We selected a few place settings offering dinner and luncheon plates as well as a selection of bowls, cups, mugs, ramekins, mugs and bake ware. These student made pieces are functional, beautiful and just feel good in your hands. Complimentary glazes allow for a few select “sets’, but eclectic collections that you will enjoy using as much as we do. All pieces are sturdy, stoneware pieces that are dishwasher, oven and microwave safe.

This IS the next generation of potters. Built with the integrity and character that can only be found in West Virginia. Enjoy and use well!

New pottery from WVU Ceramics Studio.

Mountain Made currently has 9 of Paul’s oil based paintings including the full serious of “NewYork/NewYork” which Paul painted after the events of 9/11 while he was living in New York.

Paul left the city life and is now a resident of Thomas where he is a very active member of the artisan community and is welcomed at every turn. Paul has been quoted, “Why wouldn’t anyone want to live here. It is beautiful.” Paul already started to share his teaching talents, and those of other artisan friends, with the community by doing his first workshop in his new hometown last summer. I must say it was a beautiful and inspiring site to drive down Front Street, on a beautiful sunny day, and see an art class in full swing down by the river.

We encourage you all to come in the Gallery and see some of this incredibly talented gentleman’s work.

Shaena Parsons

Our staff hopes you will find our website easy to navigate and the source of many holiday treasures. If you should have a question about a product, please give us a call and one of us will be glad to assist you.

From now until December 20, MountainMade is offering FREE UPS Standard Ground Shipping except for furniture purchases. Rich has packed and shipped our artisan works domestically and internationally pleasing both the gift giver and receiver. If you ordered over the weekend, the package was on its way Monday.

Make your holiday giving special with a gift of West Virginia fine arts and crafts from MountanMade. West Virginia artisans appreciate your support.

For those of you who can’t make it to Thomas to do your holiday shopping, come to High Gate Friday and Saturday November 19 and 20 between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm.

We’re bringing a selection of product specifically chosen for Fairmont including popular potters Tygart River Pottery, Lambros, and Brian Van Nostrand among others; and glass pieces by Blenko, Ron Hinkle, Appalachian Glass, and Lynn Gundry. Other artisan products will also be available including holiday items, bath and beauty products, toys, photographs, original art works, wooden bowls and utensils, food items and music. We’ll also have a few pieces by Mary Olive Jones.

If you can’t make it to Fairmont or Thomas, we’ll be in Morgantown at Arts Mon

A sampling of the artisan works coming to Fairmont.

Her perspective is unique. Amanda captures a place (i.e.Long Road Home) or scenes (i.e. Greg’s Lantern or Pumpkin) that are poignant to her. She shoots digitally with her Canon and goes to work developing each image with Photoshop. Beckman plays with color… many images (i.e. Farmall 100 or Valley Forge 2) are poignant black and whites that may offer a burst of color (i.e. Academy Lane or Buttercup)

Her husband Rhett builds beautiful frames: fine finished oak and reclaimed barn wood that compliments her work and gives it a genuine warmth that speaks of them both.

A few of Amanda's incredible photographs.

Wings are always popular and, served with Gourmet Central’s Garlic Wing Sauce, will quickly disappear.

Dips and spreads satisfy the choosy snacker when served with chips, veggies or crackers.  Ordinary Evelyn offers several dip mixes including a South Western Dip mix.  Or try West Virginia Fruit & Berry’s Cherry Jalapeno Pepper jam served over cream cheese.

There are many more savory food products to choose from on our website.  If you have any special uses for one of our products, post it to our Facebook page.

MountainMade food products for your tailgate.

Amanda Beckman loves to capture images of ordinary things.

Photography is something that has always been a part of Amanda’s life.  She has no formal training, just a love of capturing images of ordinary things that people pass by or
take for granted.

She takes strictly digital images using a Canon Rebel XSi and uses Adobe photoshop as her digital darkroom.  While she takes both color and black and white pictures, she also enjoys blending the two.  Using Photoshop, she can strip the color from a photo and then return the color to the selected object to highlight it.  For example:  a photo of a flower in a field might fade into the background and be virtually unseen, but by color spotting it she can make it pop off the page.

Once she has the image, she and her Rhett custom matte the photos and design the frames to highlight the specific photo.  Many of her photographs currently on display at MountainMade are framed in barn wood.  “We’ve been blessed to get barn wood wherever we can.”

In 2008, she entered a photo contest held by her local news paper and one of her images was picked for the ‘Best Close-Up.’  Most recently she entered the annual juried Nancy Rodig Exhibit held at the Arts Centre in Berkeley County, where 4 of her pieces were chosen for display.

Amada juried with MountainMade last year and this is our first opportunity to feature her work in the Gallery.

