Just In Time for Spring: A Fresh Bunch of Artisan Products for Your Home
Posted by Linda Atiyeh - April 2, 2015
At Gallery 30 we know that the trick to surviving your annual spring cleaning is having a beautiful new piece of art to display in your home when you’re done! This spring we are happy to introduce several new collections of handmade products designed to decorate your space with creativity and style.
Bovano Cheshire
For over 50 years Bovano Cheshire has brought a playful approach to designing and handcrafting vitreous glass enamel wall art. Based in Cheshire, Connecticut, the family-owned business has become world-renowned for their vivid colors, timeless designs and unrivaled quality.
The creation of each Bovano piece is a long, delicate process that requires the work of several talented artists. The process begins with the cutting and forming of raw copper into the numerous shapes required for each design. Finely ground glass powders are meticulously applied to the surface of the copper, and the glass is then fused to the metal inside a furnace that burns at about 1600°F. The copper shapes are then removed from the furnace, and the vitreous glass surface hardens into a jewel-like enamel finish. As the molten glass cools, its bright color is also revealed. In fact, hundreds of brilliant colors, including reds, greens, yellows and blues, can be achieved using this specialized process.
Skilled welders then combine the enameled pieces to create a sculpture. Each delicate joint is carefully welded, structural components are brazed with brass or bronze and the metal is polished, buffed and coated to protect its finish. The completed wall art that captures the vibrant artistry of nature with designs featuring birds, trees, flowers and other botanical elements.
Laurie Pollpeter Eskenazi
Another new artist at Gallery 30 is Illinois potter Laurie Pollpeter Eskenazi. Laurie has worked with clay for over 25 years and her organic-style ceramic pottery is inspired by traditional 19th and early 20th century needle crafts. Many of her pieces feature layered impressions taken from vintage lace, buttons and handmade stamps, and she translates these vintage elements into contemporary stoneware using a combination of wheel throwing, coil and slab techniques.
The colors and textures of Laurie’s work are heavily influenced by her travels throughout France, Italy, Spain and the American Midwest. The pottery shows a mastery of glaze patterning and features a vibrant color palette of rich reds, verdant greens and tranquil shades of turquoise. Her signature pieces are hearts and crosses designed to be displayed as wall art. These whimsical wall sculptures make a statement individually but would also look wonderful in a group inside your home, on a front porch wall, or on the side of a garden shed.
Gallery 30 has an impressive selection of Laurie’s ceramic wall art as well as stoneware clay serving pieces. The lovely serving pieces can be hung on the wall or used to add a splash of color to your table--and they are all food safe, dishwasher safe and oven safe!
fieldstone tableware
Also new to Gallery 30 this spring is a collection of fieldstone tableware. A studio of artisans has partnered with New England farmers to create custom coasters and food slabs using freshly gathered fieldstones. Their mission is to share the geology of the land and the story of the farmers by making sweet irony of the rocky soil that makes farming in New England so difficult. Long ago, glaciers pushed boulders from far-away mountains into America’s Northeast soil; the region’s freeze-thaw cycle perpetually pushes these boulders, often called “New England potatoes,” to the surface of the fields. To this day the farmers’ work of clearing these stones is non-stop.
The artisans gather the rocks on the farms then sort, saw and polish each one at their Massachusetts studio, creating the first ever “farm-to-table” fieldstone tableware! Their artistry gives value to the rocks while also providing farmers with extra income, in turn preserving open space and independent American farms. Currently the artists have partnered with over 45 working farms, and each piece of serving ware is labeled with the location of the sourcing farm.
In addition to our latest collections, new designs have just arrived at Gallery 30 from several of our favorite artists as well. We have a fresh crop of locally grown and handcrafted gourds, etched clay pottery wall plaques and exquisitely hand painted wooden signs to help put a little spring in your step.
Linda Atyeh: About the Author
The owner of Gallery 30 since 2007, Linda Atiyeh personally curates Gallery 30’s collection of American fine art and artisan crafts. Linda's inspired vision has empowered Gallery 30 to flourish, while remaining true to the beliefs central to its incredible longevity and success. Over the years, Linda has redefined Gallery 30's artisan craft collection to place a greater emphasis on Pennsylvania and Gettysburg related products, and she has personally selected Gallery 30's exquisite handcrafted jewelry collection - drawn from around the world. Under Linda Atiyeh's direction, Gallery 30 expanded from its original 3,000 square feet location to its new home, a 9,100-square-foot lovingly restored historic property at 26 York Street.
A native Pennsylvanian, Linda Atiyeh takes great pride in her community and is committed to giving back to the region. Linda is on the board of directors of the Adams County Arts Council and the Historic Gettysburg Adams County Preservation Society. She is also a member of Main Street Gettysburg, Gettysburg Area Retail Merchants Association, the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen.
