Jacob’s passion for woodworking took root during his years at Truckee High, where he repeated the wood shop course three times. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in biology and summer stints as a tile layer, in 2007, Jacob and his wife Lindsey moved to Portola to start up his Rustic Tree Creations business.

Searching for special chunks of wild wood, or taking someone else’s throwaway lumber, Jacob has a unique way of allowing each piece to speak to him, envisioning how it will best be utilized as functional art such as the pair of night stands he made from salvaged western red cedar and mixed reclaimed woods.

Jacob also spends time scavenging old tools from antique shops and flea markets, refurbishing them for use in his craft. Recently, he took a group of unusable relics and made them into a chair that he calls his Rustic Chairmakers Chair. It won the People’s Choice award at the North Tahoe Arts Gallery May showcase.

The whimsical Art Seat called Dancing In The Wind is a playful design from lodge pole pine branches—the legs dance while the back is blowing in the wind. The seat is fashioned from a reclaimed Turkish shipping crate. Those who try out this chair always remark on the surprising solid comfort despite its appearing as though it might whisk them away.

Currently, a variety of works from Rustic Tree Creations can be seen at the new Artisans Market Place on Donner Pass Road in Brickelltown, Truckee (just east of Burger Me). The art co-op features 19 local Artisans and is open daily 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

For more information about Rustic Tree Creations, click here or contact Jacob Morrison at 530-832-5435.

What’s the secret ingredient? Minerals from the Dead Sea, of course!

Dead Sea Magic Mineral Salt Soap boasts big benefits.

• Skin as soft as silk.
• Helps clear acne and other blemishes.
• Soothes bites, rashes and itches and diaper rash.
• You’ll never need lotion again!

Best of all, it is not tested on animals and there are no chemicals. Just 100% handmade and it comes with a 100% guarantee.

The ingredients:

Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil and 100% Dead Sea Bath Salts.

The soap is slowly and lovingly hand stirred, poured and cured in Incline Village. Annie Cunningham started the Dead Sea Warehouse in 2001 after she witnessed its curative properties first hand. However, it was very expensive so she jumped in (literally), and started to make it locally at an affordable price. The above picture is Annie soaking in the Dead Sea in June 2005.

Besides the magic mineral salt soap, Annie makes Dead Sea Magic Mineral Mud Mask and Bath Salts. All with the same curative properties and 100% handmade. Today, Annie’s magic mineral products can be found in health food stores nationwide.

Dead Sea Warehouse, Inc.
760 Mays Blvd.Unit 9
Incline Village, NV
(775) 831-8089

To learn more about Annie’s Dead Sea products or to place an order online, visit www.deadseawarehouse.com or visit these local health food stores:

Grass Roots in South Shore

New Moon Natural Foods
Tahoe City and Truckee, CA

The Dead Sea (Wikipedia)

The Dead Sea is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 420 metres (1,378 ft) below sea level, and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 330 m (1,083 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also the world’s second saltiest body of water, after Lake Asal in Djibouti, with 30 percent salinity. It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean.

The sea is called “dead” because its high salinity prevents macroscopic aquatic organisms, such as fishes and aquatic plants, from living in it, though minuscule quantities of bacteria and microbial fungi are present.

Growing up in Kings Beach you see, Bob always shared something in common with his neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Bear.

Trash.

Yes, Bob loves trash.

However, Bob quickly realized that trash was killing his fellow Tahoe natives.  So he got to work collecting scraps of metal, discarded pieces of whatever – old car pieces, wood, anything – and he started to weld and create some beautiful one-of-a-kind bear boxes that made Smokey proud.

Bob calls his recycled bear boxes “an amalgam of the past, a multi-layered quilt of metal that lived a former life in a completely different context.” Considered art, Bob’s Bear Boxes are completely functional and not only help reduce the waste in our landfills, but they may just help keep our Tahoe bears alive by keeping them away from last night’s dinner.

To learn more about Bob’s Bear Boxes and to see his custom, intricate designs, click here.

Tahoe Longboards was started by Chuck Vogt Buckley in 1997 in Kings Beach.

Chuck said he’s committed to keeping the Tahoe riding style hangin’ out there. And he should know. He’s been skating for over 25 years.

Not only is skating just plain fun, Chuck and other skaters know the benefits of cross training for our winter sports.

Pictured below is the Tallac 62. Buckley says it is named after the tallest mountain on Lake Tahoe and represents freedom. We agree.

Check out their online store or visit their original shop on the main drag in Kings Beach.