Tim and Melody Urbanic at Cafe Cimino

MountainMade has another home and it’s right in the center of West Virginia.  Café Cimino Country Inn in Sutton is now featuring the fine arts and crafts of some of West Virginia’s best artists. Now, when shopping for MountainMade artisan gifts, one can also enjoy their “new digs”.

Café Cimino Country Inn offers 10 elegant guest rooms in an exquisite Colonial Revival Estate, circa 1898. Gracefully situated on the Elk River, the Inn affords discriminating guests casual elegance and a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere for their getaway. Guests of the Inn also enjoy spa services and recreation on the Elk River and Sutton Lake. The grounds are spacious and inviting, offering several little “nooks and crannies” where you can relax and talk, read, enjoy a meal or just “be“.

Café Cimino Country Inn’s restaurant is a leader in West Virginia’s “Farm to Table” and the “Slow Food” Movement. As in Italy, dining at Cimino’s allows one to enjoy the whole experience and linger for hours with friends and family. The Inn features fresh food grown on the family farm and by local growers. The chefs at the Inn have been trained by Executive Chef Tim Urbanic, an old world chef, whose reverence for food and of the dining experience has made this property one of West Virginia’s premiere destinations.

The Urbanics say that the addition of MountainMade to the Inn’s amenities is a “perfect fit” since both businesses’ share the same clientèle.  ”I think that our demographic/target markets are the same people; ones that know, appreciate and demand quality in whatever they do in life”, adds Melody.

Melody Urbanic
Chef Tim Urbanic
Café Cimino Country Inn

This photo of blazing fall foliage at Dolly Sods Wilderness Area in Tucker County, is one of many available online from MountainMade photographer Ed Rehbein.

The leaves are beginning to display their autumn colors just in time for the Leaf Peepers Festival, September 24-26.

This year marks the 22nd year for this exciting community event. Every year MountainMade works with the Alpine Festival, the Tucker Community Foundation, and the Tucker County Chamber of Commerce to coordinate the events that our visitors from near and far enjoy.

This year will feature a Fireman’s Parade on Friday and a car show on Sunday. This year the annual Tucker County Chamber of Commerce Silent Auction will be held from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm in the Davis Fire Hall on Saturday. MountainMade has donated a basket of handmade candles to the event. Profits from the auction help defray the costs associated with the festival.

MountainMade hopes you will visit the Gallery during the event. The Gallery’s featured artist this month is Bruce Wilson who makes much of his own papers and using flowers, leaves, fibers, etc. to create.  An archivist by education, he elegantly mattes and frames each piece under archival glass.

MountainMade will host its traditional food tasting on Saturday and Sunday. A variety of West Virginia food artisans will be featured. In addition, a special selection of items will be discounted for the event.

MountainMade staff hopes you will drop by the Gallery on Douglas Road sometime over the Festival weekend.

MountainMade offers a variety of natural, handmade candles.

MountainMade began making beeswax candles in 2005. We had a full-time candle-maker who perfected the craft. She created an amazing stock of inventory. Traditional tapers, votives, pillars and jar candles are available as well as signature candles like our River Rocks and Candle “Sticks” and Log Pillars.

Beeswax burns cleaner and longer than traditional paraffin candles. It will burn in a pool and drip less, a great plus for any candle lover. Better yet, no overwhelming fragrance. Beeswax emits a natural honeycomb fragrance all its own. We also add balsam fir and cranberry scents to some of the candles we create.

We now make candles as needed. I have been the MountainMade candlemaker for 3 years. I have made thousands of River Rock and Stick candles, by pouring (and back filling) beeswax into the silicone molds. It’s a lot of fun and I can make dozens within an 8-hour day.

I have recently gotten back to dipping tapers. This is challenging because Natalie, the original candle-maker, perfected her craft by making them every day. She set a standard that demands that our tapers be long and smooth (no bumps or lumps). This sounds simple, but can be harder than you think. And that distinguishes our tapers from other hand-dipped tapers. Most have imperfections that you can see and feel.

The dry rack we use will hold 56 pairs of tapers. Eight racks are strung with a cotton wick before marking (each taper is almost 10 inches long) and dipping into the “hot box.” The smooth texture is created by dipping several times according to the temperature of the waxed surface. This takes a while and then the candles have to dry or cure before each pair can be cut from the rack, cleaned and packaged. Then you clean, rewick the racks and do it again.

Patience is key to making a beautiful candle. Jar candles can be a challenge, too. Like the River Rocks the wax is poured and I back-fill several times. The glass changes the chemistry of the wax and achieving a smooth top that doesn’t sink can be hard. Patience and practice. I’m gearing up now for winter and the much loved Tree Tumblers and Tree Jar candles.

Making candles is a little messy, but it’s lots of fun and achieving mastery is a great kick.

MountainMade also sells candles made from Soy (The Soy Shoppe) and Hemp Oil (Home Towne Candles). Like beeswax, they burn cleaner and longer than paraffin candles.