Featured Shop Artisan: Neena Jhaveri

Nina J. Design Studios is a woman owned business engaged in the creation of handbuilt pottery, mixed media paintings and limited edition wearable art made from fine silk and cotton. We are located in the beautiful Shenandoah valley, Virginia.

Our story begins with a young girl who was born in India. Starting from childhood, Neena (Nina J) had an appreciation for beauty and artistic things. Her father’s desire was for her to be multifaceted in her career choices. Neena fulfilled her father’s resolution that her university studies focus on the sciences as well as the arts. Her passion has always been arts, spirituality and nature and she believes that science, the arts and religion coexist harmoniously.

The realization of each of Nina J’s mixed media paintings has been rooted in her dreams; artictic figures, nature and aquatic scenes with vibrant and bold colors have always been at the forefront of her designs. Instead of making prints of the artwork we decided to share the beauty with the world in the form of limited edition silk scarves and apparel.

The lucidity of her dreams carried over into the garden where all the flowers and herbs prompted her to expand into clay. Each handbuilt piece of pottery starts in the garden with fresh flowers and herbs. Leveraging her artistic bent Nina J presses these botanicals into the clay. The finished pieces have a fossilized finish, immortalizing the pressed botanicals. We make vases, bowls, plates, platters, serving dishes, specialty products like spoonrests, soap dishes, jewelry keepers and mugs that are all food safe, dishwasher and microwave safe. We also make signature clay jewelry. Each piece is a unique, signatured work of art.

The pottery pieces inspired Nina J. to make blocks for the specific purpose of designing wearable art from those blocks. This idea gave birth to our latest, closed loop, proprietary method of creating our limited edition wearable and usable art – scarves in silk and cotton, shawls, scrunchies, ponchos and table linens.

Our objective is to harvest nature’s gifts and transform them into wearable and/or functional pieces of art. Each piece will bring a smile to your face and peace in your heart and all eyes will be upon you as you adorn her gorgeous wearable art.

We sell our products through boutiques and museums throughout the USA. To provide further uniqueness to our products and processes we have museums who harvest botanicals from their gardens and ship them to us for their specific creations. We also have the ability to do custom work.

“Live and Walk with Art”

Click the thumbnails for larger images of Nina J.’s work, or visit her website at www.ninastudios.com

Featured Shop Artisan: Jose Montero

“Madeira” Hand Carved Wood Products

Since my youth I have admired trees and loved wood. I love working with wood and sharing my knowledge with others. Out of desire and economic necessity, I have made most of the furniture for our home. About sixteen years ago, my mother-in-law asked me if I could make her some spoons from scraps. I told her that I would try, and I did. As it turns out, she never used them. Instead she hung them on her kitchen wall, where they still hang today. When we visit her, and I look at those spoons, I tell her that if anyone asks who made them, not to tell them it was me! Those original spoons were crude. But with practice I have refined my product.

I have expanded to bowls and other utilitarian accessories. My wife and partner, assists me with the design ideas, marketing and sales, and the occasional back rub after a long day of carving and shaping.

Most of my wood comes from our wood lot, trees that have been damaged by storms or attacked by insects. Though, I will never turn down a log or piece of wood given to me.

We sell our product at craft fairs in Virginia, West Virginia and at Farm Markets. Our spoons are in gift shops at Belle Grove Plantation, and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia. We enjoy working with the public. We have developed friendships with our fellow crafters and our customers.

We strive to sell a quality product at a reasonable price.

Featured Shop Artisan: Eugene B. Smith

Watercolorist

Eugene’s refined approach to watercolors includes wet-on-wet and dry-brush techniques. He uses a subtle palette, preferring to let the water coexist with the pigment in each composition. Eugene also works in printmaking and Chinese brushwork.

His subjects range from the nearby mountains and historic villages to the dunes and seascapes of coastal Carolina and Florida. Two separate bodies of Eugene’s include an Asian inspired style featuring meditative still-life compositions and his Abstract artwork which is thought provoking and ever changing……ideal for a burst of energy in any space.

Eugene’s diversity of styles has created a large market, leading him to establish the Eugene B. Smith Gallery in Old Town Winchester, Virginia. He shows his work at this gallery, at juried exhibits throughout the U.S, and at special events, including charitable benefits.

His works are included in private collections internationally, and he has held a one-man exhibition in Okayama, Japan.

A largely self-taught artist, Eugene is a graduate of Lord Fairfax Community College in Virginia and Shepherd College in West Virginia, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business.

Click the thumbnails for larger images of Eugene’s work, or visit his website at www.eugenebsmith.com

Featured Shop Artisan: Jackie Tobin

Handcrafts of the Shenandoah Valley

Jackie has been creating something for as long as she can remember.

Encouragement and inspiration came from her multi-talented grandmother, who not only taught her to sew, but provided her with self confidence and unlimited materials to make things. Create something from nothing? Of course!

Over the years, Jackie has participated in many Shenandoah Valley Craft Fairs and Shops. She was a partner in Stone Soup Gallery on Winchester’s walking mall, where you might find her creating hand woven baskets or painting detailed images on newly designed Holiday ornaments. Currently, she has added upcycled wood creations to her palette, greenery arrangements and dried flowers from her garden, and so much more.

Jackie works full time with children at Virginia Avenue Elementary School. She lives with her husband Bill, has two grown children and six grandchildren.

Visit Jackie at her Facebook page.

