A stunning modern curio cabinet made in North Carolina, the finest buttermilk biscuit mix, a stunning Georgian-style port and twenty-one other products made in the South make up this year’s award-winning products spanning six categories: Home, Food. , Drinks, Crafts, Style and Outdoors.Plus: our first Sustainability Award winner
Behind the luminous bronze screen and beautiful dark walnut shell of Warren Elijah Leed’s study lie pottery, art books, knick-knacks and tortoiseshells, as well as model ships, bomb beads and matchbox cars. “The idea of this piece is to hide something that is not completely hidden,” said Lead, a designer from Durham, North Carolina. This premise has existed for centuries: cabinets of curiosities have existed since the Italian Renaissance, when collecting rare and unusual souvenirs from around the world signaled social status, and viewing these collections also served as party entertainment.
But for some viewers who saw Lead’s sleek, modern finished designs at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York last spring, a classic American piece came to mind. “Some of the older people I knew said it looked like a pie safe,” recalls Lead. “That was the first time I’d heard anyone mention it.” he didn’t mind the comparison. In fact, Lied believes that he – and all other artists and craftsmen – are constantly under the influence of one thing or another, whether he realizes it or not.
“People who are trying to say they’re inventing something new—I don’t agree with that,” Lead said. “I wanted to make a recognizable object in a new way. [The cabinet] isn’t exactly new, but I think it’s the many small details that our team put into our work that make it stand out.” The time-tested form is similar, but its refined elements—solid walnut joinery, finely woven (not welded) bronze screens, hand-cast bronze handles—required innovation.
Lead, who studied glassblowing and sculptural ceramics at Central Kentucky College before pursuing a career in woodworking, approaches every furniture project through the eyes of an artist. Lead’s studio in downtown Durham is in a building that also houses his metal fabrication shop, a nonprofit arts organization and the glassblowing studio he and a friend opened in 2017. Lied started by sketching out some cabinet styles. One is tall, the other is tall. One is short, one is squatting, the other is squatting. “There’s no formula to any of this,” he said.
After determining Warren’s current shape and dimensions, he gathered materials, obtained rough walnut from nearby Gibsonville, and then milled and shaped it himself. “We used a lot of walnut in the furniture,” says Lead, noting its elasticity, pliability, rich tones and complex texture. “I spent a lot of time traveling and collecting more walnuts whenever I saw them. Almost all of our materials come from somewhere in the Appalachians.”
Although most of the tables, shelves, chairs and bookcases that Lidl creates have solid corners, shaping the curved edges of the cabinets is relatively easy. “But winding bronze around a curved end is a whole new game,” he said. “We went through trial and error to get it right, but honestly, it was a lot of fun. Most of the time we did what we did before. It was something we had to figure out.” and secured, the screen blinked like any treasure chest; at ICFF, visitors couldn’t help but reach out and touch the metal as they walked by.
If your equipment has dents that appear to be fingerprints, please contact us. To get it out, Lidl destroyed the wooden mold and then created a silicone mold around it. He then worked with a local jeweler to cast them in bronze. “Most of the other pulls we do are round,” he explains. “They are turned on a lathe and have a smoother appearance. This is important to me because they look clearly handmade.”
In the wrong hands, the shiny wood, shiny screen and shiny custom fittings may seem tacky, but Lidl’s strength lies in its sophistication. “I want to make sure my work is unique, but not necessarily in a dramatic way,” he said. The individual components of this cabinet have been assembled with impressive care and attention to detail, just like the precious collection for which it is intended.
While most of his peers were practicing catch, Jed Curtis received his first anvil, inspired by a blacksmith he saw while visiting the Demo Living History Museum. “I never thought of it as work, though,” Curtis said. But after a chance meeting with a retired blacksmith from New York who sold him items from his shop, Curtis settled in Roanoke in 2016 and opened Heart & Spade Forge. There, he hand forged carbon steel cookware, just like these elegant bakers, from raw steel shipped from North and South Carolina and a factory next to his studio. He designed the bread machines (sold individually and in sets of three) to distribute heat evenly in the oven or stovetop and transition smoothly to the table. His chemistry degree determined the functions of these parts (carbon steel can control temperature better than cast iron), and he made guesses about their shape by observing silversmiths in Colonial Williamsburg and hot rod builders in the 1940s. But above all, it is the idea of legacy that drives his work. “The family frying pan is an ongoing process,” he said. “I’m not making them for you, I’m making them for your grandchildren.”
