Christmas in New Harmony was two weeks ago. What a fantastic show! Traffic was great, people were having fun and the weather couldn’t be better! I have been crazy busy since and am running behind on everything it seems now, including posting about this great show.

I wanted to show you a little bit of everyone’s work that was in the Rapp-Owen Granary which holds the Artisan’s Market. The Artisan’s Market is where the fine arts are located.

We’ll start with to the right of my booth and work my way around. Directly to my right was my friend Tom Wintczak the potter and owner of Bee Tree Pottery. Look at the backdrop behind Tom, why it’s my paintings! haha… While I took pics of everyone, I neglected any good shots of my own or of me. Oh well. Back to Tom…

Next to Tom was a sweet and talented married couple, Ron and Carole Leonhardt of Evansville, IN. They’re still working on a web presence but Carole tells me a Facebook page for the both of them is on their list of things to do. Ron is a watercolor painter and Carole does weaving. Carole had soft and wonderfully colored scarves she had made. Ron had both abstract and traditional landscapes for sale. I especially liked his abstracts.

Across from Carole and Ron was French Ridge Pottery by Roberta Gayer of Tell City, Indiana. She had colorful, funky and fun pottery. Just look at the hilarious face on the jug below Robbie’s photo.

Behind Roberta was a very busy jewelry booth with a very cool name. Michael Gaines is the artist and designer of Blue Blood Black Sheep. Michael was a hoot and I just loved his work. His Secret Message Bracelets were flying off the rack. Michael lives and creates his jewelry in Henderson, Kentucky. My favorite piece was the stunning teal and black necklace below.

Next to Michael was another painter. Painted by Patty by Patricia K. Beagle had the sweetest votives and egg ornaments with little birds painted on them among other beautiful painted lovelies like little wooden bird houses. Patty was here last year for Christmas in New Harmony and has since come up with many more pieces of art for sale. Patty doesn’t have a website yet, but if you’re interested in her work you can email her at pbeagleusi [at] hotmail.com.

Across from Michael was Loom Hall Textiles, hand woven cloth that celebrates the tradition of domestic fabrics of the early period in colonial America. You may remember Loom Hall from last year, I had photos of Peggy spinning wool into roving. This is Peggy’s sweet daughter, Emily. Unfortunately, Peggy wasn’t able to attend this year, she was recovering from being sick.

To the left of Loom Hall was the entertainment of the weekend! Music by Elaine. We had the absolute pleasure to get to listen to the sweet and soothing sounds of a harp, violin and acoustic guitar by a father and daughter duo, Elaine Wilson and her father Richard Wilson.

The harp is just a magical sounding instrument and she played it beautifully. It was so calming and ethereal. Considering everything that has been going on in the world as of late, this was a welcome and happy event partly due to the environment enhanced by Elaine and Richard. Music just transforms an event! She is for hire, check out her site.

Sharing a space was Elaine’s sister, Ellen Wilson. A true family affair here! Ellen made specialized organic herbal blend teas. I loved the names she had for them. Here’s a few names “If I only had a Brain tea”, “Sweet Rest” and another was “Happy Ladies Tea”, I think I need that one! haha… There were more photos, but they were out of focus, dang. I’m not sure what all the letters after her name means but I’m sure they’re important so I’m listing them here. Ellen Wilson, M.H., C.H.S. The Wilson’s are out of Fairfield, Illinois.

Next up across the stairs from The Wilson’s booth was Tony Treadway Clay. Tony and Christy Treadway are new residents to New Harmony and this was their first show here at Christmas in New Harmony. Tony is the artist in residence for New Harmony and his work is just beautiful. I loved it all, but was especially fond of the Japanese Maple leaves theme he had.

Across from Tony was Tiffany Piazza owner of Dharma Cowgirl. Tiffany was here last year and continually has beautiful handcrafted jewelry and such a cool booth! She and her husband make all the display racks. Not only gorgeous, her jewelry is hand crafted from fine silver and gemstones making each piece unique and special. She had so many pretty pieces I could not pick just one favorite but many! But the evil eye earrings were begging me to bring them home… and the bracelets and the necklaces!

Wow this has turned into a long post, but I knew it would be. Are you still with me?

Across from Tiffany is another jewelry artist. The mother and daughter duo, the Rappee’s . Yes, that is technically two more jewelry vendors, but that’s the great thing about shopping artisan handmade at shows like Christmas in New Harmony. Each and every artist has such a different style and technique, there is something for everyone.

I’ll start with Sue Rappee. Sue has beautifully crafted silver and copper jewelry in natural type of themes, like leaf motifs. Beautiful beadwork and also mystic type of things like the beautiful chakra necklace below. To reach Sue email her at csrappee [at] yahoo.com.

Now here is Sara Rappee. Sara works with stone and silver. She grinds, shapes and polishes each stone. She has lovely wire work that is uniquely her own.

Finally, we have Becky Kiesel’s beautiful hand crafted jewelry made using Italian brass hardware that she obtained from Karges Furniture, a very high end furniture company that has since gone out of business. I’ve never seen anything quite like Becky’s pieces and they were absolutely gorgeous. She was so nice and her display was beautiful. Becky doesn’t have a website yet, but I think her work can be found at The Red Lantern, a gallery in the restaurant The Red Wagon in Poseyville, Indiana. If you would like to contact her, Becky’s email is bjkiesel [at] twc.com.

So we’re back around to my booth. You’ve seen it many times, but hey, here it is again. I sold the koi fish and a leaf painting on the other side 😀

I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour and visit the links of all the fabulous artists that I featured here. One artist I neglected to get a photo of her booth and that was because she was downstairs and I honestly just forgot. Kotah Moon is a fabulous metal artist and I have a growing collection of her work. Here is my latest that I acquired at the show, The Tree of Life and I love it.

You never know what you’ll see at Christmas in New Harmony… See you in the spring! My next show is Spring Fling March 19 & 20th 2016!

If you’re new to my blog and website have a look at my ‘About’ page in the menu at the top. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts in the form of expressionism. If you’re interested in my art, I have a newsletter mailed about once a month that gives you special status for invitations, birthday greeting and more. Sign up here for it.