Handmade & Homegrown

Bright wool spun into yarn. Iron hammered into vines and leaves. Copper iridescent with blazing color. Cats in clay and landscapes in tapestry. Mugs that just fit your hand. Glass blown or cut to inspire a new perspective. Wood shaped with great skill into furniture or musical instruments. Glossy peppers from organic farms or grapes picked at the peak of ripeness. The range of craft you'll find in Southwest Virginia will stagger your imagination.

It's a tradition in our part of the world.

Today, craftspeople across our region use time-honored techniques, or invent new ones.

They'll be the first to tell you that each object they create is an adventure in creativity, a dance between the irregularities of their medium — wood or iron or clay — the idea of what they want to create, and the finished reality.

Holston Mountain Artisans

One of Southwest Virginia's oldest arts cooperatives, Holston Mountain Artisans, opened new quarters in Abingdon's historic jailhouse on Park Street, featuring the work of over a hundred craftspeople.

The magic doesn't end at the kiln or the loom. When you own and treasure an original craft work, you're forging a relationship with its maker.

Find studios, galleries, artisan centers, farms, vineyards and more along the 15 artisan trails of 'Round the Mountain. Shop for craft work that's the best of the best at Heartwood, Southwest Virginia's Artisan Gateway.

You can meet artisans in their studios or shops, have a glass of wine at local wineries, find the best of local food, right at the source.

You'll travel on country roads through rolling hills and blue mountains and charming communities, scenery that soothes your spirit and imbues the lives and work of the artisans you'll visit.