bringing people to art & art to life in asheville's river arts district • open everyday
CURVE studios & garden will host its 6th Annual Spring Open House & Twilight Party on 2nd Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 10am to 8pm @ 6•9•12 Riverside Drive, in the heart of Asheville’s River Arts District.
All day Saturday, April 13th, starting @ 10am, our 3 buildings will be filled with artists working, demonstrating their processes.
In #6 CURVE, you will find fine silver jeweler, Mary McCall Timmer & color/pattern/textile artist, Pattiy Torno. Downstairs in #9 CURVE, welcome enamel jeweler, Monty Phillips & Celia Barbieri, The Button Florist, as they join long time CURVE ceramic artists, Angelique Tassistro & Cassie Ryalls.
Upstairs in #9 is now home to 6 new artists. Visual storyteller & HaTfolk artist, Laura Balombini, has brought together Hanji Home Lamps by Pamella O’Connor, large scale oil paintings by Jo Ridge Kelley, hand weavings & wearables by Suzanne Gernandt, fine woodworking by John Gernandt & upcycled PatteCoats by Patte Vanden Berg into a diverse yet cohesive workshop.
Downstairs in #12 you will find new Contemporary Ceramic work by Akira Satake, Kyle Carpenter, Karen Newgard & Maria Andrade Troya. The CURVE garden, will be in full bloom, so do come and “smell the roses”, magnolias, lilacs, lily of the valley… you get the idea.
The CURVE Twilight Party starts @ 5pm. Edibles will include carnivorous & veggie selections, prepared by Mark Rosenstein & his GO Kitchen staff, on his custom wood fired “inferniollio”, as well as goodies from 12 Bones Smokehouse & Rosetta’s Kitchen. Baked goods will come from Short Street Cakes & Yuzu Patisserie. Drinks will include sangria, wine & local beers… with music by DJ Marley Carroll between 5 & 8pm, with a performance @ 7pm by CURVE artist, Akira Satake, on banjo & shamisen.
The mission here @ CURVE is “Bringing people to ART & ART to life in Asheville’s River Arts District”. This Twilight Party, 10% of sales @ CURVE will go to support the GO Kitchen job-training program, so bring your credit cards to buy ART in support of Green Opportunities & the artists here @ CURVE! This event is free & everyone is welcome.
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago at 4:01 pm. Add a comment
The big middle building, #9 CURVE will transform at the end of January/beginning of February 2013. Constance Williams is ending her 5 year stint here @ CURVE and moving over to the Roberts Street side of the Wedge Studios.
In her stead, a whole crew of new folks are flooding in. Angelique Tassistro & Cassie Ryalls are moving downstairs and will be bringing over Celia Barbieri, The Button Florist of Phil Mechanic Studios fame & Monty Phillips with his bright glass enamel jewelry.
Upper CURVE #9 will become home to Laura Balombini, a visual storyteller & Hat Folk milliner & her crew that includes John & Suzanne Gernandt, he doing furniture, she doing textiles along with Pamella O’Connor‘s luminous botanically based lamp forms & the large scale oil paintings of Jo Ridge Kelley.
In addition, over in #6 CURVE, Pattiy Torno & Alena Hennessy welcome the fine silversmithing skills of Mary McCall Timmer. Mary is expected to bring her bench, grinders, torches & other fun tools in early January 2013 to CURVE.
Lastly, CURVE will say a sad fare thee well to ceramic artist, Jenny Mastin. Jenny has been given a great opportunity to export the River Arts District to her hometown of Morganton, NC @ 100 B West Union in the spring 2013. Please visit her there!
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago at 4:32 pm. Add a comment
Contact Laura @ 207.266.9634
lbalombini@yahoo.com
http://www.facebook.com/lbalombini
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lbalombini
Creating unique narrative sculpture, HaTfoLk wearables and imaginative paintings.
A small boy once asked me how I fit all this “stuff” in my head. I answered that in fact the more I make the lighter my head feels. Maybe my goal should be to create until I hear only a woooosh of waves and wind.
