"Chunn's Cove"
Douglas Ellington House
"He was like an innocent child,” Middleton says; his playfulness along with his acute sense of color and his love of found materials became his hallmarks."

Named the "Most Significant Residence in North America" by Architectural Digest in 1932, Chunn's Cove was built by Douglas Ellington and his brother and partner Kenneth Ellington, "...of 'scraps and samples.' According to his niece Sally Middleton, '...it is the result of 'two men having fun' and never wasting material. The pink granite came from the High School, the mosaics around the living room were architectural samples, the ceiling beams were from an old school house in Reem's Creek that Vance attended..."

Discover the Bliss of
Art Deco Architecture

Two themes bound Deco buildings and their decorative schemes together: a regional pride that tied buildings to their specific locales and functions, and a growing national symbolism that asserted the buildings' identity as uniquely, independently American. American Art Deco features descriptions —and over 500 color photographs—of seventy-five lavish and innovatively designed buildings across the country that have been preserved both outside and in, giving the full scope of this beloved, exciting style.

This wonderful book includes a section on Douglas Ellington's Asheville buildings, and confirms and adds to niece Sally Middleton's comments about his propensity for building with salvage with words like ""While engaged in these and other commissions, Ellington was building his own house on Chunn's Cove with materials scavenged from the church (red Booker brick), Asheville City Hall (Georgia pink marble, buff brick), and the new high school building (Balfour Pink, a local granite, and Airedale brick). He salvaged from other sources as well...Guastavinao provided tiles and engineering for the entrance arcade on City Hall and Ellington incorporated tile remnants into his home as well. Ellington was known as a jackdaw, salvaging materials from any available source....." He even hired a blacksmith named Daniel Boone (grandson of THE Daniel Boone) to make architectural and decorative items from his salvage. "...Iron grilles on doors were made from material which is the precusor of rebar and was used in concrete work at the time. Boone made the fireplace andirons from brass fire-hose nozzles...."

Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds: Built Environments of Vernacular Artists "...Prepare to be dazzled by houses completely covered in rhinestones, painted from top to bottom, or graced with an enormous rock garden filled with creatures. This book will certainly inspire your own artistic adventure..."

"... an excellent and in-depth overview of Raw Art, Art Brut and whatever else you want to call these projects made by mostly hobbyist retired farmers and other non-artsy fartsy folk artists scattered

Raven Tata - Cosimos Collection
"Cosimos Collection is the creation of artist Raven Tata.
From early childhood she's been an inventor, sculptor, and artist. Today her work reflects her love of things mechanical, spiritual, and of the earth. Working in wood, metal, fabric, found objects, old papers and photos, Raven creates beautiful 3 dimensional functional sculpture.
".... [Within her website] you will find her current production line of decorative wall mirrors.... True to my namesake, I have always been a collector. My pockets are full of rusted metal, twigs, broken pieces of glass, and rocks. My studio mirrors my pockets but on a grander scale. If it speaks to me, I pick it up and save it until the day it tells me to which piece it belongs. My artist metaphor is one of life pieces, scattered over the planet, joining together to tell a story. My story, their story, it doesn't matter, the story is all the same. The pieces that I select speak of beauty, neglect, eternity, simplicity, relations, and spirituality. My techniques are as varied as the elements I choose. I paint, weld, solder, and forge. I develop, learn, or invent. Whatever technique is needed to give my discarded objects a place of honor and respect in the world which they belong...." Raven Tata lives in the Toe River Valley, and her wonderful mirrors can be seen during the twice-a-year TRAC Studio Tour and at the exhibits at the two Toe River Art Galleries which accompany each tour.. You can also order from Tata's website.

Susan Hayden
Award-winning folk artist Susan Hayden makes birds and bird houses and even people houses out of recycled materials ".... I take the pieces that you throw away or that you sell at a flea maket or that you scrap or toss in the garbage and they become my craft supplies. I love folk art and other artists who work with found materials. I buy vintage whirligigs and locally made art. It's everywhere in my home. My ultimate commitment to recycling shows with the house I had built. I collected the doors and windows since 1981 and built in the mountains of North Carolina in 1998 on the South Toe River. Out of some necessity but mostly as a challenge I did the finish work out of broken pottery, broken tiles and glass pieces in the bathroom, shower, mantle and kitchen counter. Cabinets in the kitchen and living room I covered with bottle caps and I have enough caps to cover the entire floor in this 480+ square foot home.... I'm looking for a location that I can work and have an area to display my work and a few friends. A folk art gallery would fit in really well with the galleries we have here. I love the work of self taught artists, outsider artists and anyone who's interested in working with recycled materials...." CLICK HERE for a virtual tour of Susan's studio/workshop and then CLICK HERE for a virtual tour of her cool house... then CHECK OUT her porch! Susan lives in the Celo Area of the Toe River Valley, and you can see her work during the twice-a-year TRAC Studio Tour and at the exhibits at the two Toe River Art Galleries which accompany each tour or by contacting her via her website. She also exhibits at the annual TRAC members show, where she's been known to walk off with 'best of show' award.

Yummy Mud Puddle -
John D. Richards and Claudia Dunaway
"... Ten acres of majestic forest where the home and studios of potter, Claudia Dunaway, and mixed media artist, John D. Richards, overlook the Black Mountains and Burnsville, North Carolina...." John does amazing mixed media sculptures from clay, glass, wire, paper, pewter, steel, plaster and trash... and is the organizer, lead vocalist, kazooist, banjoist and slide whistle player in Hot Duck Soup. John's wife Claudia Dunaway adds "... Together we owned and operated the Temple of Great Art, No Spitting in St. Augustine. In 2003 we moved to Burnsville, NC where we established the Yummy Mud Puddle studios and vacation house. To live in a community where there are so many professional artists and craftspeople is wonderful. Not to mention being so close to Penland School of Crafts and all it has to offer. My work took a dramatic turn when Tracy Dotson of Penland built my first gas reduction kiln. When firing in my electric kiln I relied heavily upon the use of colored slips and layering of glazes in order to get the depth of color I wanted in my work. Now I find I can use those same techniques in addition to the flame of the fire to achieve even greater color variation in my surfaces. A black wax line drawn onto the bisque fired pots just before glazing adds definition. A variety of clay bodies allows me to have both a warm and cool palette of pots...." You can see the Yummy Mud Puddle studios during the twice-a-year TRAC Studio Tour and at the exhibits at the two Toe River Art Galleries which accompany each tour. Representative pieces are also on display at the gallery's shops.

Discover the Bliss of Recycled Art and Art from Found Objects