Artisans Corner
Artisans Corner
Anthony Hillman
“Carvings start with a pencil profile drawing to make a pattern. Sometimes I draw directly on the wood itself. Once I started carving, some of my friends wanted decoys and I added this craft to my repertoire.”
Artisans Corner
Koko Lafferty: Collecting Cape May
What’s the expression? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well, when life gives Koko Lafferty seashells, she makes jewelry.
Artisans Corner
Beverly Chernaik
For Beverly Chernaik, who splits her time between her homes in Maryland and North Cape May, mosaics have become her absolute favorite creative outlet.
Artisans Corner
Kate McKiernan
When was the last time you wanted something but didn’t buy it because you couldn’t afford it? And how many of us who might raise their hand in the affirmative here would decide to just make that thing instead? Kate McKiernan would. “I first started making jewelry in college, as […]
Artisans Corner
Corinne Rietheimer
We first met Corinne Rietheimer back in our Spring issue of 2015, when we profiled her and her company, Shore Soaps, (along with other local soap makers) in the feature, “Soap Story.” This was a scant two years into Corinne’s soapmaking. Now she has her own little empire. Back then, […]
Artisans Corner
Rachael Shubin of Piper and Pearl Co.
Rachel Shubin is on that l-o-n-g list of people who used to vacation but now lives in Cape May. Raised in Fairfax, Virginia, she spent annual summer vacations here as a child, and knew she wanted to move here after college. “I was always sad when we left Cape May, […]
Artisans Corner
Molly Bernstein
In a resort town like Cape May, souvenirs are ubiquitous, running from sweatshirts and tees to saltwater taffy and mugs. But a Molly Bernstein mug looks less like something you’d pick up at a souvenir shop and more like something you’d find in a gallery. The West Cape May native […]
Artisans Corner
Laurie Milligan of Sweetest Song Pottery
When Laurie Milligan was a child, she didn’t have visions of being an artist when she grew up. “I wanted to be Snow White,” she told us. “I had black hair, and I wanted a prince to kiss me. Joe eventually did.” That Joe is her husband, fellow creative and […]
Artisans Corner
Peter Henderer
Adages may be trite, but they exist for a reason. Peter Henderer is a living, breathing example of this one: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Here’s a guy who makes a living creating mostly nautical/fish-related artwork from…recycled wood. Or, as he puts it, “Yes, I am still dumpster […]
Artisans Corner
Kathy Mahon: Hook and Needle Knits
At this time of year, at least here in the coastal mid-Atlantic region, the weather vacillates from not quite dead-of-winter to damp-but-not-quite-warm. The quickest way to warm up—and to look stylish doing it—is to toss on a scarf or shawl. Just ask Kathy Mahon, proprietor and head crocheter of Hook […]
Artisans Corner
Sign Me Pretty
Sign Me Pretty has officially been a business for three years now. “But we’d been doing things for friends and family since a few years prior, and honestly have always had a craft going on since we had kids in 2015,” said Ember Loefflad, half of the husband-and-wife team at […]
Artisans Corner
Gail Pfeifer – Laughing Gull Pottery
“I am a Jersey girl—born and bred,” says Gail Pfeifer, the face—and talented hands—behind Laughing Gull Pottery. She started life further north in the Garden State, but her present life in Stone Harbor is reflected in her hand-thrown pottery pieces, their soothing colors representative of the sand, sea, and sky. […]
Artisans Corner
Janet Payne Jewelry
If you’re familiar with Cape May, it’s almost difficult not to be familiar with Janet Payne’s work. Whether you’re already a fan of her sea glass jewelry or have seen it displayed at Cape May shops Whale’s Tale or Splash, or even dangling around the neck or from the earlobes […]
Artisans Corner
Cape Island Woodworks
The official first greeting when we visited the sylvan Fishing Creek location of Cape Island Woodworks came not from owner John Hassay, but from shop dog Gracie. We heard her excited bark before we saw her, then spotted her wagging tail as she bounded through the grass, John behind her. […]