Although Ben Caldwell grew up around silver—his father was an avid collector, and many Saturdays of his childhood were spent riding horses in search of treasures—his decision to become a silversmith came as a surprise. “I spent the first part of my career making musical instruments,” he said. But Caldwell’s career changed when ironworker Terry Talley of Murfreesboro, Tenn., asked if he would be interested in an apprenticeship. Today, under the name Ben & Lael, he makes beautiful silver and copper dinnerware and other household items, including these magnificent bowls, which he gives to Keith Leonard, owner of a local plating company. They were then plated with four layers of Keith Leonard’s silver. . (Caldwell makes the copper and sterling silver pieces entirely in-house.) “When you make a bowl by hand, it’s naturally round, but for it to be usable at home, the bottom needs to be flat,” Caldwell explains. “I hate destroying a form to make it work.” His solution: a balanced stand made from naturally shed mule deer, whitetail, elk and elk antlers. “The horns are extremely elegant and biomorphic,” he said. “It’s a sculptural form. Both functional and beautiful.”
Although Andrew Reed and his team at Reed Classics build complex canopy beds in their shop in Dothan, Alabama, the machines they operate are simple. “My store is a working museum, full of antique equipment from the forties and fifties,” Reed said of his cast-iron equipment, such as a planer originally ordered from International Harvester and a planer from a World War II aircraft carrier salvaged band saw. “They work better than anything new. We start with mahogany blanks, mostly from Central and South America, and start milling them.” Hence even his simplest designs require ninety-six steps. Since 1938, the company’s third (soon to be fourth) generation—Reed’s teenage children began learning the business—has poured those efforts into pencil columns (pictured), a Colonial, a spool, and a Victorian-style home bed. Across the country: a farmhouse in Alabama, a mansion in Hollywood, a mansion in Charleston and a modern apartment in New York. “I have a ninety-six-year-old client from Birmingham who sleeps in the same bed that my grandfather gave her as a wedding gift,” Reed said. “They are built to last forever.”
Charlotte Moss, renowned interior designer and author of twelve design books, is always on the lookout for fresh, timeless aesthetics. She brought thirty years of experience and a love of texture and color to the home category judging and was fascinated by Elijah Lead’s family cabinets. “It’s well made, light and airy, and the bronze mesh gives it a sparkle,” she explains. “When using it as a buffet, the curved ends fit perfectly on plates…and it’s safe for kids!”
“Cookies are a very convenient food and you can do so many things with them,” says Carolyn Roy. She and her partner Jason prove it, and at breakfast and lunch restaurant Biscuit Head, diners can go to town for a baked good with one of six sauce options, or hot sauce and jam, or pulled pork. ham and, in the case of the Dirty Animal biscuits, house-made pimento cheese, fried chicken, bacon and fried eggs slathered in house-made sauce. “It’s funny,” Caroline admitted.
But it all comes back to basics: Since Roys opened its first store in Asheville in 2013, their big, fluffy and delicious cat head cookies have captured the attention of breakfast shoppers. Soon after opening, customers began asking about their combos. Royce agreed, selling it in glass bottles with instructions on a ribbon.
Now this mixture has changed. As Biscuit Head’s popularity continues to grow, the Roy family has opened two more locations in Asheville and one in Greenville, S.C., as well as opening a cannery that now makes jams and a new bag of fail-safe cookie mix. The key here is: the butter is already cut; the home cook just needs to add a little buttermilk to make it easier to pour the flour into the bowl and onto the counter (and elsewhere in the kitchen). Caroline’s advice is to simply place the dough on the pan (don’t roll it out) and don’t hesitate to spoon. “Our cookies are super light and airy on the inside and crispy and buttery on the outside,” she says. “You can’t pick them up and eat them with your hands. These are cookies made with a knife and fork.”
