There are some incredible artisans in this part of country. When spending a Saturday afternoon in downtown Stuart a while back, I heard about Round the Mountain. It’s a program under the Virginia Works Initiative that began in 2004 to assist the artisans in southwest Virginia with marketing, educational, and entrepreneurial opportunities. It is establishing a craft trail network, much like the Crooked Road does with music, through 19 counties in this part of the Commonwealth. Patrick County, where the Fairystone Cabin is located, is one of the counties.
The Round the Mountain Web Site
If you’re into pottery, photography, painting, crafts, homemade preserves, road side produce stands and the like, you’ll want to check out the Round the Mountain web site, http://www.roundthemountain.org/. It lists a bunch of events along the route where you can meet the farmers and artists and see their goods.
For example, the first event I clicked on was “Art Off the Wall,” a show that features seven artisans in seven different three-dimensional media: clay, wood, stone, stained glass, fabric, metal, and lampwork glass beads. It takes place in Floyd, May 1st through May 3rd. Pretty cool! There are many events like that on the site.
Artists in the Fairystone Cabin
When we began furnishing the Fairystone Cabin, we decided we would do our best to buy things that came from Virginia. The artists and craftspeople are so talented here, why not enjoy their work in the cabin? Most of our furniture, crafts, pottery, photos, and paintings are from south and west Virginia. (A few things came from central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.) Traveling to the communities around Fairystone to make the cabin a home has been fun. We’ve seen cool places, met some great people, and learned much about the region.
On a Roll
The first “art” we purchased for the cabin was a series of nature photos taken by Burton Floyd, an incredibly talented photographer and friend from the Shenandoah Valley. His work has been featured in Blue Ridge Country Magazine. http://www.burtonfloyd.com/ The photo at the top of this post is one of his.
Hanging his photos in the cabin gave us the idea of staying “local,” or at least staying “Virginia.” We followed the photos with a painting of Mabry Mill that we found in downtown Stuart. Then a candle holder we came across in Floyd. A cool handmade vase, also from Floyd, came next. We were off and running. The furniture is from Bassett, Rocky Mount, and Roanoke. A painting by P. Buckley Moss brought some central Virginia into the mix.
It’s All Right Here
This region has so much to offer with the incredible music, trails, lakes, rivers, mountains, and scenery. Don’t forget to add art to the list.
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