September 25, 2013

Fort Ashby, WV

Bird Lady Recluse to Display Handcrafted Jewelry during Autumn Glory Festival

New hours for craft show

        Some would call her an eccentric, but Adele Wilson loves birds and considers them her closest friends.  She also loves designing and beading gemstone jewelry.  She resides alone in the hills surrounding Fort Ashby, West Virginia, from where she commuted to her Cumberland employment as an administrative assistant for 18 years before she “retired” in March.

        The annual Heritage Craft Fest in October, sponsored by the Garrett County Arts Council as part of the Autumn Glory Festival, is Adele’s favorite craft show, and she has been displaying her jewelry there since 2008.  It is the highest quality craft show in the area, and she will be again have a booth during this year’s Festival at the Broad Ford Elementary School Gym in Oakland, Maryland, on Friday, October 11th, and Saturday, October 12th.  Many in the area will want to note that this year, for the very first time, the show will begin on Friday and will last only through Saturday.  This will be quite a departure from tradition; up until this year the show has been held only on Saturday and Sunday.

        This bird lady also loves whitetailed deer, and for that reason has named her business “Deerkiss Hollow Jewelry”.  During a trip to Asheville, North Carolina, in 2005, where she had a gemstone necklace and earring set for herself handcrafted overnight, she became convinced that the only way to acquire necklace and earring sets in colors to match her outfits was to make them herself.  Immediately after visiting Asheville, she began doing just that.  She soon found that the skills she had developed in her former career as a professional graphic artist beautifully lent themselves beautifully to designing and making jewelry.

        For the first two years, Adele made jewelry only for herself in order to ensure that she could produce high quality products that would last a lifetime.  The year 2007 marked the formation of her business and the beginning of her craft show ventures.

        Adele discovered Garrett County while attending the McHenry Highland Festival in the mid-nineties and has concluded that Garrett County is even more beautiful than the rural parts of Mineral County, West Virginia, which have been her home since 1992.  Little did she know at that time that in years hence, she would be participating in that Festival as a crafter! 

        Her first display at the McHenry Highland Festival was during June 2010.  In addition, she has had a booth at the Accident Fire Hall Fourth of July Homecoming Festival since 2008.

        As an expression of her bird-loving passion, Adele has created a barn swallow necklace and earring set.  Barn swallows have become very dear to her after two summers of having baby swallows grow up in her porch nest.

        This past summer the swallows declined her porch nest, but Adele was delighted to find a swallow nest on the outside of the exhibition building at the Garrett County Fairgrounds in June during the Highland Festival.

         You can come meet Adele at Deerkiss Hollow Jewelry’s booth during the Autumn Glory Festival in the Broad Ford Elementary School Gym on Friday, October 11th from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday, October 12th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can even preview the jewelry that she will have on display by visiting Deerkiss Hollow Jewelry's website at http://www.deerkisshollowjewelry.com.  Please note that prices will be 20% off during the Festival.

 

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