Holiday House Tour 2015: The Bough & Dough Shop at the Winchester Little Theatre

315 West Boscawen Street
The Winchester Little Theatre

Winchester Little Theatre

Hours
Saturday, Dec. 5, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Open to the Public – No Entry Fee
Complimentary hot cider and coffee for visitors

The Winchester Little Theatre occupies a former Pennsylvania Railroad freight station built circa 1890. The hipped roof over the brick exterior provides cover for the freight loading dock. The interior was modified to accommodate live theatre performances by the Winchester Little Theatre. The Theatre moved into its railway home in 1974 and has provided critically acclaimed professional-quality live theatre to the community ever since. 

Since 2011, the Theatre has been the home of PHW’s Bough and Dough Shop during the Holiday House Tour weekend. You will find a large selection of unique handmade items by local artisans for holiday gift-giving and an extensive amount of fresh-cut greenery for your holiday decorating.

This year’s proceeds from the Shop will benefit the Winchester Little Theatre Restoration Campaign. This Restoration to date has insured the structural integrity, repointed the bricks, freshened the exterior and now anticipates the application of a Virginia Department of Historic Resources-approved roofing surface.

PHW is committed to seeing this local landmark restored and remain a vital arts hub for the Winchester-Frederick County community. When you purchase artisan goods or greenery from the Shop this year, you will be helping Winchester Little Theatre realize their dream of restoring the Pennsylvania Freight Station to its exterior appearance circa 1890.

The Shop is able to process credit cards as well as cash and checks.

Curious about the vendors at the Shop this year? Stay tuned for future posts on the artisans over the next week, or jump right in to the Featured Artisan page at PHW.

Holiday House Tour Ticket Sale Reminders

HHT PineconesHoliday House Tour Tickets are on sale now at the following Winchester locations:

You may also purchase House Tour Tickets through the mail at www.phwi.org or through the PayPal buttons below:


Preview Party and Two-Day Tickets

Tickets valid for Preview Party and Candlelight Tours on Saturday, December 5, and for Daylight Tours on Sunday, December 6.
 





Daylight Tickets

Tickets valid for Daylight Tours on Sunday, December 6.
 




Holiday House Tour 2015: 24 South Washington Street

24 South Washington Street
The Home of David Look and Terry Frye

24 South Washington Street

This Queen Anne style home was built in 1888 by Alexander M. Baker, a local businessman. The exterior is distinguished by its complex patterned slate rooflines, including the prominent bell-shaped tower in the front. The house boasts seven chimneys and a wraparound front porch supported by fourteen columns. The second story projection features two sets of paired windows with concave lozenge-shaped upper lights.

The house was purchased in 1983 and painstakingly restored to a single family residence and appointed with Victorian furniture and ornamentation by Hal and Betty Demuth. The current owners, David Look and Terry Frye, moved into the home in 2014, and they retained a portion of the Demuth’s collections.


Daylight Tickets

Tickets valid for Daylight Tours on Sunday, December 6.
 




Holiday House Tour 2015: 220 West Boscawen Street

220 West Boscawen Street
The Home of Richard Oram and Debra L. Johnson

220 West Boscawen Street

The Fuller House is an excellent example of Winchester’s Greek Revival residential architecture. The brick and stucco home was built prior to 1854 by Joseph S. Denny and subsequently enlarged by Dr. William McPhee Fuller, a dentist. An advertisement in the Winchester Times for June 30, 1898 locates his office as the “fifth door west of the Episcopal Church on Water Street.”

The house contains ten fireplaces and the original cherry circular staircase which spirals from the first to the third floor. Found throughout are intricate moldings and woodwork showing a master’s touch. The kitchen and a butler’s pantry converted to a wet bar have been completely modernized by Richard Oram. The carriage house to the rear of the property, which has been restored, will be included on the tour. Artifacts of Dr. Fuller will be displayed in the home.


Daylight Tickets

Tickets valid for Daylight Tours on Sunday, December 6.
 




Holiday House Tour 2015: 530 Amherst Street

530 Amherst Street
The Office of Preservation of Historic Winchester

530 Amherst Street

The Hexagon House, owned and maintained by the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, has been the location of Preservation of Historic Winchester’s office since 2006. This six-sided Italianate villa was constructed between 1871-1874 by James W. Burgess, a local furniture and casket dealer.

Burgess listed the Hexagon House for sale in the Winchester News in September of 1873. It was advertised as “one of the most convenient and substantial new brick dwellings in the valley” with a basement cistern, spacious rooms, and multiple closets. It is the only known hexagonal house built in Virginia, and one of only a dozen across the United States. The MSV purchased the property in 1985 and restored the building to its 1870s appearance. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The PHW Office on the first floor is furnished with Henkel-Harris furniture, maps of Winchester, and artwork relating to Winchester’s architecture and the history of PHW.


Daylight Tickets

Tickets valid for Daylight Tours on Sunday, December 6.
 




Holiday House Tour 2015: 226 Amherst Street

226 Amherst Street
The Home of George and Jeanne Schember

226 Amherst Street

The Daniel Morgan House, home of the Revolutionary War General, was built in 1786 by London merchant George Flowerdew Norton. General Morgan, famed rifleman, moved here as his retirement home in 1800 and reputedly built the western portion at that time. He died in the upstairs master bedroom on July 6, 1802.

Found throughout the home are the original Dutch elbow locks, doors, and red pine flooring. Most of the eight mantels date to the 1830s when the house was upgraded by Alexander Tidball. Other major architectural features, including the staircase, room layout, paneling and wainscoting, would have been familiar to Morgan himself. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Mr. and Mrs. Schember’s eclectic collections of artwork, furnishings, and Christmas tree decorations were acquired during their extensive foreign and domestic travels.


Daylight Tickets

Tickets valid for Daylight Tours on Sunday, December 6.