Visit With A Creeker - Perry Holbrook

[Jim Becker]

Dr. SWMBO and I spent the weekend at a lovely bed and breakfast outside Black Mountain NC, near Asheville NC with all but one of her five siblings and their families. It was a nice area to visit and we took advantage of the proximity to lots of nice galleries and other attractions. We also had the pleasure of stopping by to visit with Perry Holbrook and his wife at their beautiful home just outside of Asheville.

I've corresponded with Perry for a few years now and seen a limited amount of his work at a local gallery near here, but wow, what he is doing now is really incredible. He works in wood as well as copper and has now moved into incorporating fused glass tiles that he creates in his shop. He also is doing some very nice glass lamps. If you missed the link to his site previously, you can take a look at his work at http://www.kopperwood.com/ . Truly wonderful stuff! (And I managed to score a nice piece for my own growing collection of art from folks I know and meet)

If visiting with Perry wasn't enough, he turned us on to the Grovewood Gallery adjacent to the historic Grove Park Inn...an massive Arts & Crafts inspired structure that houses some impressive pieces of furniture, itself. The clock and fireplace pictured below are located in the hotel. (please note the scale of the fireplace...that's Dr. SWMBO there to give you a clue about how big that sucker is...and it's just one of several of this size) But the gallery next door..."to die for". For those of you who are familiar with the Furniture Society, the Grovewood Gallery seems to be "ground zero" for that organization as the Executive Director's office is located there and the furniture gallery upstairs is chock-full of incredible work from various makers. I was so happy that pictures were allowed, as there were a number of pieces that could very well inspire some work of my own for our home sometime in the future. I will share some of those shots in the Design Forum from time to time, but have included two pictures from the current featured display on the first floor; one a mission side table in QS white oak and the other a table/chair combo in some of the most beautiful figured maple I've ever seen. Outstanding work!!

Thanks again to Perry for a wonderful visit. I learned a lot from our conversation, his workshop and his methods. And one other thing...this is a dude who understands his business, too. He knows what sells and when...and gears his work accordingly. Something very important when you are making a living from it!

[Corey Hallagan]

Sounds like it was a great time Jim. That fireplace is massive and that clock is too kewl! Thanks for the pics!
Corey

[Mark Singer]

Jim,

Sounds great! The work is beautiful....!

[Dan Forman]

Jim---Thanks for posting these photo's. Sounds like you had a great time, and I love that mission side table in particular. Though it would not be considered "traditional" I wonder how it would look made of that curly maple? Could this get me burned at the stake for heresy?

Dan

[Andy London]

I too have got to find the time to visit Perry one of these years, we have been writing back and forth on and off for a long time, his work is simply amazing and I am very happy he is doing so well.....That gallery/house you were at, my oh my, that curly maple table and chair has my name written all over it.....of course the wife says looking over my sholder....why don't you build one of those.....my reply as always is they haven't brought in the 60 hour work day yet

Thanks for those pictures.....I gotta get out more and see some of these places...perhaps this summer when my son and I do a road trip down your way.

Andy

[Jim Becker]

I too have got to find the time to visit Perry one of these years...

Your ears must have been ringing as I brought up your name when I saw his triple CMS setup that not quite mirrors yours! Yea, you have to visit there one of these days...but not until you visit here, of course.

[Dan Gill]

That's a beautiful place, and that table and chair are awesome! What is the panel with the through tenons standing just to the left of the log rack in the third picture?

[Jim Becker]

What is the panel with the through tenons standing just to the left of the log rack in the third picture?

A sign, I believe.

[Jerry Olexa]

Jim, that area is one of my favorites in the US. Did you get to the Biltmore in Asheville or get up on the Blue Ridge Parkway? Beautiful mountains and area! Its probably Spring there already. We stayed at the Grove Park Inn on one of our earlier trips. Sounds like you enjoyed it!

[Jim Becker]

Jerry, we originally intended to visit Biltmore, but since it is so early in the season, decided not to spend the money this time around...the grounds are a very important part of the attraction and things are barely starting to bud. (We were advised the same by our hosts at the B&B)

[Perry Holbrook]

Thanks for stopping by Jim and the kind words. Sometimes I take for granted how lucky I am to be able to live here. I made a delivery at Grovewood this morning and made an effort to walk around as if it were my first visit, it's very humbling to be included in their gallery.

And, Grovewood, New Morning Gallery, Blue Spiral, etc are just a few of the dozens of galleries we have here. There are over 3000 full time artist living in this region and over 5000 part timers. To be such a relatively small town, Asheville is usually in the top 15 arts destinitions in the country each year.

Anyway, if anyone else would like to visit, I'll be glad to help out if I can.

Perry

Now I'm off to the other part of our state, the outer banks, that is a must visit. I'll be in a class learning to build a glass kiln and then using the kiln to make a glass sink.