Owl Print

Just picked this print up from the framers, Bottleworks Gallery in Mineral Point.  It's lovely owl block print by new young artists from Madison, Alice Kim.  We had it custom framed for a client.  Isn't it just perfect!  I know both the gift giver and the gift recipient will be well pleased!

Unconventional Combination

New earrings by Karma Grotelueschen combine fiber and sterling silver to give a tiny pop of color to sterling silver leafy earrings.  Available by mail now or in the gallery at the candlelight holiday weekend or in May of 2016. 

The Cutest Little Things

Nathan Gieseke, our glassblower, had also been making groovy rings of old silverware spoon handles and even groovier swirly wall hooks of forks and now we have these adorable little vases from the knife handles.  They have magnets so they can be stuck to the front of your fridge or the metal in your office partitions.  They do indeed hold water for flowers but in between flowers, I keep a stem of a succulent in mine for green all the time!

Fresh From The Workshop: Lampwork Bead and Sterling Silver Bracelets

 As much fun as it is to make art, it is also fun to purchase are from other makers.  These dangly jangly bracelets with their matching earrings all silversmith Karma Grotelueschen to do both.  She collects handmade lampwork beads from glass artists around the world and then selects coordinating sets, using them to adorn silver jewelry.  For these pieces every part is handmade.  The bracelet links are of heavy sterling silver wire, with each link individually soldered and given a hammered texture for shine and sparkle.  Even the clasps and ear wires are hand made in Grotelueschen's silversmithing studio.
This set features beads in shades of amber and soft yellows by many different glass bead artists.

 This bracelet and earring set has blue beads with a swirl of white from a single artist and sterling silver miniature leaves that add movement and shine to the pieces.

 Our third set has beads of a creamy pomegranate red that dangle from large oval bracelet links with an occasional small silver leaf.  Each earring has a single leaf and bead. 

I Love Wooden Boxes!

 At Prairie Oak Artisans, we are delighted to be able to carry these beautiful hand made wood boxes by Lane Bacon of Maple Grove Woods. Lane crafts these gorgeous vessels from fine hardwoods such as maple, cherry, walnut, and exotic woods.   Lane is a Wisconsin artist so these are truly local products.

 We have several sizes of boxes with contrasting lids, some with hinged tabbed lids, a long narrow box that makes a handsome desk accessory, and some large one of a kind boxes that are special works of art.

In addition to this interesting assortment of boxes, we offer wooden trays, vases, and a select number of other hand made wooden items by Lane, which are all available at very fair prices that I think you will find to be a great value for any gift occasion.

Wooden Bird Houses

Todd Hubler makes these pretty and functional birdhouses in nearby Madison, Wisconsin. 

He uses reclaimed, scrap, and new materials.

 The tops are surplus ceramic tile that sheds rain.

Todd finishes the birdhouses so that they will last through many seasons of use.




 



 
Where will you put one in your yard?

Opening Day, Tenth Anniversary Year

 We are ready ready ready for the 2015 season!  We opened on July 22 of 2005, so this is Prairie Oak Artisan's 10th Anniversary year!















Karma Grotelueschen's  fiber art has its own corner here, with both framed and unframed works available.  She will be demonstrating her fiber art again at Fall Art Tour on the third weekend in October.

We have a fresh supply of roving for felting or spinning and knitting needles and crochet hooks of bamboo.  As usual, we offer felting classes on Friday evenings at 5 and Saturday mornings at 9.  A class for 2 or more is $25 per student or $30 for a private lesson.  You can choose to learn to felt a scarf, a vase, or flowers.
 

 We have pottery in blues and by Ellen Judson and glass by Nathan Gieseke.

 Up front of the gallery, we have gathered all the garden related things, such bird houses, vases, garden ornaments.  These sorts of things make great Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts!

 We have had pottery by Cindy Wilkins every year since opening in 2005 and are proud to be getting even more in soon. Now though, we have bowls and platters and chip and dip sets with the oak branch edging that she developed just for us!

Frames and lanterns and miniature greenhouses display sterling silver  and copper earrings, bracelets, pendants, brooches, and necklace assemblages, all handmade in a studio in nearby La Valle, WI and finished right here in the gallery.  Matching and coordinating pieces are available for special occasions and gifts.

 Randy Pfeifer is a wood strip canoe builder with a workshop in La Valle, Wisconsin, on Lake Redstone, and he also hand crafts beautiful wooden canoe paddles.

 Brooms are by Bob McCann and the mercats are by Sheri Lee Butler.

 Lane Bacon of Verona, WI makes some really fine wood boxes.  We will have trays and vases soon!

Block prints by Karma Grotelueschen include some that are hand colored with pastels.

2015 is the year of the basket. We have baskets by Jamie Lee Weber, Sandra Andreesen, and Joy Luckhardt Klehm.  This is the finest selection of really well made baskets we have ever had!

Jewelry and Make Up Bags by Laura from Fargo!

New for 2015!  Handmade lined fabric zippered bags.

Use them for jewelry, make up, or as a little clutch purse with your cell phone and a few essentials.  These adorable little marvels are made by Laura in Fargo, North Dakota.





I met her when I was visiting my sister last winter, and ordered up a bunch.  If you love them, I will get more.  Long narrow ones for make up and jewelry and maybe longer ones even still for knitting needles!



She has a gorgeous stash of fabrics in nature prints that will be so pretty in the gallery that I will hate to let them go, but for you, I will!! 

Winter Is For Making Jewelry

 These new earrings are fresh with flowers.  The backing plate is a rectangle that is curved forward to shelter the domed and petaled flowers.  The flowers are attached to the backing with silver wires that have their ends melted into tiny balls, so that the flowers move as the wearer does.  This style is available and in stock with two widths of backing plates and in many lengths.  There can be one, two, three, or five flowers on each earring. 
Just one of many new jewelry styles by silversmith Karma Grotelueschen.