Straw Hat © 2013 by Laura Balombini
“Wish Her Story” © 2012 by Laura Balombini
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:02 pm. Add a comment
Contact Jo @ 828.226.0549
www.JoRidgeKelley.com
jo@jokelley.com
The soft-edged, expressive paintings of Jo Ridge Kelley are as much about emotional connection as they are about visual expression. Since childhood, growing up on a dairy farm in rural North Carolina, Kelley has felt a deep-rooted bond with nature’s perennial beauty and power.
Today, as a talented and accomplished artist, every stroke of her paintbrush or palette knife is flowing with this lifelong passion as evidenced by the bold and powerful color harmonies and soothing organic textures. “I have only a desire to paint what is my own – wholly and completely from within – along with the offerings of the earth and her daily miracles of color and light. When I begin a painting, I take inspiration from a beautiful light, color, form or texture and then continue working through observation. But the painting soon takes on life of its own. More often, I end up choosing exaggerated and unexpected color relationships and compositions that reflect my emotional response more so than what I’m seeing in front of me. I find it much more satisfying to be guided as much by my imagination and memory as my eyes.”
Kelley is known for endowing her works with an intriguing contrast between a misty, soft light and dramatic color. She credits this love of mist to her earliest memories, waking up at dawn to a diffused gray mist blanketing the fields and ponds over the family farm and to the rising smoky mist of the Blue Ridge Mountains where she has called home for over thirty years. Almost a metaphor for divine light, Kelley’s airy brushwork and diffused light, floating throughout her images, evoke a sense of wonder and serenity, and recall the timeless, lost-and-found memories of this artist’s enduring love affair with nature.
The paintings of Jo Ridge Kelley are held in many private and corporate collections throughout the country and across the globe. Her work was featured in Art Galleries and Artists of the South, American Art Collector magazine and on the cover of The Laurel of Asheville magazine, October 2009. She has been featured in many regional publications noting her generous donations of original paintings for important fundraisers, demonstrations and lectures for art leagues and special interest groups. A percentage of her art sales is given back to her community, helping to provide funds for many needs, including preserving farmland and our state and national parks. CURVE studios & garden is honored for Jo to join us!
“Water Dance Manhattan” © 2012 painting by Jo Ridge Kelley
“Enchanted Lands” © 2012 painting Jo Ridge Kelley
“Dreaming of Spring” (detail) © 2012 painting by Jo Ridge Kelley
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago at 6:00 pm. Add a comment
contact Celia @ 910.840.3182
www.thebuttonflorist.com
www.facebook.com/thebuttonflorist
www.thebuttonflorist.blogspot.com
thebuttonflorist@gmail.com
Celia Barbieri is The Button Florist. The mission of the Button Florist is to create a unique alternative to traditional flowers using a mixture of handcrafted ceramic buttons, vintage/ upcycled/ found buttons, and recycled sweater felt.
I enjoy creating things of beauty and whimsy and color. My flowers often make people smile, and that is my greatest joy! To say that I am a detail oriented person is an understatement, because I find pleasure in always noticing the small things. Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved seeing things that most people do not notice. This often includes things on the ground. Some of my first memories were playing with buttons, my mom strung up large vintage coat buttons for me to play with as a baby, sorting through the tin of my grandmother’s buttons. I have always had a connection to these little round treasures. They have history and simplicity that is irresistible.
I see buttons everywhere. Any circular pattern from seedpods to microscopic single celled organisms help shape my button creations. My process begins by collecting interesting texture tools (found objects). Some of my favorites are old industrial knobs, peach pits, and vintage glass lighting fixtures. Each ceramic button is Hand- made. I press clay into the found objects and then paint/glaze and fire them. Once fired, the buttons are then twisted onto wire stems. Button Flowers can be appreciated individually or in bouquets of varied sizes. They make excellent gifts for mother’s day, Anniversaries, and Birthdays. They cheer up a room and never wilt or die. I also love creating custom wedding bouquets and using your grandma’s button collection.
