Photos by Angela Shoemaker
Peachy Pictures
Images of fruit and vegetables are an old standby in kitchen art, but photographer Woody Drumheller, who died in 2000, did them a little bit differently. He shot them on a sheet of Plexiglas that was lit from below and the sides so there were little or no shadows. The results are artistic still-lifes of peaches, corn and apples that seem to float. Mary Simione, owner of Mad About Art, 625 Baxter Ave. (568-4916), represents his work, and sells his 16-by-8-inch matted prints for $35-$40.
Baker’s Half-Dozen
Here’s something to help impress the guests at an afternoon tea. Williams-Sonoma in the Mall St. Matthews, 5000 Shelbyville Road (899-9255, www.williams-sonoma.com) carries the Garland Bundtlette Pan by Nordic Ware, which yields six mini Bundt cakes in three architecturally inspired shapes: Cathedral, Bavaria and Fleur de Lis. The 14-by-9-inch pan is made of heavy cast aluminum with a premium nonstick finish and sells for $30.
Pulls With Punch
Ceramicist Judy Miner calls her handmade home hardware, such as sinks, tiles and cabinet knobs, “art made to be handled.” Her Japanese-influenced drawer pulls are a perfect example. Organic rounds of high-fired porcelain, with no two exactly alike, the pulls are approximately 1? inches in diameter. Colors come in a wide range of translucent and opaque glazes, and are priced at $25 per knob. Contact Miner at 228-4812 or make plans to visit the two-studio space she shares with ceramicist Laura Ross at 2510 Belknap Beach Road in Prospect. Be sure to check out her studio cabinets that serve as a showcase for the knobs, as well as the racks filled with her custom sinks ($1,000-$2,000) and tiles ($40 per square foot).
Cabinet Appointments
These one-of-a-kind maple kitchen cabinets were designed and built by woodworker Mike McCarthy of Trinity Designs, 312 Production Court (643-1700, www.trinity-designs.net), as part of a whole-kitchen project that also included wall cabinets, a pantry, and spice and wine racks. The artistic undertaking features bent wood, carved surfaces and inlays of exotic wenge (pronounced “WHEN-gay”) African hardwood, a dark-brown wood with near-black veining. The custom kitchen cost $18,000, with others running lower or higher depending on the types of woods used and the size of the kitchen. Contact McCarthy at his office, 10213 St. Rene Road, or at his Trinity Designs studio.
Safety Bin
One item that every country kitchen used to have was a pie safe, a piece of furniture created to protect pies and other food items from bugs and mice while its perforated-tin doors allowed for air circulation. This stained-pine pie safe, made in the late 1800s, features six diamond-and-circle-embossed tins on the two doors (along with unpunched tin panels on the sides) and stands 53? inches high, 37? inches wide and 17 inches deep, with two shelves and one drawer. It’s located at Derby City Antique Mall & Cafe, 3819 Bardstown Road (459-5151) and costs $895.
Drying Sense of Humor
Here’s a wittily sarcastic way to remind people that you are not on this earth solely to serve others’ needs. Hand towels by Kay Dee Designs offer such proclamations as “Divas Don’t Do Dishes” and “Where’s the Maid?” Made of 100 percent white cotton with pink, green and black rickrack, the 28-by-18-inch towels are a bargain at $6. You can find them at Campbell’s Gourmet Cottage, 127 N. Sherrin Ave. (893-6700, www.gourmetcottage.com).