You can also find Tahoe Longboards at Dave’s, Porter’s, Tait’s, Totally Board, Beach Barn, and Trilogy Arts in North Shore, and at Shoreline in South Lake Tahoe.

In addition to making custom, high quality longboards, Chuck also cofounded Skate the Lake to benefit Boarding for Breast Cancer in tribute to his mother who has survived breast cancer.

Skate the Lake is a 26 mile longboard relay skating event along the North Shore bike path that takes place in late September. Skaters of all abilities get together and shred the bike path to increase breast cancer awareness and to raise thousands of dollars to fight cancer.

Their handcrafted, all vegetable soaps are blended in South Lake Tahoe and made with pure Tahoe water.

Besides being locally made, the soaps contain no alcohol, artificial colors or preservatives. And, they’re highly addictive, especially when you lather up with their natural sponges.

Depending on the soap, a few include tiny particles of the natural ingredients to aid in exfoliation.  Lavender has tiny lavender buds, the honey citrus has cornmeal, and the peppermint has ground peppermint leaf. All of the eleven soaps contain palm oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and are fattened up with either sweet almond oil or apricot kernel oil, and laced with the finest fragrance oils.

Complementing the popular soaps, Tahoe Mountain Soap also makes lotions in their little operation on the south end of the lake.

To see and smell the full line of soaps and other products, look for Dave at the South Lake Tahoe Farmer’s Markets on Tuesday mornings  and other locations, or click here to order online.

Tahoe Mountain Soap Company
P.O. Box 13239
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151

(530) 542-9475

What about a hand-painted custom belly.

Not only is it a work of art, it’s a memento of the pregnancy and an heirloom that will last generations.

Meet Jennie Gessler.

Art is a natural for Jennie, an 8 year resident of Truckee and an active member of the local art scene. Her dad, Marty Gessler, is an accomplished artist himself who passed on his talent and passion to his beloved daughter.

Besides her colorful belly casts, Jennie’s expansive art includes drawings, water colors and oils.

To learn more about Jennie and to see her collection of bellies, click here.

Jennie Gessler
Contemporary Artworks

Call Jennie for pricing and to make an appointment @ 530-448-9701.

Who knows.

Maybe she’d create a hand-painted belly even if you aren’t expecting.

Each expressive piece is made by hand, entirely original from the fleece to the finished product.

Meet the Romitis, Judith and Lawrence, of Incline Village.

Each Romiti handwoven piece is made from the highest quality all natural fibers. And since no dyes are used, the sheen and colors are permanent. Specially bred wools of sheep, llama, mohair, and yak are selected for their richness and precision of color and quality of fiber. To maintain the shape, high tension Romanian hemp is used to prevent warping.

As a result, the array of heavy textiles, compositions and fine craftsmanship create a textured natural look that complements their surroundings.

But that’s not all.  Besides the artistry and durability, the Romiti’s understand the transformative power of art.

“Art is a learning experience for the artist as well as the viewer. Each piece is the product of a meditative experience. Once it includes someone else, it becomes art. This connection, a captured energy between artist and viewer, then becomes universal.”

About the Artists:

The Romitis both have extensive art backgrounds in design, color, drawing and painting. They share their time between their studios in Lo de Marcos, Nayarit and Incline Village, Nevada.

Lawrence is a graduate of California College of Art and continued his graduate studies in Mexico and Central America. He attributes his patience and ability to concentrate to his Zen Buddhist training. Judith, studied art at New York University and Silvermine Guild of Artists. Their work has been shown in numerous galleries.

They have been invitational artists at many fine arts shows across the country. Their pieces can be found in collections in California, Nevada, New York, Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico, Florida, Vermont, Wyoming, Mexico, England and China.

The Romitis are participating in the Incline Village Artists Studio Tour, August 5th through 8, 2010. They invite you to stop by:

Romiti Art
594 Rockrose Court
Incline Village, NV 89451

Phone/fax (775)833-1560
www.romitiart.com

Meet Kris Prater of Tahoe Expressions in Incline Village.

While pursuing a bachelors degree in fine art at Oklahoma State University in 2003, Kris’s fascination with masks emerged, and has resurfaced today like a tsunami. The inspiration behind Kris’s masks come from their historic significance and many years of looking at faces and expressions.

“My ideas for my masks are a cross of knowledge of art history, dreams, natural talent, and contemporary trends blended with my style of painting and other sources of inspirational color content.” – Kris Prater

Realizing that we all wear several masks in our daily lives and personal interactions, Kris created a series of masks to help the wearer revel in their alter ego. Each is one-of-a-kind and I’m sure if you don’t see one that captures your inner Super Hero, Kris would be convinced to create your very own Tahoe Expression.

