Articles

Shopping Along the Shore

Aug 15, 2002
Special to the Washington Post

The model boats Knute Aspenberg builds in his crowded studio in Chance, Md., are a labor of love: There's no way, he says, that he could charge enough to get a fair return on the hundreds of hours of detailed work he puts into his meticulous replicas.

First, he gathers the right kind of wood -- pieces of mahogany, poplar, oak, pine and basswood, much of it reclaimed from castoff furniture. Using a 10-inch saw, he slices the pieces down to a manageable size and turns to a smaller precision saw to refine the planks that will become miniature sailboats, fishing vessels or yachts. Then, using tools that look sized for a Lilliputian's hand, he shapes, glues and finishes each piece,
leaving for last the addition of tiny nautical details: a stove, a ship's wheel, rigging.

Many of his boats are custom-built for collectors and boat owners who want a replica of their own vessels. Others are sold to people passing through on their way to and from the beaches of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic coast, vacationers seeking souvenirs more interesting than T-shirts, mass-produced lighthouse lamps or fish nets with crab floats.

Aspenberg, 67, is one of nearly six dozen artisans scattered throughout the Chesapeake Bay region featured in a new brochure put out by the Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Committee (LESHC). The "Cultural Arts Tour of the Lower Eastern Shore" lists painters, weavers, furniture-makers, sign painters, metal workers, clock makers and others who sell their work from their own shops and studios, as well as from museums and galleries across the area.

The stated goal of the LESHC is "to preserve, protect and promote the historical, cultural and natural heritage" of Maryland's Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties while encouraging and supporting the work of local citizens and organizations.

The area included in the brochure stretches from Rehoboth Beach in Delaware to Chincoteague Beach in Virginia along the Atlantic Ocean and from Mardela Springs on the north to Crisfield in the south on the Chesapeake Bay side of the Delmarva Peninsula. Many of the artists listed have studios with regular hours; others are open by appointment; and still others are represented by local galleries and museums. Many of them have won widespread recognition for their work and have exhibited and sold in regional and national venues.

Aspenberg's model boats have been featured at the Hagley Museum's Craft Fair held each year near Wilmington, Del., and sold at the Annapolis Marine Art Gallery. He says he delights in special commissions and can devote six to eight months to create the model he makes of a customer's favorite sailboat or motorboat.

His replicas range from $80 for a Chesapeake Bay rowing skiff (about 10 to 12 inches long, mounted with reeds, crab basket) up to $6,000 for an oyster schooner or large skipjack that's about four feet long with a 60-inch-tall mast. Custom-built boat models run about $10 an hour.

(10577 Harrison Point Rd., Chance, Md. 21821. 410-784-2130. Open Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment.)

Farther southeast, in Chincoteague, Va., Donald White, 72, is a
third-generation coppersmith who says he never considered going into any other field. In his studio on Chincoteague Island, he makes weathervanes, wall hangings, watering cans, lanterns, sconces, teapots, fountains and sculptures, each signed and dated. His wife, Joan, 68, creates jewelry with the copper scraps.

White, who established his copper works studio in 1975, has had work exhibited in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Chadds Ford Historical Society and the Waterford Foundation.

Among pieces commissioned for private homes and historical societies are an Ipswich-style chandelier for an Early American-style home and a metal-sculpture wall hanging of a great blue heron—about 4 feet by 4 feet, which is larger than life-size.

White says some of these pieces may take a couple of days to complete, some a week. Like Aspenberg, he says he's in it for the love of his work more than the money. "If not, we'd probably get a job at Wal-Mart or somewhere," he says. His weathervanes range from $130 to $500, depending on the design, finish and size.

(White's Copperworks, 6373 Maddox Blvd., Chincoteague Island. 757-336-1588; email whites copper@webtv.net or online at
www.whitescopperworks.com. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer, but call first.)

In Salisbury, just off Route 50, is Chesapeake East, the showroom and studio of Dana Simson, 43, a native of Elmira, N.Y., who came down to the Eastern Shore 20 years ago for the peace and quiet of the country. She creates ceramics, fabrics, paintings, prints, cards, books and baby bedding featuring whimsical designs reminiscent of "Alice in Wonderland" after Alice has had one-too- many bites of the mushroom.

Simson says she has been an artist since childhood, when she drew comics for neighborhood children and sewed animal dolls for her friends. She met her husband, artist John Orth, 44, at Syracuse University, and they ran a graphic design studio for 10 years. After a few years of dabbling in ceramics, Simson had 300 of her ceramic fish exhibited for a time in the lobby of the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Her turtle and rose vase was seen in the movie "Titanic," in the scene where Rose as an old woman is shown working at a potter's wheel.

These days, you can often find Simson at work in her second- floor studio, while local residents in her first-floor workshop create the ceramic pieces she has designed. The spacious Main Street facility was a derelict juke-joint hotel that was closed in the 1980s. After extensive renovation and restoration, the building can now be enjoyed for its brickwork, tin ceiling and tall windows that let light pour in.

Items at the studio range from $4 for refrigerator magnets to fabrics at $6.95 a yard to ceramics from $18 to more than $100. Personalized items for weddings are popular as is greenware for customers to paint them-selves. Custom-made tiles and interior decorating ser- vices are available.

Simson's designs are being licensed for calendars and other stationery items, include ding photo albums ($5 to $30) that were available at Target. (Sorry, all sold out.) A new line of high- quality quilting fabric has just arrived in her studio, with a second line of flannels due out in the fall. She's also talking with a company about producing dinnerware with her designs, starting with dessert plates, which will be available through Marshall Field's online store in time for Christmas.

(Chesapeake East/Dana Simson Design, 501 W. Main St., Salisbury. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 410-546-1534; 800- 320-7829; www.chesapeakeeast.com.)

Several area galleries sell the work of these and many other artisans. Among them:
The Osprey Nest Art Gallery, 4096 S. Main St., Chincoteague, Va., carries the work of wildlife artist Kevin McBride. Open daily, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 757-336-6042.
Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art & Gift Shop, 909 S. Schumaker Dr., Salisbury, contains carved antique decoys, wildfowl paintings and sculpture. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 410-742-4988. www.wardmuseum.org.
Globe Theatre/Balcony Gallery, 12 Broad St., Berlin, carries furniture, paintings, jewelry, musical instruments, sketches and more. Open weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; weekends, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 410-641-0784. www.globe theater.com.

These artists and galleries are just a sampling of the handcrafted work awaiting vacationers traveling the roads of the Eastern Shore. For a complete listing and a copy of the Cultural Arts Tour of the Lower Eastern Shore brochure, email Donna May at leshc@ezy.net call 410-651-4420, or write to LESHC, 11696 Church St., Princess Anne, Md. 21853.

Judy Colbert, a writer in Crofton, is the author of Maryland and
Delaware: Off the Beaten Path" and "Virginia: Off the Beaten Path.