Back Roads of
Brown County
Artists’ & Craftsmen’s Tour

by Martha Tedrowe

During the entire month of October you are invited to participate in a free self-guided tour, The Back Roads of Brown County—A Driving Tour of Artists’ and Craftsmen’s Studios. A group of local artists and craftsmen offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience both the art and spectacular October beauty of Brown County.

Detailed maps, available at most local businesses and hotels, will guide you through Brown County’s scenic back roads to the artists’ studios. Work will also be available for purchase.

Charlene Marsh, participating artist and secretary of the Brown County Studio Tour, commented, “This is a unique opportunity for visitors and art patrons to meet and interact with artists in the artist’s own gallery and studio where the work is created.”

Participating artists:

Chris Gustin, Homestead Weaving Studio

is a talented weaver and fiber artist with over 30 years of experience. She weaves rugs and wearable art in her studio. Much of her work incorporates unique new fabric that has been cast off by textile mills. Visit Chris and her many looms at her lovely location.

Andrew Huddleston

creates expressive glazed porcelain and stoneware pottery vessels, both functional and decorative. Andrew also makes hand-forged ironwork in his studio.

Harry Hugar

hand paints china to create complete sets of dinnerware and one-of-a-kind decorative pieces. Additionally, Harry uses gold and silver wire to create wire wrap jewelry.

Charlene Marsh

is a fiber artist and plein air painter. Charlene’s most recent fiber work has been devoted to sacred ritual rugs made from hand dyed and metallic yarns which she tufts into cotton backing. This work is rich in color, design and texture. Her plein air nature paintings are completed on location, many in Brown County.

A. W. (Amanda Wallace) Mathis

paints imaginative, primitive acrylic paintings incorporating themes of both the past and the present.

Anne Ryan Miller

is a stained glass artist. Anne’s highly detailed glass pieces include a unique and unusual metal overlay technique she has developed over the past 20 years. Her appreciation nature is clear.

Cheri Platter, Faerie Hollow Pottery

is a well-known Midwestern ceramist. Her functional wheel-thrown and hand built pottery incorporates original floral designs. Recently Cheri has begun producing unique garden sculptures.

Greg Schatz

produces wood-fired stoneware pottery created with a unique surface of natural ash glaze. His vessels are various in size and many are suitable for a garden setting, as you will see when you visit his studio.

Larry Spears, Spears Gallery

creates functional and reduction-fired porcelain and stoneware pottery in his studio which is located in a lovely valley setting. Larry employs a rich color palette in his work which encompasses a variety of forms, glazes and textures.

R. Thomas Tedrowe, Jr.

is new to Brown County and the tour. Tom designs and builds meticulously crafted wood furniture and decorative objects. A traditionally trained furniture maker, Tom has an MFA in furniture design from the Rhode Island School of Design and has been creating beautiful furniture for 30 years. His designs draw from a diverse influence of classical and modern art forms and balance an expert knowledge of woodworking with the material’s natural characteristics of grain and color.

Visitors come in October to experience the beauty of fall in Brown County, but there is much, much, more. Visitors can add to their experience by visiting these artists who carry on the tradition of Brown County’s heritage as the “Art Colony of the Midwest.” Make this tour part of your vacation itinerary. These artists and craftsmen welcome you. Visit the tour’s website at <www.browncountystudiotour.com>.