04 Aug Round Up: Tracing the Roots

By Western Hands: Functional Art from the Heart of the West celebrates the history of rustic design — from the Adirondacks and national park “Parkitecture” style to the work of legendary Western furniture maker Thomas Molesworth — and describes its evolution to the art form it is today, one that is born of an individual artisan’s creative process and is inspired by place.

A new release by ORO Editions, the book includes leading voices in the movement, features original examples of bespoke mountain and rustic interiors, and showcases one-of-a-kind artworks from 50 of the best rustic and Western decorative artisans working today. 

$75 | 244 Pages | March 2023 | ORO EDITIONS

The book was inspired by the Cody, Wyoming-based artisan membership organization By Western Hands. This group, which started 30 years ago as part of the Western Design Conference, is now a nonprofit with a museum and gallery open year-round in Cody.

By Western Hands: Functional Art from the Heart of the West is at once a history, compendium, and curated showcase full of design inspiration, whether one owns a rustic, Western, or country home, or simply dreams of one.

COURTESY OF BY WESTERN HANDS

Author Chase Reynolds Ewald first discovered the work of furniture designer Thomas Molesworth when she came to Cody at the age of 18 to work at Valley Ranch, located in the fabled Upper South Fork Valley of the Shoshone River. Since then, she has written 15 books, two Western Design Conference Sourcebooks, and hundreds of magazine articles for Western lifestyle publications. Reynolds Ewald has worked on various ranches, assisted backcountry outfitters in the Yellowstone region, and ran the nonprofit Breteche Creek Ranch in Wapiti, Wyoming for eight years. A graduate of Yale and the Graduate School of Journalism at U.C. Berkeley, she works as a writer, editor, and consultant, helping private clients craft their stories.

COURTESY OF BY WESTERN HANDS