We are excited to feature pieces from the talented group of local artisans known as Rocktown Urban Wood. These craftsmen have a passion for making quality pieces that bring joy and function to their customer’s lives. From custom dining tables to wall hangings, mirrors, and cutting boards, their portfolio houses a variety of one-of-a-kind pieces. Each of their unique pieces is crafted from locally sourced wood and they partner with local individuals and companies to ensure surrounding resources can be used to their fullest potential.
We invite everyone to stop by the Depot on Friday, May 6th between 5:00-7:00pm to check out their work. Visit our event page here to RSVP and learn more about this event. We look forward to celebrating the arts in our community and seeing many of you there!
Cutting boards custom-made by Rocktown Urban Wood.
We are thrilled for the return of First Fridays downtown and will feature artist Lori Mier on Friday, April 1st, 2022 from 5:00pm-8:00pm. Read along to learn a bit more about Lori’s story and the influences on her work.
Lori Mier is the creator and owner of her story. She loves chai tea and sunrise hikes. She owns Blue Mountain Path Coaching LLC where she offers healing experiences as an Ecotherapist Guide, Author, and Photographer. Merin and Her Very Bright Star: A Story of Resiliency is her first children’s book. Lori is on a mission to help normalize grief and healing and hard conversations. Lori has a degree in Social Work and created a not-for-profit hiking program–Through Hiking– along with her husband to offer guided hikes to agencies and youth in foster care. She serves on the Equity Committee for Rockingham County Public Schools and also sits on the Board of Directors for RISE Foundation in Waynesboro, VA where she is committed to education, political action, and racial justice work. Although she is not originally from Virginia, Lori feels the most at home where she lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband and son.
It took a couple of years for Lori to call herself an artist. She never set out to be a photographer and only began calling herself one after multiple people asked if she sold the images that she captured on her sunrise and sunset hikes in the Appalachian Mountains. Originally she grew up in Minnesota, a few years on a lake resort, where she began connecting to nature; the northern lights, the great blue heron named Willie that would sit at the end of the dock every morning. What she now believes connects her to the Appalachian mountains is her time living in Oregon when she was a toddler; the place where her parents lost their lives. When she returned in the summer of 2020 to those Oregon mountains she saw how much they resemble what she knows of the Valley. Lori loves to capture the morning and evening light and share her spiritual and therapeutic connection of her hikes with others. She created an Etsy shop, Butterfly and The Storm, to do so. Her work can be seen in a gallery in Staunton, VA, Basement on Byers, and has been featured on the cover of and inside AT Journey’s Magazine and local travel brochures.
“Growing up in extremely rural Virginia, I have always been inspired by my number one muse, nature, and the materials that are derived from it. After working in a jewelry-crafting supply store in Richmond, I began making jewelry about 10 years ago because simply put, I wanted to make original things for myself that nobody else had. Earth Metals has been the slow-developing process of turning the hand-crafted items I make and sell to friends into a tiny side business and regular hobby. I try to use natural materials when I can and have a penchant for using recycled materials as well. My work is a sum of multiple influences, from my deep fondness for the outdoors to the slight obsession with all things celestial. The literature and music that I love weave their way into my work. Death and its beautiful, rightful place in the cycle of nature is also something I’ve always pondered; you’ll see that theme reflected in my work as well. I am obviously an ardent fan of skeletons. I try not to take my art too seriously; I create for the pure and simple joy of creating. “
J. Nicole Clatterbuck is a sometimes-jewelry designer, sometimes-nature photographer, educator, caretaker, writer, and freelance music booking agent in the Shenandoah Valley. She’s also an avid reader, a mediocre painter, traveler, and a passionate outdoors explorer. She has lived in a number of stunning places but will always count herself lucky to consider Virginia “home.”
Nicole Clatterbuck will be a featured artist at Christmas at the Depot, to RSVP to this event checkhere. Or to learn more about the other featured artists at this event check out Lorie Mier, and Tony Distefano.
An artist with a camera documenting the beauty of the world. Tony DiStefano has called home many beautiful places from the forests of Western PA to the mountains of Southeastern New York State. He has now found his place in Harrisonburg – an area rich with opportunities for creative souls – for more than half of his adult life. You might recognize Tony from his many local shows and his earlier collection, “Through the Lens” back in 2019!
Tony’s work documents his love of the outdoors, as an avid hiker and fisherman since childhood, he has found wonder in nature. Inspired by his brother’s and uncle’s work with macro photography, Tony began his photographic journey in 2013. A prolific shutterbug, he has captured and shared hundreds of captivating images, ranging from birds, flowers, and insects to rural vistas and natural light portraits. While Tony’s work primarily focuses on nature he enjoys highlighting the tiny details organisms have to offer that wouldn’t normally be noticed by the human eye, giving small organisms a big personality through his macro lens. His work also highlights the beauty of texture found in nature like a praying mantis skin or a humming bird’s wings!
For more information on this event or to rsvp check here! Tony’s work will be featured along with Lori Mier’s!
Lori shares her story and inspires others through the written word. She loves chai tea and mountain sunrises with her son and is heavily influenced by the beauty and wholesomeness of nature. She invites you to meet the author at “Christmas at the Depot” on December 3rd along with other artists, Red Wing Academy, and Santa!
Broken Crayons Still Color: Life Afteris the first book by Author, Lori Mier. She is also the author of Merin and Her Very Bright Star: A story of resiliency, a children’s book that was deeply inspired by Lori’s own story of loss and healing. This book has been reviewed in the Citizen and praised as an excellent source for children to understand resiliency. She uses her story to inspire and nurture a love of reading. She has a degree in Social Work and currently works independently as an Ecotherapist Guide, Life Coach, and nature photographer, combining all of these to offer a unique and healing experience. Her healing nature photography has been published on the cover of AT Journeys magazine as well as in Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine and local travel brochures. Lori lives in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia with her husband and son, working to make her community a better place through her writing and photography.
We can’t believe it is already November and we are ramping up for the first Friday festivities with featured artist: Matty Tesch! Matty was born and raised in Findlay, Ohio, and later attended Bowling Green State University (BGSU) to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Between being a freelance designer and marketing executive Tesch spends her free time painting natural subjects and experimenting with color interaction. She enjoys exploring the relationship between opposite tones and blending, pulling inspiration from light interactions on skin.
Most of her artwork focuses on ridiculous-looking animals and their relationship to color and pattern. Her peculiar subject matter branches directly from the pandemic- as the world became tenser she pursued lighthearted inspiration. “My paintings have no purpose other than my own amusement, I paint for myself and it has worked out well so far.” Her love of detail also plays a part in her work – throughout school she focused most of her energy on subject details disregarding the container itself, she solved this problem by just working on smaller “mini” pieces.
You can check out more of Matty’s colorful creations through the month of November at theCW Depot! Or check out her Instagram for her newest pieces! You can also learn more or RSVP to this event here.