For starters, try on one of these:

Divine Gas Mask, Burnt Phantom of the Opera Mask, Party Devil Mask, Bumpin Chilis Mask, Back n Black Mask, Tribal Skull Mask (left) or one of “The Four Elements” – Air, Earth, Fire and Water (which is shown above).

The masks are all made from veg-tan leather and illustrated by hand with water based airbrush paint. Each of the masks include stretchable, detachable elastic bands so they can be worn when they aren’t mounted on a wall for display.

To learn more about Kris and to see more Tahoe Expressions, click here.

Kris is participating in the Incline Village Artists Studio Tour, August 5th through 8, 2010.

That’s when she decided to make her own and share them with other succulent collectors (and every art lover!)

Meet Barbara Wesson of South Lake Tahoe.

Barbara’s creativity and love of nature is captured in her pottery.

“I work with clay. Elements derived from the earth.

Forms created through rhythm and motion.

Like the process that completes my work, it fires me up.

Keeps my inner fire burning and sets my soul free.” Barbara Wesson

Looking at Barbara’s pottery, one might not realize the expertise she brings to her art form from other areas.

She has studied Zoology and Botany, is an avid succulent specimen collector, an award-winning landscape designer using zero-scaping techniques, and has designed zoo exhibits integrating native plants of the southwest.

And if that’s not enough, she’s developed a special technique to fire her pots to retain just the right balance of elements to make plants thrive at any elevation – especially 6,200′.

With all this knowledge of plant environments, she’s mastered the perfect succulent habitat in a pot that feeds her creative energy and passion for living.

Best of all, her pots are Made in Tahoe and won’t break the piggy bank. Or, Barbara will be happy to make you a new little piggy.

In addition to succulent planter pots, Barbara also makes vases, bowls, wall packets, and decorative garden pieces like her toadstools.

Barbara can customize the color and size of any of her pots or pottery to suit your style.

To see Barbara’s pottery, please visit www.letsgetmuddy.net

Like a magician, he transforms a myriad of wood pieces into a puzzling, seamless work of art.

How did he do that?

Meet Malcolm Tibbetts, segmented woodturning artist from South Lake Tahoe.

Well known by many as Heavenly’s mountain manager in the 1980-90’s, Malcolm’s real passion has always been wood working. He started working with wood as a child and fell in love with segmented woodturning 15 years ago.

Segmented woodturning or polychromatic woodturning has been around for a very long time. As Tibbetts explains in the introduction of his book, The Art of Segmented Wood Turning, “Someone probably had the need for a bowl that was larger than their piece of wood and thought, ‘I’ll just glue two pieces together.’

However, segmented wordturning is much more than gluing pieces of wood into a bowl. “It is about creating exciting objects that challenge you and stimulate the interest and enjoyment of others…. This type of craft can be a real opportunity to express oneself with very few limitations. This activity requires extremely precise woodworking skills and often requires a little inventiveness.”

Inventiveness is putting it mild. Malcolm’s work shouts ingenuity.

Click here to view his amazing gallery.

Malcolm uses a combination of domestic and exotic woods from around the world. He uses no stains or dyes. All the colors are natural. He is also very careful not to acquire wood from endangered trees or woods that are responsible for destruction of the South American rainforest.

Malcolm is known as a master in his field, and can be commissioned to create that one-of-a-kind piece for you.

Artist Statement:

Segmented woodturning is an art form with few limitations. By combining components, I can create just about any shape or size and by arranging different wood species, I can create just about any type of surface design. There are few art forms with this much freedom. This lack of restriction keeps my mind engaged contemplating the possibilities. Long before I have finished one piece, my mind is busy designing and solving the technical challenges of my next project.

I have always loved working with wood and this art form gives me the opportunity to work with woods from around the world. It thereby gives me the opportunity to share these wonderful materials with many people. Beautiful wood is almost a magical substance; gallery visitors experience an uncontrollable urge to touch the surfaces that I have created using these treasures of nature. Many designs require innovative assembly solutions, much like puzzle solving; and just like the joy of solving a puzzle, there is great joy in inventing assembly techniques. I do what I do because “it’s fun” – the designing, the joy of working with wood, the puzzle solving, and the inter-action with other people.

To learn more about Malcolm and his incredible work, please visit http://www.tahoeturner.com/index.html.

Be sure to watch the video below:

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