Henry
County Arts & Crafts Guild
Area
artists to converge
on winery for fall show
Newcomers,
veterans
to exhibit at Smith-Berry
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
NEW CASTLE, Ky. (September 2005) Its not unusual for
Kathy Wariner to pack a sketchbook under her arm wherever she goes.
Having grown up on a farm in Indiana, animals, plants and occasionally
people make up the array of natural subjects she prefers for her watercolor
artwork.
|
Photo
provided
Kathy
Wariner in front of
one of her paintings.
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Wariner sketches a subject in ink, then fills it in with
color. Im not a traditional watercolorist, Wariner
said.
Wariner majored in fine arts at Indiana University Southeast. She first
went into mechanical drafting but after taking a fine arts class, fell
in love with it, she said.
Having lived in Tennessee off and on for years, Wariner finally relocated
to Pendleton, Ky., a year and a half ago. There, she sought ways to
become involved in the arts, locally.
From the moment Wariner heard about the Henry County Arts & Craft
Guild, she was immediately interested. She and her daughter, Jessi,
were juried in and will participate in the upcoming sixth annual Henry
County Arts and Craft Guild Fall Show from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sept.
24.
There will be more than 25 artists and special events associated with
the show, which will be held at the Smith-Berry Winery on Hwy. 202 in
New Castle. The winery is located on a small family farm, which until
a few years ago was a traditional cattle and tobacco farm. The owners
diversified it by transforming it into a grape growing, wine-making
business.
Admission is free from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. After 5 p.m., an admission is
charged for an evening concert by John Berry and the Outliers, who will
perform their own brand of honkytonk country music.
The guild was invited by winery owners, Chuck and Mary Berry Smith,
to hold their annual art show at the winery, said guild president Sharon
Silvers. The location and atmosphere will be ideal with the art
theme, she said.
The guild was formed six years ago with the goal of showcasing local
artists and their works. Of the guilds 28 members, 25 will participate,
along with a few invited guests. Silvers said the show is a way for
patrons to see Henry Countys artists and their creative ideas.
Wariner, 43, has participated in similar shows in the past, and has
held three one-woman shows of her own. She sells prints of her artwork
because they are more affordable than the originals, she said.
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Photo
provided
One
of Kathy Wariner's
paintings of a bunny.
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Her prints of various animals hang at Vanderbilt Childrens
Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. In a juried show of about 500 entrants,
Wariner was in a group of 20 artists whose artwork was chosen to hang
in the childrens rooms at the hospital.
Wariner will be joined by Tony De Caro, another artist new to the Henry
County Arts & Crafts Guild. De Caro has his own business, Iron Leaf
Forge, from which he fashions hand-forged items.
De Caro will make anything anybody wants, as long as its
not too big to handle, he said. He does a lot of commissioned
work and when creating a piece, Customers give me a lot of freedom.
De Caro will go so far as to visit a customers home to get a feel
for what he wants.
De Caro, 51, said he enjoys the collaboration of working out details
with his client, and makes a lot of sketches before actually beginning
a piece of artwork. Iron is amazing, said De Caro. The idea
of a hard solid piece of iron changing into a piece of artwork that
is alive, is part of the appeal for De Caro.
His fascination with iron began as a hobby while he continued his full-time
job as a message therapist. A discussion with a client one day about
what to do with the clients hand-painted tiles from Portugal led
De Caro to craft them into a table.
Working with iron is the single, most creative thing Ive
ever done, said De Caro. He uses a lot of different mediums before
actually working with the iron. De Caro said he likes to ad glass to
the pieces he crafts, fashioning items such as kerosene lamps.
Originally from Miami, DeCaro moved to Henry County in 1981. He said
all of his artwork is custom made and the cost is one-half to three-fourths
the price charged by downtown Louisville forge crafters.
De Caro will have hand-wrought items such as fireplace pokers, shovels
and fire screens at the art show. Other artwork on display will include
wooden bowls, handcrafted furniture, primitives, paintings, baskets,
and painted gourds.
For more information contact Sharon Silvers at (502) 845-4560.
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Articles.