Poppy x Spicewalla Popcorn Asheville, NC | $7-9.50 per package; poppyhandcraftedpopcorn.com
Ginger Frank knew she wanted to run her own business before she ever thought seriously about what her business should be. But she loved popcorn and discovered there were no vendors in Asheville that specialized in the snack. So, despite the disapproval of friends and family, she opened a store called Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn, selling specialty popcorn in creative flavors. “That was pretty much the only thing I had in mind, so it really had to work,” Frank said. And so it was. She uses natural ingredients and flavors (“you can read it all on the label”), and Asheville takes notice. She now has 56 employees and said she may hire 10 more. Many of her most popular releases have resulted from collaborations with local and regional businesses. Among them: Spicewalla, a line of high-quality, small-batch spices from Asheville chef Meherwan Irish, which spawned the new Poppy x Spicewalla line. This bold range comes in four flavours, including mouthwatering Caramel Masala Chai and Spicy Smoked Piri Piri.
Smoked onion preserves have been on the menu at Butcher & Bee, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Charleston, for more than a decade. The jam was originally created as a condiment for roast beef sandwiches, in part because of its adaptability—it has since appeared on cheese boards and on top of Brussels sprouts. Customers ask for just about everything else and then ask for small to-go containers. So owner Mikhail Shemtov decided to start selling this excellent product, which is made from onions taken from the smokehouse and then boiled with sugar and water in jars for those who like to enjoy it at home. “You can add it to burgers, gourmet meals, or make it part of breakfast or dinner,” Shemtov suggests. For vegetarians, it’s an ideal substitute for bacon, adding smoky, sweet, and umami flavor.
Not Fried Chicken Charleston, SC | 5-6 dollars per piece; $9 buckets for $100; liferafttreats.com
Cynthia Wong is exhausted. A pastry chef and six-time James Beard Award nominee, she was tired of the long hours and constant restaurant life. She decided to start her own business and started coming up with ideas. One of the benefits of being completely exhausted, she says, is that she has “no resistance to creative thinking. ice cream that looks like fried chicken legs – came to her mind while she was sleeping, and the idea came to her from memories of a trip to France, where she tried amazingly creative ice cream desserts. After experimenting, she created a waffle-flavored ice cream wrapped in chocolate chip cookie “bones,” topped with crunchy caramelized white chocolate and cornflake frosting to complete a delicious illusion that delights children and adults alike. The drumsticks she produces for her company, Life Raft Treats, are sold individually at select stores in the South, including Whole Foods, and in tubes from Goldbelly nationwide.
Al Roker may be best known as the longtime host of NBC’s “Today,” but the award-winning meteorologist also has great taste in food: He co-hosts “Al Roker.” Al Roker is the author of The Big Bad Book of Barbecue and founder of the definitive Thanksgiving-themed barbecue book. – Last year, ten podcasts made a real splash. As a food category judge, Roker sampled more than 65 meats, cheeses, snacks and candies, and the quality and universal appeal of the buttermilk-infused Biscuit Head mix won him over. “I don’t care if you’re from the north, south, west or east,” he said. “You like cookies.”
Chateau Elan Winery and Resort opened in Braselton, Georgia in 1982 on 600 acres with the ultimate goal of becoming one of the largest wineries on the East Coast. The climate and terrain had other plans. “The problem is not the winemaking, but the growing of the grapes,” says Simone Bergese, general director and executive winemaker at Chateau Ylang. After years of disappointing harvests, only twenty acres of vineyards remained. Then, in 2012, came Burgis, who grew up in Italy’s Piedmont region and began working in wineries at age 18 and later worked in Australia, Sicily and Virginia. “I walked in the door and looked at the property,” he said, “and realized there was incredible potential here.”
Among other wines, Belsize began producing white port, replacing Old World grapes with muscadine, a native variety well suited to the South. For his port, he chose a blend of 30% muscadine grapes and 70% chardonnay grapes, which were shipped from California in refrigerated trucks. He uses the traditional method of stopping fermentation early by adding a high concentration of grape spirit before all the sugar has converted to alcohol. His port was good, but during a visit to a Portuguese winery in 2019, he realized that aging the wine longer in barrels would improve his results. “After tasting the white port, I decided to wait a little longer before bottling it,” he said. The delay paid off, creating an intriguing natural sweetness that complemented the earthy notes of the fortified wine praline. While quantities are limited and Elayne currently only sells Port locally and online, the winery has increased production, meaning more wines will be hitting shelves in the coming years.
