news-record.com

Day by day, the colorful season is leaving footprints in our midst.

A turn down Live Oak Road from N.C. 14 in Reidsville provides a good place to observe the beauty of fall. But at the end of the path, beauty of another sort is being created, at the Hawk Spirit Studio of Susan and Bill Moore.

The studio will host the 14th annual Carolina Home Show and Sale next weekend; artists from across the area will be exhibiting their works for sale.

Before the sale, Susan and Bill can be found in their workspace in the building, finishing pottery, glass, ceramics and other items.

Susan also is busy as manager of the show, dealing with last-minute requests from artists.

Hawk Spirit Studio is a rebuilt 1800s farmhouse that has long been in Bill’s family. It arose like a phoenix after fire hit the original structure, replaced with hard work and a new purpose.

Bill and Susan are pleased and proud of pictures from the old homeplace and of photographs of the new studio, which can only be described as a work of art itself.

As the sixth generation of Moores on the property, Susan and Bill have honored the past by saving stones to make into hearths for upstairs and down in the studio.

Susan points to a cistern outside an upstairs window that once contained a reservoir for  incorporating carbide to generate gas for lighting the old house.

The front porch, which also serves as a showroom, is decorated with chrysanthemums in handmade pots. Other containers with greenery sit nearby, ready to welcome an expected 1,200 to 1,500 people who will soon fill the studio and yard.

Fourteen years ago, the first Carolina Home Show was held in Richmond, Va., Susan’s hometown, in the home of her sister and brother-in-law, Joan and Frank Dolezal. Eleven artists participated.

This weekend, Hawk Spirit Studio and its grounds will showcase  the works of 80 or more artists.

Hawk Spirit’s primary purpose is to promote local artists, Susan says.

Her guidelines for entries are unique, she says.  There is no entry fee. The artist works on commission, and Bill and Susan receive a percentage of the artist’s sale. Each selected item must be complimentary to the others. Susan calls this method “from the hand” — done by the artist alone.

On Friday, the first day of the show, the studio will be filled with pottery, jewelry, vases of all shapes and sizes, intermingled with fabric art and glasswork. There is no admission fee for the festival.

Artists also will be displaying their work under tents on the grounds; 12 to 15 tents are planned, up from last year’s five to seven.

Musicians add to the atmosphere in the yard. On Saturday, William Rakes, Veronica Jones, Larry Johnson and Gerald Summerlin will provide music. On Sunday,  Ron Martin, Bryan Smith, Jim Eaves, and Dave and Jesse Smathers will perform.

The local Animal Shelter Campaign and the Fine Arts Festival will have spaces as well.

The Moores’ grown children, Riley and Ben, likely will be on hand to help with the customers. “If they want a discount, they better be here to help,” Susan says, laughing.

She believes that artists share the work of their hearts and their souls when they offer their gifts to others. It seems everything at the upcoming Carolina Home Show will be from the heart.

Rachel Wright is a native of Eden and a part-time instructor in basic skills at Rockingham Community College.