The weather may have been ugly, but the 16 Hands Studio Tour made us forget the weather completely. In addition to the artistry of Silvie Granatelli, Ellen Shankin, and Brad Warstler, we got to meet guest artists Pietro Maddelena from Tuscany, Bernadette Curran from Philadelphia, and Stacy Lane from Floyd.
(click on the images to enlarge)
Studio Tour traffic was heavy in spite of the 
weather. We saw many out-of-town visitors as well as old friends from Floyd.
The 16 Hands Studio Tour will continue Sunday, May 6, so you still have time to drive down the parkway and visit these artists in their studios.
I think the outstanding feature of these twice-yearly tours is the fact that we have an opportunity to talk with the artisans and get to know them as individuals.
They take the time to visit with us and have refreshments at every studio, so with all of the friends we encounter on the Studio Tour, it feels like a party as well as an opportunity to buy gifts for family and friends.
We have never failed to come away with new treasures and some of the most intriguing offerings come from the guest artists.
We got off to a late start, so we couldn’t finish the entire tour today. We will take care of that omission Sunday by visiting the rest of the 
studios on the route. Perhaps we will see you there.