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November 19, 2019
Art Behind the Scenes Creativity Faith Inspiration Lessons from nature Life Sculpture Where we come from

Art that connects with The Creator

Kristi Nash Harrison says she's an attention deficit artist. "I jump from one thing to the next," she told me when I caught up with her this week as she was preparing for what's become known as "the most anticipated little craft show in Mechanicsville." That would be The Three Whine Oh’s and Friends Holiday Open House at my Inspiring Handmade partner in art, Patti Jones' home and studio: 8352 Devil's Den Lane, Mechanicsville, VA 23111, in Battlefield Green. This year (the show's 17th) the fun begins...

by Stephen Rountree
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Photo of Ruby and Will Price holding the toddler Stephen around 1968 or '69 in Pearisburg, Va.
November 5, 2019
Art Creativity Faith Family Inspiration Life Where we come from

Remembering a wise & creative grandmother

Handmade doll furniture by Ruby Price My Grandma Ruby would have been 112 today. Born in 1907, she passed away just weeks before our first child was born in 2004. I've shared a little about her here, where I discussed the handmade furniture she created from scraps of wood for my mother to use with her dolls. In honor of Ruby Cox Price Johnston today, I want to share some of what I wrote for her memorial service 15 years ago. When I remember Grandma, I remember sweet iced tea....

by Stephen Rountree
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photo of Patti Jones on her family's farm with the black walnut tree
October 7, 2019
Art Behind the Scenes Creativity Family Inspiration Life Where we come from

The old black walnut tree

I recently traveled back home to visit my mom for a few days on the family farm in Wythe County, Virginia. I love that farm, which has been in my family for so many generations. The living monument that has stood guard over the farm all these years is a huge black walnut tree. In its younger days, it served as a property marker. In recent years, the graceful old tree has offered a place to hold countless family picnics. And to every generation, the tree has offered...

by Patti Jones
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Image of Celebrate Life, a sculpture in wire and cut paper on driftwood by Patti Jones.
February 14, 2019
Adversity Art Faith Inspiration Life Where we come from

First piece in a new series celebrates life

Take Time to Stop & Smell the Roses: Appreciating the little things I am a breast cancer survivor. As I work on this Wire People collection, "Childhood Memories," I am reminded that as terrible as breast cancer is, it can never take away your precious memories. This collection is dedicated to my mom and grandmother. My grandmother was diagnosed before I was born and passed away when I was a young girl. My mom received her diagnosis last summer at the age of 88 and is a strong fighter and...

by Patti Jones
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November 5, 2016
Adversity Art Inspiration Introductory Where we come from

Grandma Ruby

My Grandma Ruby didn't have a lot of money as she raised my mother and her two sisters and step-children in Pearisburg, a small town nestled in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. If her family was to have most anything, Grandma had to make it. From dolls’ clothes and furniture, to tablecloths to my mother's feed sack dresses—Grandma crafted from necessity perhaps more than from a need to express herself. The few surviving pieces show a rugged utilitarian aesthetic, concealing a deep love of a mother for...

by Stephen Rountree
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November 3, 2016
Art Creativity Family Inspiration Introductory Life Welcome Where we come from

Paw Umberger gave space for inspiration

My grandfather, Homer Blanton Umberger, was born and raised on the family farm in Wytheville, Virginia in 1897. The land had been given to his family as part of a land grant from the King of England many years before. My grandfather lived on that farm, the Reed Creek Poultry Farm, all his life. He married Margaret Dean and had one child, my mom, Marjorie Dean. She married my dad, Maitland Wassum. More than 120 years later, my mom and my brother's family still live on that...

by Patti Jones
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