The Artisans of Mancos is having a new artists reception this Friday.
Janet Knocke, one of the new artists at Artisans of Mancos, creates handmade and original wall hangings that really catch your eye. Whether they are plaques or sculptures, each piece is whimsical and hand-crafted.
Ive been doing ceramics full-time for about six months, but Ive really been doing it for myself for 25 years or so, said Knocke. Her background is in art and her love of ceramics began in college while she was attending the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Stevens Point. She worked with ceramics, developing glazes and ceramic bodies, then went back and got her Masters in Education from UW in La Crosse, Wisconsin. It was only this year that she decided to pursue ceramics full-time.
Her plaques begin with a drawing and then are sculpted. A press mold is made from the original in order to make more of them. She then paints them by hand, varying the colors and finishes. With her sculptures, each idea is one-of-a-kind and made out of an earthenware clay body. I like the control and subtle color variations I can achieve with the acrylic paint, she said.
Knocke gets her inspiration for her art by trying to get each one to look realistic, but then thinking of things that are unexpected or unlikely. Like a jump-roping bear, she said. Who would think of that? She tends to come up with ideas for kids, and then they go from there, evolving into something that she might want to have in her own home. She is able to experiment with lots of colors and relief techniques, making each one the way she wants it.
Knocke used to teach middle school and high school kids about ceramics, and she found there was a lot of room for creativity. The storybook illustrators give her lots of ideas as well, changing the way she presents things to the world.
She has found, too, that working on her art has changed the way she has decorated her house. I used to only buy what I liked, but now I think about filling my house with love
.it challenges you to maybe not impulse buy and save your money. Its more powerful to have the things you love around you.
Knocke wants to invite everyone to come and celebrate with her on Dec. 2 at the reception.
Paul and Marianne Rahricht have their leather work and watercolor paintings in the gallery. Marianne paints the watercolor paintings on display and she has enjoyed painting with watercolors for many years. Only the Native American paintings are representations of the originals. The rest of them are originals, she said.
Paul has been doing leather work since high school. A lot of it was self-taught, he said, but I took the craft courses in school. In the 1980s, Paul did his leather work professionally, and had two different stores to sell the items that he made, one in Colorado Spring and one in Canon City. He did a lot of custom leather work at the time. Its just been a hobby since then, he said.
Their array of items include chaps, gaiters, belts, dog collars and bags.
Paul prefers working on the snakeskin inlaid work. I dont do it on the scale I used to do, but I still like it, he said. Now he mostly makes leather belts with the inlay. Each belt, he said, take about four hours, including the inlay and the lacing. The lacing is what takes the most time, Paul said.
Paul uses mostly cowhide for his handmade items, occasionally using pigskin.
Marianne has made some leather bags out of the leather, using mostly the softer deer hide.
Paul will take custom orders on belts and dog collars now.
Both new artists work can be seen at the Artisans of Mancos reception on Friday, Dec. 2 from 5 to 8 p.m.