In 1999, Deborah Stone and her husband purchased 80 acres of woodland near Birmingham and, with the help of their father, gradually turned the woodland into a farm. They grew roses and other plants to make skin care products: Stone worked in the spa and wellness industry early in her career and at one point owned a juice bar. “That’s where I was introduced to the bush and the vinegar and its benefits,” she said. She now uses produce and herbs grown on the farm to create vinegar-based seasonings like blueberry and turmeric for her Stone Hollow Farm and its retail store in downtown Birmingham. Three years ago, it launched strawberry and rose versions of the vinegar, which became the company’s best-selling drinking vinegar. The farm grows about three thousand strawberry plants, and fresh berries are soaked in organic apple cider vinegar. Stone then adds rose petals, peppercorns, coriander and cinnamon to the mixture, giving it a unique, zesty twist. Chefs can use it in salad dressings, and bartenders should try it in cocktails. But you can also enjoy it simply by drinking sparkling water over ice.
Bloody Brilliant Bloody Mary Mix Richmond, VA | A four-pack ranges from $36 to $50; backpocketprovisions.com
Will Gray entered the Bloody Mary mix business after doing a little reverse engineering. He worked for a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., working to improve the sustainability of agricultural systems, and was looking for a way to bring fun and joy to a commodity-dominated world. “Bloody Marys have been a part of family celebrations for as long as I can remember,” Gray said. “I knew what a Bloody Mary was before I knew what a cocktail was.” He also knows many small farmers who grow heirloom tomatoes, which “sell well when they’re perfect, but don’t sell at all when they’re not perfect.” ” In 2015, he and his sister Jennifer Beckman founded Back Pocket Provisions in Richmond and began squeezing unloved tomatoes from a network of family farms throughout Virginia. To create their flagship Bloody Brilliant combo, they combine fresh juices with horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper. “We wanted to make something that tasted like tomato juice, not something gooey like a V8,” he said. The resulting bright, light flavor tastes more like a field than a can.
The boom of craft distilleries in the South (and across the country) paved the way for a new boom: the growth of experimentation in the production of whiskey and other spirits. Smaller breweries tend to be more flexible and can try new methods to see what works. Located on 112 acres in Fort Worth, TX Whiskey has quickly built a reputation for premium bourbon since the brand’s founding in 2010. It remains true to that spirit of innovation, too: Last November, the distillery released the third in its Barrel Finish series, aging bourbon in used Cognac barrels for over a year. These oak barrels impart rich fruity aromas that pair perfectly with the vanilla and caramel flavors found in traditional oak barrels. “This is the perfect summer bourbon,” says whiskey specialist Ale Ochoa, “because it has a lighter, fresher, fruitier flavor.”
Wayne Curtis is G&G’s drinks columnist and author of A Bottle of Rum: A New World History in Ten Cocktails. His thoughtful musings on spirits and cocktails have also appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times. great drink. . “Muscatels tend to be recruited for junior varsity teams,” the New Orleans resident said of Port, which ranks No. 1 in the beverage category. “But Elan Castle shows that they can jump if used wisely. Playing on the varsity team and There are benefits to competing with them.”
Austin Clark wove each fiber into thread, tied each warp to his loom, dipped each swatch in indigo dye and spent every hour driving the trails near his Baton Rouge home collecting quilt patterns. Austin Clark has kept things alive for centuries. -The ancient art of Acadian weaving. Clark and his mentor, an 81-year-old weaver named Elaine Bourke, scoured museum collections and interviewed dozens of people to gather information about the Acadians (now Cajuns). and early 1900s. The Acadians historically used brown cotton to make clothing and blankets, and it’s a living symbol of that tradition—Bourke still grows rows of the caramel-colored variety, and Clark recycles it and his own harvest when he can into his Acadian textiles.
His creations include the classic striped patterns that often decorated towels, blankets and sheets in Cajun trousseaus, as well as the historic X- and O-pattern quilts that weavers sometimes made from more expensive white cotton as a special wedding gift. The pattern was created by Acadian spinner and weaver Teresa Drone, who gave her Cross and Diamond quilt to First Lady Lou Hoover and Mamie Eisenhower. “I try to recreate it as close to the original as possible,” Clark said. It produces smaller fabrics every month, while customers have to order larger items, such as blankets, that can take months to produce. “It’s important not to add my point of view because I’m not a Cajun. I want to respect the culture, respect the weavers and let the work speak for itself.”
But Bourque, a bearer of Louisiana folk traditions, will be the voice of Clark’s talent: “I feel joy and satisfaction knowing that Austin will continue this tradition just as my ancestors did,” she said. “Acadia’s heritage is well taken care of.”
