Decades of vibrant tradition and culture on display
Witnessing three does cross the two-lane mountain road and only encountering three stop lights on my one-hour drive, the journey to the Rising Fawn Studio Tour was as inspiring as the artists I encountered.
Green pastures (and all green lights which I considered a sign that I needed to get to this gem as soon as possible) surrounded the wet pavement until I hit the top of Lookout Mountain. A stone’s throw from Cloudland Canyon State Park, lies a bounty of creative souls who embrace nature and have rekindled a time-honored tradition.
What was once the Plum Nelly Clothesline Art Show, founded by local printmaker Fannie Mennen in 1947, resurged just over a decade ago renamed the Rising Fawn Studio Tour. Throughout the decades, there have been many name changes from the Plum Nelly Festival turned New Salem Festival to the now Rising Fawn Studio Tour. However the feel of community and creativity never wavered.
After many successful years, from starting with 300 visitors in the 1950’s to presently almost 20,000, the Plum Nelly name left the mountain (to permanently reside with the storefront in North Shore) and the event took a hiatus.
Until three years ago when artists and Lookout Mountain residents Bonnie Cayce, Claire Vassort and Nikki Oliver wanted to continue the tradition of bringing together artists on the mountain as well as encourage visitors to partake in the joys of their creations.
“We all have our strengths and weaknesses but we all collaborate to make it a great event,” says artist Claire Vassort. “The tour for me is awesome because it’s a community event with both the community of artists as well as community of local and not so local folk. That’s the beauty.”
Originally from France, Claire Vassort opened Silks By Claire just off Plum Nelly Road in 2006 and offers classes as well as finished products like lanterns, scarves, frames, prints and greeting cards.
“I started painting silk when I was sixteen. My mother would get together with other ladies and learn different mediums. Then she got to the silks class and thought it was little too time consuming so she gave me all her silk painting tools and said, ‘Here go play.’”
A common theme you will see with Claire’s design are fluid, colorful trees. “Trees are my favorite but I do like to branch out,” she laughs as the pun came as naturally as her designs. “I always keep an eye out for odd trees to tell stories about the human condition. Trees communicate through their roots and they support each other—it’s like a metaphor for community, corporation and collaboration—and that’s kind of my message.”
With over thirty years of art experience, Claire enjoys teaching as it gives her an opportunity to share what painting has done for her and encourage others to experience it for themselves.
“Teaching it, teaches me,” she said. “I’m a teacher by trade and I’m trying to use the medium of silk painting to bring people together to facilitate that we can get to know each other by working together to create.” She taught at Townsend Atelier for around three years and currently teaches class at her studio on Lookout but will also come to you and rent a space to host private classes.
Contact Claire via her website clairevassort.com to schedule an appointment to visit the studio or for commission work. She loves doing commission as it is another chance to collaborate and she enjoys the process of getting to know her customers.
“The commission work creates a closer connection to the artist,” she says. “The first step is the customer has homework to reference my website and find three pieces they like best then I usually see a trend in color or design and we finalize their custom piece.”
This year, she is trying to gear her projects more towards community. Last year, she ran a free program of silk painting classes at the Chattanooga Library with over one hundred students. This year, she is a member of Public Art Chattanooga’s creative strategist group whose goal is to create and run community programs that would also be art projects. Driven by her love for connecting community and art, the Rising Fawn Studio Tour is another way to make this happen.
At my next stop on my quasi Rising Fawn Studio Tour, I was warmly greeted by a vocal grey and white tuxedo cat named Emmylou who escorted me up the stone frog and daffodil laden walkway to the home of Cayce (pronounce K-C) Creations.
Bonnie Cayce is a yoga instructor, world traveler and artist who is as vibrant as her decorative and functional textile art. For over thirty-two years, Bonnie has been teaching and displaying her sewing skills in creations such as postcards which can be mailed or framed, aprons, wine totes, purses, wall décor, and fabric memorial pieces for any events such as births, weddings, birthdays or funerals.
She uses ethnic, collectible, recycled, and vintage material as well as handmade embellishments. “In my work I reduce, reuse, recycle. I constantly use vintage fabrics or fabrics people give me. I’m making a purse out of this,” Bonnie said as she pulled out black and grey outdoor upholstery fabric. Fabric resources range from the local Joann’s to her trips across the ocean.