Orange/Red button flower selection © 2013 by Celia Barbieri
Wedding Bouquet © 2012 by Celia Barbieri
Button Florist Buttons on cards © 2012 by Celia Barbieri
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago at 6:27 pm. Add a comment
contact Monty @ 828.337.0827
monty.phillips@gmail.com
http://fancydirtforge.com/
http://www.facebook.com/FancyDirtForge
http://www.etsy.com/shop/FancyDirtForge
My current work is an exercise in fancy exploring the possibilities of vitreous enamel on sterling silver and copper in regard to form, texture, color and its ability to mimic and play on other materials such as stone, fabric and organic plant life.
Most of my forms are made by micro shell forming and anticlastic raising exploiting the plastic quality of the metals. Using these techniques I can make very unusual forms which are organic in appearance from flat metal sheet. This is very useful in duplicating nature.
Bracelet © 2013 by Monty Phillips
Dogwood Bracelet © 2012 by Monty Phillips
Enamel Earrings © 2013 by Monty Phillips
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 6:59 pm. Add a comment
contact Suzanne @ 828.400.1040
Suzanne’s love of textiles began with the women in her childhood. Her Russian grandmother taught her to sew and knit, stitch and crochet. Her Chicago grandmother gave her an appreciation of vintage textiles by dragging her to many church bazaars in the affluent suburbs. And her Mother’s love of fashion taught her to love the style and feel of fine fabrics. She didn’t have a chance.
Learning to weave as a young woman, living in San Francisco, she is essentially a self taught weaver who has instructed numerous people in learning to weave. She is considered an expert in many areas of fabric dyeing, silk-screening, and complex surface design techniques. With abstract, contemporary art as her inspiration, she has specialized in the creation of intimate mixed media weavings that perfectly blend fine craft and fine art.
She has taught at the prestigious Penland School of Craft, Haywood Community College Professional Craft Program, and The Appalachian Center for Craft, as well as numerous workshops for area schools, Handmade in America, and in her own studio.
Suzanne is excited to be relocating her studio to Curve Studios, Upstairs. She will be focused on creating framed art pieces, a line of fine silk shawls, and large commissioned wall hangings.
“Floating Free” © 2012 by Suzanne Gernandt
“Provost” © 2012 by Suzanne Gernandt
“Blue Matisse Sky” © 2012 by Suzanne Gernandt
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 6:48 pm. Add a comment
contact John @ 828.400.1041
www.johngfurniture.com
johngernandt@gmail.com
I am a third generation furniture maker with a strong commitment to design, craftsmanship and customer service. These are the three cornerstones of my furniture making business, what I learned from my architect and furniture maker grandfather, the family stories of my great-grandfather.
For over 30 years, I have worked with people around the world, designing one of a kind pieces of furniture that fit their lifestyles and their homes. I listen to my clients, and to their needs and wants, bringing the collaborative process to the forefront. I always remember that a custom piece of heirloom furniture is fulfilling the customer’s dream, not mine. I am merely the conduit to make that dream come true.
I have a responsible attitude towards the environment and make every effort to use lumber that comes from sustainable forests and woods that are cut from our local mountains and farms. Glues and finishes are water and shellac based and typically hypoallergenic.
Three Dressers © 2012 by John Gernandt
Wall Buffet © 2012 by John Gernandt
Curly Oak Perched Hutch © 2012 by John Gernandt
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 6:41 pm. Add a comment
5 CURVE artists will be showing work @ Clingman Cafe for the month of June 2012. Often referred to as the heart of the River Arts District, Clingman Cafe @ 242 Clingman Avenue will host “learning CURVE”, new work from Alena Hennessy, Pattiy Torno, Angelique Tassistro, Maria Andrade Troya & Meagan Chaney, with an opening on Friday June 1, 2012 from 5 to 7pm.
Posted 1 year ago at 11:37 am. Add a comment
A gaggle of garden writers & bloggers from all over North America have converged on CURVE for lunch in the garden catered by 12 Bones Smokehouse & The Hop Ice Cream. A most wonderful crew of people who loved on the CURVE garden, enjoyed checking out the studios and above all had a fun lunch! We are lucky to have been able to host this event! Special thanks to Nan, Christopher, Francis & all who helped!
Posted 1 year ago at 11:16 am. Add a comment
