John's bronze sculptures begin in oil based clay. When the clay sculpture is finished, a rubber mold is made destroying the clay. A wax copy is made in the mold and taken to a foundry. Molten bronze is poured into a second ceramic mold to create the final bronze cast. The whole process rarely takes less than four or five months and, can sometimes take over a year.

The wood and stone carvings start with a small clay marquette. John uses a variety of hand and power tools to carve. Even with the power tools it is a slow process as he likes to improvise on the clay design as he works.

Karen usually works on five or six oil paintings on linen--at one time, preferring to paint in series. After covering all the canvases with a glazing medium she begins applying one color at a time, mixing all her own colors and never using pure black. Karen believes glazing is the most forgiving technique in painting - and one of the least understood. The secret to glazing is to use extremely thin paint and to have alot of patience. Karen builds her colors and tones slowly allowing the painting to dry between each coat and layer of paint (glaze). To build up a color to the proper intensity, Karen may use as many as nine glazes. Glazing allows Karen to add special effects so discretely that the viewer gets drawn into the work without knowing exactly why.

Greg Seigel's pottery exhibits beautiful fire marks and subtle variations of color thanks to the unpredictable atmosphere inside his wood fired and gas fired kilns. The flames have a similar effect on the glazes causing lovely subtleties.

Greg formulates and mixes all his own clays and glazes and is the official Elk Creek Vineyards potter, having created all the pieces on the bar and the sinks in the restrooms.

Teri thinks of herself as a hands on artist. Wheel throwing and hand building are used separately and in combination to create her one of a kind ceramic pieces. Their surfaces are carved in relief and then dried thoroughly.

Each piece is hand painted with underglaze before the first firing. To achieve the sense of depth and lush color, the underglaze (which is semi-transparent) is applied onto the surface of the clay in many separate layers. Because of the transparent nature of the underglaze, each layer picks up the color from the layer underneath it which results in very rich colors. It is that same transparency, however, that requires up to fifteen and twenty layers of underglaze to be built up on the surface in some areas to block out darker background colors. When you run your finger over the surface of the underglaze you can actually feel the built up areas.

After all the color has been applied, black underglaze is painted on with a detail brush to give definition to the painted images. It normally takes as long to apply black as it does to apply all the other colors combined on any given piece.

Once all the detail work is finished, the pieces are fired for the first time. Clear glaze is then brushed over the pieces (three to five layers depending on the colors) and they are fired a second time. During this firing, the glaze saturates the pigment in the underglaze and brings out the brilliant color.

Elizabeth’s contemporary style captures her fascination with the power, strength and remarkable beauty of the horse. Living among the immaculate Kentucky horse farms affords her opportunities to attend horse races where she finds inspiration for her paintings. The excitement of the crowd, the fancy hats, bright colors of the silks, and the hard work and effort these spectacular creatures have overcome to run in such events are what she attempts to capture in her paintings. The iridescent glimmers of golden paint, whimsical drips, interesting textures from scratches within the paint, and bold use of line are a few examples of the distinctive style exclusively found in an Elizabeth Dryden original.

Scot uses a variety of tools including oxygen and acetylene welders, a plasma cutter and hand tools to create his pieces. After cutting the design he uses rollers, benders and a selection of hammers on an 1890’s Peter Wright wrought iron anvil to form each piece required for a design. The separate pieces are then assembled, fitting into their notches or grooves and a Mig Welder is used to assemble the pieces into one composite sculpture. After applying grinders, files and various types of sanding and smoothing tools to the surface, the piece is coated with one of several finishes. most surfaces are a single or two stage acid etching process followed by either a urethane clear coat or a powder coat if the piece is intended for installation outdoors.

Greg Seigel's pottery exhibits beautiful fire marks and subtle variations of color thanks to the unpredictable atmosphere inside his wood fired and gas fired kilns. The flames have a similar effect on the glazes causing lovely subtleties.

Greg formulates and mixes all his own clays and glazes and is the official Elk Creek Vineyards potter, having created all the pieces on the bar and the sinks in the restrooms.