The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina [Paperback]

Jay Fields (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

Back roads and scenic byways to some of the most beautiful handmade objects in the world.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This is more than a simple guidebook to craft. It is the story of people. People whose lives are colored by their art and whose art colors the lives of anyone who comes to know their work. And where are these people? They're "down the road a piece" or "round the bend" or "within shoutin' distance." And they're in this book. Consider for example, the following: Under the roof of a 100-year-old chestnut barn somewhere outside Sylva, a young woman patiently coaxes a human form out of a block of marble in the method of a Renaissance master. In the shadow of the Smokies, a Cherokee woman weaves river cane into a basket using movements that belong not only to her, but to an ancestry that pre-dates our country. At the edge of the Penland campus, a former rocket scientist experiments with new dinnerware glazes in his basement studio. On the looms that have shuttled for decades, women of the Crossnore community make woven goods prized by presidents and favorite uncles. Not far from Brevard, hundreds of summer campers get up to their elbows in wet clay under the joyous guidance of a kindred spirit. And near John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, a slender, friendly gentlemen shows guests his work-- gouged-out bowls and platters made from trees he planted as seedlings. This book is an invitation. It invites you to discover a world you may have no idea existed. But here in the mountains and hill country of Western North Carolina, where you can see only as far as the next bend, something of timeless grace unfolds.

From the Back Cover

Tuck this book under your arm and head for the mountains! Introducing the new second edition of the most comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to craft in Western North Carolina. This lavishly illustrated book lists studios, galleries, historic inns and noteworthy restaurants and other attractions throughout 22 counties and along seven scenic loop tours that stretch out from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Embroidered with colorful side stories, route maps, and photography, it's a volume that beckons you to mountain roads and the rites of discovery. Along the way, you'll happen upon some truly remarkable finds-often around the bend, deep in the narrows of a mountain cove, across a mountain stream, or in a storefront along a postcard street.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: HandMade in America; 2 edition (June 1, 1998)
• ISBN-10: 096519051X
• ISBN-13: 978-0965190510
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,107,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)