General Grant knew from a young age he was an artist.

“I was gifted, it was a gift from The Creator,” he said. “He gave me multiple talents and I was not afraid to experiment with them. Through my experimentation, I’ve become very good at this and have able to make a living doing it.”

By Michael Beadle

Luke Allsbrook has a voice as soothing as his paintings.

He explains his craft with the calm of someone who has spent hours in solitary reflection, emerging from nature with gifted insights. Whether it’s a vast stretch of beach, a mountain pasture or glowing houselights in a suburban home, there’s an invisible breeze hushing peripheral noise as you enter his world of oil paintings.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Deep in the mountains that surround Jackson County’s Tuckasegee community, the sound of metal on metal rings out with a sharp ping as blacksmith David Brewin begins to shape a steel rod.

The rod, heated in a propane power forge, glows red, its tip approximately 2,000 degrees. Brewin deftly raises and fells his hammer, steel bending around the anvil’s curved edge and forming a graceful curl.

By Michael Beadle

For Victor Raul Moraloza, each day is a gift.

From being a high school wrestling champion to surviving a grenade explosion in the Vietnam War to treasure diving off the coast of Colombia to creating award-winning metal sculptures that are sold all over the United States, Moraloza has always been willing to take that gift and do what he could with it.

By Sarah Kucharski

John Nickerson is a very exacting man. Tall and solidly built, he moves with efficiency, his speech measured and pointed as he explains how he came into being a glassblower.

“I don’t do this to make tons of money. I do this because I can’t stand working for anybody else,” he said.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Jewelry artist Debbie Higdon makes what she likes to wear — handmade pieces, created from twisted and soldered silver wires and cut silver sheets.