Art and Artisan Workshops
Blacksmithing
Copper Forging
Sculpture
Opus Oaks was founded in 1999 in Berryville, VA. We offer artisan workshops in blacksmithing, forged copper and pottery. We believe art provides solace and spiritual growth in our society. With this intention, Opus Oaks is our invitation to others to explore the arts and the artistic life style.
Gale Bowman-Harlow, Artist – Gale Bowman-Harlow is an artist and art educator. Gale has been teaching art and designing art programs for 20 years. She has a self-designed BA degree called “Art in Deaf Culture” from Western Maryland College. Because of her teaching, she works in watercolors, illustration, sculpture, oil and acrylic painting, and pastels. Most of her personal work is involves a spiritual exploratory discovery of intuitions in nature and in modern cultural issues.
Malcolm Harlow, Artist – Malcolm has been a full time sculpture and master stone carver for over 40 years. He earned his BA in Art Education from the Maryland Institute of Art. His local work includes a bronze statue of young George Washington located on Cork Street for the Winchester Historic Society. His work includes large stone carvings, bronze sculpture, and architectural stone work. His tenure at the Washington National Cathedral as a sculptor/designer and stone carver has given him national recognition. Malcolm has taught stone symposiums in conjunction with Lord Fairfax community College in addition to many apprentices that have worked under him.
Steve Clegg, Artist – Steve has been in public education for the past seventeen years, and is currently teaching sixth grade Language Arts in Middle School. Six years ago he piloted a weekly live news show at his school that has grown to a crew of over twenty students and six teachers. His project-based educational philosophy mixes together art and technology to add interest and relevancy to the classroom environment. For the past 12 years he has worked at various local camps with children during the summer months and for the past two years has taught at Opus Oaks art camp in Berryville, Virginia. Steve holds a BS in Elementary Education.
Gwen Casey-Higgins is an artist living and working in Clarke County, Virginia. Gwen comes to art as a second career after 30 years in training and development for a Fortune 500 company. This experience provided many insights into teaching adults on a variety of business topics including: facilitations skills, problem solving, quality improvement, and other Human Resource subjects. Her art studies included classes at Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C., Loudoun Academy of the Arts in Leesburg VA, Old Town Stained Glass in Winchester VA, Rockport Center for the Arts in Rockport TX, and Opus Oaks, an Art Place, Inc., in Berryville VA. Gwen works in a variety of mediums including: oil painting, acrylic painting, sculpture, wood-cut design & printing, stained glass, and fused-glass works. She lives with her husband on a small farm in Clarke County, Virginia, along the banks of the Shenandoah River where they raise Irish Dexter cattle, a rare breed. The surrounding countryside and farm provide plenty of inspiration for her plein air works.