Joel Seeley’s audio creations are both deeply traditional and yet far ahead of their time. He’s been creating exquisite turntables since 2008, long before vinyl’s original heyday but before its recent resurgence (vinyl sales just experienced their biggest increase since the 1980s). “I think I played a small role in this resurgence,” Cilley said. Based in New Orleans, his Audiowood clients include renowned interior designers, famous Southern musicians and actors—one of his turntables was even used in the film “Star Trek Into Darkness.” For his Barky turntable, Seeley used his background in art, architecture, design and woodworking to create an elegant music machine with an ash platter sourced from a family lumberjack for whom he perfected a method for repairing cracks. Cilley sanded the wood until it was perfectly smooth, then partially treated it with ebony and then coated it with several coats of topcoat – no posts to be missed here. He then installs the latest audio components into the players and ships them to audiophiles around the world. Barky seems like a modern marvel, but add Allen Toussaint into the mix and you might forget about your Spotify subscription.
Combining the skills of a sculptor and fine art artist, you get the Technicolor ceramics collection from People Via Plants. Matt Spahr and Valerie Molnar, sculptors and painters (respectively) who taught at VCU, found that they worked well together at VCU. So they worked together to create colorful pots, vases and mugs that quickly sold out online and in stores. Their process involves using a computer engraver to create the molds, clay casting and surprise. “The original cup shape has textures that are determined by the router bit,” Spar said. “When making a mold, you usually make a rough pass and then smooth it out in the final process, but we decided to leave a dent.” They added a stylish yet functional square handle which they then painted with the Incredible range of glazes. . “On our Gozer and Gozarian mugs, named after the Ghostbusters characters, we disappear like the sunset and sunrise,” Molnar said. Another glaze pattern references tulip poplars, but Molnar’s camellia garden also inspired it, as did a stroll through Richmond’s local flower market, the River City Flower Exchange.
“We tell stories through scent,” says Tiffany Griffin, who launched Bright, a black candle, in Durham in 2019 with her husband Dariel Heron. Griffin, a former government employee in Washington, D.C., was prompted to move by two successive business closures. Returning to North Carolina to develop a business plan to bring financial freedom to their family, they decided to celebrate their adopted home with a unique collection of candles. “Durham candles smell like tobacco, cotton and whiskey,” she says. “It was my first and is still one of my favorites.” In just three years, Bright Black released a candle in collaboration with the NBA, as well as a line of Diaspora candles, including Kingston candles in rum and grapefruit flavors. created to celebrate Heron’s Jamaican roots. They also build their business around important causes: a portion of their summer candle sales goes to support black-led street groups in the South. This fall, Bright Black expanded its studio with a new community arts space that will host candle-making and scenting workshops.
Since 2009, East Fork, a popular North Carolina ceramics brand, has been driven by demand for ceramic products, including its popular coffee mugs, which prompted founder Alex Matisse, his co-founders, his wife Connie and friend John Vigeland to visit stores that opened in Asheville. and Atlanta. In 2018 they received the Southern Made Award. “We love seeing people take no shortcuts,” Alex said of his and Connie’s experience judging the craft category. “We have great admiration for the amount of time, skill and craftsmanship that academic weavers put into making their blankets.”
“I wanted to learn from the pain points of my first experience,” designer Miranda Bennett said when launching her eponymous sustainable clothing brand. Born in Austin, Texas, Bennett graduated from Parsons School of Design and worked in the New York City fashion industry for 12 years, but is now creating a greener, more ethical clothing company that minimizes waste and environmental impact. didn’t quite realize it. It wasn’t until she returned to her hometown in 2013 that she discovered plant-based dyes. “When I started learning about plant-based dyes, I started sewing and DIY dyeing again,” she says. “Suddenly it seemed like there was a completely different reason to start a collection.” select materials used in the Materials Used in Process section, such as avocado pits and pecan shells.
Using these dyes as a springboard, Bennett dove into the world of slow fashion. She strives to sew and build everything within the Austin city limits and eschews seasonal trends in favor of a small selection of timeless, well-made pieces that are built to last. “It’s all about the tailoring,” she said. “We create pieces that look simple, but we have a variety of styles that can be worn five different ways.” No matter your taste or body type, chances are Miranda Bennett’s style will suit you. “Our collections are designed to make every wearer feel their best,” Bennett said. “So how can we exclude people because of their size or age?”
