in blue, teal and gold

Bright blue and purple dichroic glass 4-inch barrette

Purple dichroic glass 4-inch barrette

Blue frit mixture pendant

Blue frit mixture pendant