Other fabrics she absolutely adores using are ones from ethnic cultures because they use such vibrant colors. Her son-in-law is South African so she gets fabric from her frequent trips there or from his family. She also incorporates materials other than fabric like stones, sea glass and driftwood. “I do a lot of collages and use nature in all my things,” she says. From quilted cardinals to embellished Day of The Dead to silk Chinese fabric complete with original bell ornaments.
Before I left, she warmed my heart showing a memorial piece she just finished using the mother’s shirts, jeans, jewelry and her comb. The comb resting in the shirt pocket stopped me in my fast-paced tracks. This is why Bonnie doesn’t do large pieces often because she would rather create more moving memorable works. “I stay so busy with smaller funkier pieces that I rarely do straight quilts.”
As Cayce Creations is an addition onto her home, Bonnie houses several artists in her workspace including watercolor artist Mary Jo Jablonski and her daughter Anna Cayce Smit. Anna, like her mother, likes to upcycle and gives new life to much loved trinkets by repurposing vintage chains, watches and beads. Copper, brass and semi-precious stones are also used in her one-of-a-kind pieces.
Bonnie’s love for embracing the art community expands beyond her studio doors. She learned how to dye silk from Claire Vassort then quilts the silk and regularly visits Mark Issenberg at his Lookout Mountain Pottery when she wants to restock her handmade buttons.
A mere twist and turn from Cayce Creations is Mark Issenberg’s Lookout Mountain Pottery which houses two huge kilns and a shop that never closes. Encompassed by a rustic feel, as an old beater marks the studio’s entrance and vintage farm implements pepper the driveway, the space is as eclectic and inspiring as Mark and his work.
He greeted me on this cold, wet day standing in front of his kiln and handed me a warm empty mug straight from it then we quickly went inside the gallery to dry out and peruse all the masterpieces. Platters, mugs, vases, sculptural totems, tile, flasks, jugs and saki sets are just a few items he offers.
“I go through phases on what I create,” he says as we walk over to a display of colorful tile. “I have always loved plants so right now I’m into making planters specifically for bonsai and succulents. I’m thinking about creating oyster trays because I just love oysters.”
A potter since ninth grade, Mark’s knowledge is as expansive as his product line. With a degree in Fine Arts from the University of South Florida, he then headed north to work with Charles Counts in Tennessee and became a pottery teacher himself showing students how to design handles and merge pieces together.
As he recently transitioned where his classes are taught, visit LookoutMountainPottery.com to find out when and where he will be teaching again as well as witness the expansive gallery. Mark’s pottery is available at Ember on Main Street but the experience of visiting Lookout Mountain Pottery is as captivating as his designs.
Again, the gallery is always open and he evens sets out a you-pick-pottery jar where he relies on the honor system of his shoppers. This setting sums up the artists on Lookout pretty well—welcoming, creative and laid back.
The Plum Nelly Clothesline Art Show was always in October but with the rebranding, the renamed Rising Fawn Studio Tour which we now know, happens every December. Since its rebirth three years ago, the tour grows each year in visitors as well as participants.
Unlike Claire and Bonnie, fellow event creator Nikki Oliver’s whimsical wood carving shop St. Nick’s by Nick is only accessible during the tour. His warm inviting studio displays hand carved Santas, angles, elves, mangers, and other holiday themed wood carvings.
Other artists include welder and photographer Julie Clark, who creates impressive metal yard art and bird feeding stations that range from a foot tall to almost ceiling height. Her photography showcases her love of flowers and the prints are framed in her forged steel. Vista Mahan offers a colorful array of hand dyed washable silk scarves, small wall hangings, mug mats and sun printed note cards.
As there are multiple artists, there are multiple Facebook pages so feel free to look up all of them. However, for more details on the actual event, follow the Rising Fawn Studio Tour page.
Bonnie said it best, “We’ve all been involved in the art world in Chattanooga.” Therefore my thought is for Chattanooga to take a trek just plum outta Tennessee, nearly to Georgia and visit their world for some art atop Lookout.