Glad & Young founders Erica Tanksley and Anna Zitz grew up in creative families. “We love creating things for ourselves,” Zietz said. As their creative partnership grew, they began experimenting with different materials, but soon realized that they loved working with leather. While many leather products tend to be traditional and masculine, Glad & Young’s line of colorful bags and accessories feels playful and fresh, especially with its best-selling fanny packs. “What’s interesting is that friends started buying the bag long before it became popular again,” Seitz said. But when the trend returned, sales of their leather fanny packs skyrocketed. Crafted from American-made leather and brass hardware, this versatile bag is perfect for travel or a night out. It can be worn over the shoulder at the hip, at the natural waist or over the shoulder. It’s available in two sizes and several bright and neutral colors, but the hand-marbled version is simply stunning. “Marbling is a magical process,” Seitz said. “We love the uniqueness he brings to each product.”
Eldrick Jacobs’ bachelor’s, master’s, and seminary degrees did not qualify him for the career he loved. Through self-reflection, Jacobs found work in Cleveland as a traveling salesman. “I’ve lived in the South all my life,” he said, “so the cold weather kind of ruins the story.” To protect himself from the snow, he bought his first hat. Fascinated, he began learning the craft before fate introduced him to an Ohio hatter who taught him the basics but encouraged him to develop his own style. So Jacobs returned to Bainbridge, Georgia, where he grew up hunting dove, quail and pheasant. There he found inspiration and a loyal clientele among the hunters who flocked to the area. “Nature shapes my aesthetic, and you’ll see me layering a lot of natural tones,” he says of his sophisticated Flint & Port designs. He creates his own line of ready-to-wear hats, which he shapes by hand using vintage tools including rabbit fur, nutria fur or beaver felt, in styles including classic dove hunting silhouettes, brunch-ready fedoras, and Mississippi Delta style. fedora hat. gambler. Not the one with the hat? Keep an open mind. “Confidence,” Jacobs said, “is the No. 1 factor.”
North Carolina native Mimi Phillips, a former costume designer turned creative coordinator for Ralph Lauren, blames Dolly Parton for the “fairy dust” that prompted her to move from New York to Nashville. Phillips’ early passion for jewelry began with her mother and grandmother’s collections, took root in Music City, and grew into a full-fledged brand after Phillips discovered the School of the New Method Jeweler. “It was a world-class school outside of Nashville,” she said, “with great teachers from places like Tiffany. I took the full curriculum – jewelry making, gem setting, all the craft classes.” Soon after, she founded Minnie Lane. , a brand that initially focused on fine jewelry orders but soon pivoted to its collections of fashion rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Each design begins with a 2D sketch, which Phillips then brings to life using AutoCAD or wax before sending it off for casting. “Wax sculpture is a kind of meditation for me,” she says. Inspired by her friend Scarlett Bailey’s Naked Everyday collection, she created countless variations of the iconic Scarlett bracelet (shown below, right, along with a number of other Minnie Lane looks), then resulting in an elegant and whimsical design that became a best-seller.
Since 2014, Mignonne Gavigan’s eponymous company has been producing her signature beaded scarf necklaces and other bold, statement pieces. As a designer who appreciates the appeal of combining sophistication and comfort, when judging the Style category, Gavigan favored eco-friendly classics from Austin-based clothing studio Miranda Bennett that would last for years to come. “I love the combination of sustainable fabrics, unique silhouettes and subtle details,” she says. “This is their way of changing the industry.”
Gary Lacey began making exquisite bamboo fishing rods thirty years ago to satisfy his love for the traditional material. “I figured if I liked them, I better figure out how to make them,” said the Gainesville, Georgia-based craftsman. In 2007, he added handmade fly fishing reels. His charming vintage salmon reel is an almost exact replica of the salmon reels produced in the late 1800s by famed New York reel maker Edward von Hofe. Buyers turn over “all the little parts on these reels,” Lacey says, “like the screws, the knobs that turn by hand, and the little poachers that click to close the reels. I think this is why old replica reels are such popular reasons to be welcomed.”
