FiNE ART - Rapid River Magazine

R A P I D R I V E R A R T S
It is extremely difficult
to run a successful
business while at the
same time working as
an accomplished artist.
Most would say it
would be impossible. Just
don’t tell this to John and
Suzanne Gernandt, owners of
Waynesville’s upscale home
décor store — known simply
as Textures.
The Gernandt’s began
Textures just a little over five
years ago with the simple idea
to offer a gallery that allows
the handcrafted to mingle
with the manufactured, where the sophisticated
is seated next to the playful, and
the local and international share a table.
“This was something we hadn’t seen
done in this area,” John says remembering
back to the beginning. “We wanted to
showcase our art as well as the art of the
mountains but not be limited to just that.
It’s a blending.”
John’s passion is the capturing “of
harmony and style to invoke warmth and
create comfort in a home” through his
furniture.
As an independent furniture maker
John wants to create something unique
in each of his pieces, either through
movement, through style or through the
natural beauty and grain of the hard or
soft woods.
Looking at his pieces during different
times of the day, as the light continually
changes, you’ll see different textures, different
colors or curves you hadn’t noticed
before. When you get down to it, down
to the bare bones, that’s what handcrafted
furniture offers.
Suzanne, award winning textile artist,
views the creative journey as “a fluid
always changing path.” Her tapestries
have decorated walls all over the country.
Her art has offered inspiration to a local
generation of upcoming artists. Her work
is none-the-less, simply put — fantastic.
Lately, she has been teaching her
many skills in private and semi-private
classes. These have been well-received
and very much in demand. June 19-21
Suzanne will be offering “Coloring Outside
the Lines: Fiber Reactive Dyes 101.”
Through this class students will play with
color in the dye bath and recapture that
pleasurable feeling of opening a new box
of crayons on the first day of school. For
more information on this class or others
she will be teaching this summer and fall
visit texturesonmain.com.
Today there is a strong social undercurrent
to preserve our forests, prairies,
FINE ART
Recycled Art Becoming Brand Art
at Textures
our history, and
like with everything
else, artists
reflect this in their
work. It is the
artist who reveals
to us ourselves,
our dreams and
perhaps most
importantly, our
vast accomplishments.
Textures
has assembled a
large variety of
artists and artisans
who use recycled
and found materials
to create their art. These artists manage
to produce something from something
else that would otherwise have ended up
in a landfill.
Examples: artist Jill Fagin’s jewelry is
made from aluminum cans. This makes
for a distinctive style that is so light you
don’t realize you wearing it. John Richard’s
homegrown business of found object jewelry
“yummy mud puddle” is whimsical
and charming. This is for people who are
looking for something completely different
and fun in accessories.
Suzanne and John Gernandt,
owners of Textures.
by Dennis Ray
Woodcarver Allen Davis does wood
turnings with reclaimed wood, creating
charming bowls and gallery quality pens.
There are purses made from recycled
billboards (yes, the kind you see while
driving to and from work) or purses made
from inner tubes. Mirrors framed in ceiling
tin. Glasses made from recycled glass.
And so much more.
Textures
Suzanne and John Gernandt
142 North Main Street
Waynesville
(828) 452-0058
www.texturesonmain.com
(828) 236-9800
Open 7 Days a Week
50 Broadway ~ Asheville, NC
Wireless
Internet
Access!
Delicious
Specialty Pizzas
Spring Water Dough
Appetizing Salads
Fresh-Baked Calzones
Hoagies & Pretzels
Healthy Ingredients
Vol. 11, No. 10 — Rapid River ArtS & CULTURE Magazine — June 2008 21