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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Celebrating Our Nationally Known Artisans


Southern Indiana has always attracted artists and artisans. Inspired by its rural beauty, the rolling hills, wooded glens, small lakes and rivers are perfect for winemakers, woodcarvers, jewelry and gem makers and craftspeople who look to the old ways to make candles, soaps and candies.

Bear Hollow Wood Carvers
8695 W. Jack Carnes Way, Suite 8
French Lick, IN   
(812)936-3030   


Bear Hollow Wood Carvers are leaders in chainsaw carving industry, offering a retail store in French Lick, Indiana, Traveling Carving Shows, Custom Commissioned Sculptures, On-site Custom Carvings and more. Their carving team, lead by award winning carver Jason Emmons, is considered to be at the top in their profession. Stop by their retail shop, soaking in the rustic and artistic atmosphere, in the charming French Lick downtown to see not only the works of Bear Hollow Wood Carvers but also other works by other artisans. 

And for those with an old stump or two in their backyard, the Bear Hollow Carvers can come out and turn it into a piece of art for you.

Bear Hollow Wood Carvers are featured on the reality show series "Saw Dogs" which is playing on the Discovery Channel. Watch here  

Hinshaw Rock 'n Gems
1232 S. County Rd. 650 W.
French Lick IN
 (812) 936-7255   

Last year marked the 50th anniversary for  Hinshaw Rock ‘n Gems. Nationally and internationally known artisans, the Hinshaw family has been creating beautiful jewelry and decorator pieces since 1961. One-of-a-kind jewelry created by silversmith Merrill Hinshaw, the family also offers top notch polishing and silversmithing.

Named by Lapidary Journal as one of the top ten stone polishers in the nation, the Hinshaws collect rough stones, then cut and polish stones by hand to create works of art. We feature items to interest all ages and cherish for all occasions. Specialties are artistic jewelry design and custom cabochon cutting. The store is a wonder with unique jewelry. bookends, unusual rock specimens, minerals and much more.
 
French Lick Winery & Coffee Company
8145 W Sinclair St
West Baden Springs, IN
812-936-2293
1-888-494-6380
frenchlickwinery@aol.com

The French Lick Winery, established almost 20 years ago, now is known as one of Indiana's premier wineries receiving over 250 medals in state, national and international competitions.      

Not far from historic West Baden and French Lick resorts, visitors can dine in the winery’s Vintage CafĂ© which specializes in freshly made Italian cuisine using local produce in season. The tasting room has large observation windows for viewing wine making.

Both vintner, John Doty, who co-owns the winery with Kim Doty, cellar master, take great pride in the wines made here from grapes planted at their Heaven's View Vineyard located approximately 20 miles west of the winery on Kim's family Hoosier Homestead Farm in Martin County overlooking the White River valley.   

Winzerwald Winery
26300 N. Indian Lake Road / (CR 39)
Bristow, Indiana
866-6WINZER

A stop on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail, Winzerwald Winery is known as the friendly little German-style Winery at the Top of the Hill and specializies in great German-style grape wines and fruit wines

Located in Bristow, stop by to taste some of their award winning wines such as their Der Wein des Winzer (German for wine maker’s choice), a wonderful floral and peachy white grape wine Gewurztraminer or their Vidal which was recommended on Indy Women Connect.Com.

Sit out in the sun above the long stretch of rolling hills and enjoy a glass or two. And be sure to check out the nutcracker collection inside the winery as well. Oenophiles might also think about joining the Wein Klub  (no translation needed here) to save up to 25% on wine purchases along with many more exclusive member-only benefits.

The winery has been showcased on WFYI Public Television’s “The Good Life With Jill Ditmire” which airs each Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on WFYI Public Television, with weekly repeats on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. The series is carried statewide on Indiana’s eight PBS stations — viewers should consult their local TV listings for broadcast dates and times.

Blue Heron Vineyards, Winery and B&B
5330 Blue Heron Lane
Cannelton, IN 
812/547-7518 
 
Specializing in estate and Indiana grown American and French-American grapes, Blue Heron wines range from dry to sweet. Many of the decorative labels were designed by graphic artist Danny Bolin of Tell City. The amazing Celtic Cross was hand carved by another local artist, Greg Harris. 

Take a stroll through the grounds of the winery or sit in the stone patio, tree house like deck or the pavilion to enjoy a glass or two. But whatever you do, be sure to take in the view. Blue Heron, nestled atop a ridge some 300-feet above the Ohio River and just upstream from the Cannelton Locks and Dam, offers a stunningly panoramic view.   

Spend the night at Blue Heron Farm's Bed & Breakfast, recently remodeled 1930 Farm House complete with a turn-of the century barn, a 4-acre lake and vintage outbuildings.  The winery is just outside of historic Cannelton, home of the Cannelton Cotton Mill built in 1849.  Once the largest manufacturing plant west of the Allegheny Mountains, the mill is now on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Squire Boone Caverns & Village
100 Squire Boone Rd. S.W.
Mauckport, IN
812-732-4381  

 In 1790, Squire Boone, brother of Daniel, discovered a cave in the wooded hills near the Ohio River. Years later, he returned, started the mill and built a house. Squire asked his children to bury him in the cave and so they did when he died in 1815. After his bones were discovered more than 160 years later, a coffin was shaped out of walnut to hold his bones in one of the cave's vaults.  

Above ground, Squire Boone village replicates what life might have been liked in a small southern Indiana hamlet. Visitors can watch the mill grind grain into flour, visit the gift shop and stop at the Rock Shop such items as agate bookends, power beads, semiprecious stone necklaces, stone water fountains, and many different types of minerals, and crystals. They can also watch candles being hand-dipped and soap being made out of lye as they were back when this area was a wilderness. 

At Squire Boone Caverns, candles are made from paraffin in 23 colors with 22 different scents. The white candle is unscented for people who are allergic to fragrances. You can also try your hand at dipping your own. Lye soap is made all summer long at Squire Boone Caverns. One batch makes about 500 bars of soap. It is good for cleaning, killing chiggers, treating poison ivy, washing hair and removing stains from clothes. Other items for sale are freshly ground cornmeal, fudge and just out of the oven bread.   


 


             

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