To create his scrolls, Lacey used many of the same materials as in the original version of vom Hofe. He carved the reel side panels from durable black rubber, the disc arm from leather, and most of the other parts, including the iconic S-shaped handle, were engraved from nickel silver. He designed three-and-a-half-inch diameter reels, as shown, to catch larger fish such as salmon, but Lacy made von Hofe-style reels as small as 4- and 5-weight trout. Each reel is custom made – he works with the customer to create it to his or her specifications. “It’s like ordering a custom gun,” Lacey said. “Do you want an engraving? Don’t you want to use a line dialer clicker? Do you want the multiplier to grab more line every time you turn the knob? Each reel is made one at a time so I can make it. as the client wants.”
Joey D’Amico is a lifelong musician who played trumpet in elementary school and earned a college scholarship playing euphonium tubes. When he bought a wood lathe to help restore a historic home in Charleston, South Carolina, his various interests seemed suddenly intertwined. “I thought if I could turn the tracks,” he recalled, “I bet I could catch a duck.” the telephone is in the shed behind his house. He creates custom chimes from exotic woods (bocotta, African ebony and stabilized maple burl). It also has an acrylic line that requires hunters to watch their budget. “I do a lot of things,” D’Amico said. “But it’s another thing to call me a hit. On the one hand, I can be artistic and musical, but I can use my woodworking skills to play with duct lengths, exhaust ports and all the mechanics of how to make something that sounds “. like a duck.”
Ross Tyser’s custom pocket knife folder is dedicated to his grandfather, a cabinetmaker who carried a pocket knife in his vest pocket every Sunday. “He said he didn’t feel fully dressed until he had a knife in his pocket,” recalled a knife maker from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Featuring a two-and-a-half-inch blade hand-forged from 384-layer Damascus steel, this stylish folder is a hit with both women and men. Mammoth tusk scales look amazing. The titanium liner is decorated with precious stones inside and has a durable lock. With the exception of a few small screws, Taiser makes every part by hand using old-school tactics. He did not have a hammer or a hydraulic press, which are necessary in many knife shops. “It’s just my right hand, an anvil and a couple of hammers,” he said. There are also memories of his grandfather sitting on the porch, carving wooden toys and listening to Atlanta Braves games on the radio.
Charlotte-based craftsman Larry McIntyre combines his love of Southern history with his passion for spending time on the water to create SouthernWood Paddle Company’s handcrafted canoes, kayaks and paddles. An avid boater, he crafted items from cypress, a favorite old wood sourced from southern swamps and streams, in a way that “ties me to the area.” He carved his first paddle in 2015 and started working full-time four years later (he also makes adorable skateboards, boat hooks and other items). For the paddle, he first bought a plank of settled cypress from an underwater lumberjack in Bishopville, South Carolina, cut the basic shape of the paddle using a band saw, shaped the wood using a broach, and then planed and sanded it by hand. Each paddle is coated with cannabis oil. This particular canoe paddle features a versatile modified beavertail design and a protective epoxy tip that performs well in shallow water. Whether thrown into a black water creek or mounted on the side of a lakeside cabin, it will be a true masterpiece.
This year, T. Edward Nickens returns to the Outdoor category for his twelfth round of judging. In addition to being a longtime contributor to G&G, Nix is the author of numerous outdoor guides and books, including The Great Outdoorsman’s Handbook and most recently, a collection of essays, The Last Wild Road. Nix, a lifelong fisherman, applauded Gary Lacy’s discovery of durable leather drag reels. “In an era where new trends are changing in fly fishing gear,” he says, “it’s nice to think of a passionate craftsman giving new life to a 140-year-old fly reel design.”
Textile company Cicil ensures that its fabrics are eco-friendly. Laura Tripp, who founded the company with Caroline Cockerham last November, explains: “In the privacy of our homes, we wanted to be surrounded by things we could respect.” and dyed wool, Tripp and Cockerham, who make their own products in environmentally conscious Patagonia. Instead, wool is harvested from small family farms and cooperatives in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, including black wool and brown wool (often considered undesirable because darker shades cannot be dyed). The wool is sent to South Carolina for cleaning or washing and then transferred to third-generation millers in North Carolina for carding, spinning, weaving and sewing. The end product: custom made, non-toxic, undyed, soft gray and brown rugs, sewn into curved shapes with minimal waste during production. “We looked into every detail of the supply chain,” Cockerham said. “Love for the product and sustainability go hand in hand.”
A hunter travels to the famed Red Mountains in search of a legendary bobcat and fights to bring it back along with his family’s legacy.
Post time: Oct-25-2023
