Woven Branch Art for Fireplace Mantel: 2015 Asheville Parade of Homes

When you're an artist, you have to learn to go with the flow.  When inspiration strikes, you respond and when opportunity appears, you say "yes"!  This was the situation last week.

In my already busy schedule of commissions and show prep for the Fall edition of the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands here in Asheville, NC I was asked my a local interior designer to participate in the Asheville Home Builders Association 2015 Parade of Homes.  These are some of the best of the best new homes in WNC  built by incredible luxury mountain home builders.  Of course, they wanted a fireplace mantel sculpture for the outdoor porch.  How could I say no!

To top it all off, the fireplace mantel on this porch was only 4" deep - actually designed for a flat screen tv to hang above it (which is why the fireplace stone doesn't go all the way to the top of the ceiling).  Up until this point, I'd never created a fireplace mantel sculpture that shallow - it was like weaving in bas relief - but I was up for the challenge.

Since this was pretty much "artists choice" I got to design the piece with no limitations.  Since I've really been enjoying creating copper leaves and copper botanicals, I made sure I included these in the piece.   I feel like the final piece turned out really nice and I hope you agree! 

PS, as of October 8, 2015 this piece is still available! It's 52" wide by 32" tall and would fit very nicely on a 6' wide mantel either on a covered porch or in a great room.  If you're interested in this particular piece or having me create something special for your home, please contact me here.

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