One of my wife’s favorite pieces of jewelry is a gorgeous DeMarkwear sterling silver necklace hung with a pendant soldered into an ornate concentric spiral, like a gleaming snail’s shell. She didn’t buy it at Tiffany & Co or Harry Winston but at a blacksmith’s forge in Lovettsville. The designer in question, Lori DeMark, a middle school art teacher from Purcellville who works with silver, brass and copper at her home studio, hammering and embossing delicate shapes into each item.
“My pieces are inspired by designs and textures found in nature and woven into everyday life,” DeMark said. “I often adorn them with glass beads, stoneware or porcelain clay.”
You can find DeMark’s stunning work online or, along with her ceramist husband Geoff’s pottery, at various art shows across Loudoun including this month’s Catoctin Holiday Art Tour (Nov. 15-16) where she will once again be showing her work at the Creek Hollow Forge of local blacksmith Greg Metzler – site of my wife’s precious purchase.
With the holidays upon us there’s no better time to pick up locally made art and crafts for unique holiday gifts. Now in its 15th year, the Catoctin Holiday Art Tour features some 22 local artists displaying work in glass, wood, jewelry, fiber, painting, photography, sculpture and more in 10 studios in and around Lovettsville. Aside from the DeMark’s work, don’t miss Metzler’s decorative metal pieces,Jill Evans-Kavaldjian’s beautiful prints and cards and the colorful paintings and holiday ornaments of Kaarin Nelson at the Whimsy Studios.
If you can’t make the Catoctin tour, mark your calendar for the 35th annual Leesburg Fine Arts & Crafts Show at Ida Lee on the weekend of Dec. 6-7. Here, more than 100 local and regional artisans sell exquisite hand-made items from candles, stained glass and carved wood to jewelry and table linens. Admission is free to the public.
Then there are all the locally owned shops throughout the county. Artist Mauren Alvarez’s Chunk of Happiness in Round Hill sells local crafts as does the nearby Gateway Gallery. In Ashburn, CIY Pottery has a showroom to purchase pieces but also offers workshops and classes while The Global Local in Leesburg has a curated selection of stunning handcrafted items including local artist Lisa Holliday’s decoupage oystershell jewelry dishes.
And if seeing all this local art gets the creative juices flowing, here’s an idea: book yourself (or a loved one) a spot at Lori DeMark’s Earrings Workshop at the Round Hill Arts Center on Dec. 13. Maybe you can be making your ownexquisite sterling silver jewelry one day.
