Tucked back in the heart of East Flat Rock, there is a place of unexpected creativity, camaraderie, and community known as Raven’s Wing Studio.  Owned and operated by Phoebe and Don Blackwell, the studio is both an incubator and sanctuary for people with a passion for art. The exterior may be humble, but the heart of this place and the artists within its walls shine a bright light on the beauty around us. 

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Raven's Wing Studios began in a place over 4000 miles away from East Flat Rock. The studio was opened in Anchorage, Alaska in 1996 as a partnership between the Blackwells. Don and Phoebe were nearing the end of 20-plus-year careers in the Air Force and then the Alaska Air National Guard. Almost all of their time in the service was spent in Alaska where they first met. 

Don, age 70, grew up off Tracy Grove Rd in Henderson County and went to East Henderson High before joining the Air Force at age 21. He soon found himself stationed in Alaska and spent most of the next three decades in a place more remote and distant from North Carolina than he ever imagined.

Despite the dramatic change of venue, he loved his adopted home. “Alaska is absolutely beautiful. I fell in love with the native culture and with their artwork.” He also appreciated the integrity of the native people. “They don't come on with any pretense. I like that a lot.”

Phoebe, age 69, had a more nomadic early life than Don, but one that also eventually brought her to an Air Force career in Alaska. Born in California, her family moved to Yukon Island in Alaska nine miles south of Homer and “in the middle of nowhere” according to Phoebe.  Her father later took a job with NASA when she was in the fourth grade and the family relocated to Virginia “to the biggest culture shock you can imagine.” Later, she went to high school in Washington State, worked for a printing company for about a decade, and eventually ended up in the Air Force in Alaska. 

Like Don, Phoebe eventually ended up serving with the Alaska Air National Guard and it was there that they met.  After being friends for many years, they married in 1999. Don has two children from a previous marriage and Phoebe had four of her own. Today the couple’s immediate family has grown to include eight grandchildren.

After retiring from the Air Force in 2000, Don and Phoebe were free to explore their passion for art which had informed much of their private and professional lives. They experimented in many mediums and forms: pen and ink, colored pencil, polymer clay, quilling, silk and acrylic painting, and wood carving. They initially took their artistic dreams to Hawaii - which would seem a logical escape to paradise after living in Alaska for nearly three decades - but the natural beauty and warm trade winds did not feed their souls.

In 2004, they took a giant leap of faith and moved back to Don’s boyhood home of Henderson County. Phoebe was content to follow Don and the couple set up their studio in East Flat Rock. As Phoebe’s bio explains, in North Carolina the couple’s “hillbilly hearts are once again at home.”

During the past two decades, Phoebe has grown to love her mountain home. They have 19 different fruits growing in their yard. She sees birds she never knew about and, best of all, “I love to get a little snow that melts the next day.” Then she laughs and adds, “Anchorage is at eight feet of snow right now!”

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Still, the move from Hawaii to North Carolina was a daunting challenge at first.  “We came here with nothing. Not even beds,” says Phoebe. It was also a time when they were discouraged and not as active with their art. “All of our dreams were gone. I was just desperate to have him do artwork because it's his soul.”

Things picked up when Don began art instruction at Blue Ridge Community College and a couple of years later at Isothermal College in Polk County. Through the schools, Don realized his natural ability and talent for teaching - even for students who never believed they could be artists. 

After two years at BRCC, one of Don’s students suggested he look into teaching at Isothermal. He did and was hired on the spot - resulting in a 12-year career and hundreds of students who were taught, encouraged, and celebrated by Don’s passion for creative expressions of all kinds.

Time and back troubles made it increasingly difficult for Don to make the drive to Tryon and  in 2019 the couple redirected and recommitted their energies to building their own art school in East Flat Rock

With the help of their friends Art Sauder and Larry Fitz, and some very supportive neighbors, the Raven's Wing School of Art officially opened in 2019. Today, the school offers classes in Beginning Drawing, Intermediate Drawing, Colored Pencil Techniques, Pen and Ink Techniques, Beginning Woodcarving, Intermediate Woodcarving, Extreme Woodcarving, Watercolor Painting, and Writing Poetry. They also host meetings of the Flat Rock Woodcarving Guild and hold open studio sessions every Friday.

As their website states:

The school is an experience in itself. It is an environment where learning is foremost and love is the cornerstone of its foundation. The atmosphere is fun, positive, and very conducive to creating wonderful works of art. 

Most descriptive of the school is the tagline on the Raven’s Wing website which simply describes the school as “A partnership in love.”

These days, Don is best known for his exceptional wood carvings. He first dabbled with carving when his son was young and they went to some meetings with wood carvers in Alaska. He enjoyed the experience and he describes his initial work as “simple stuff” that he did not pursue seriously.

Years later, he and Phoebe traveled to Dollywood with a church group and he went to the wood carver’s shop and watched as a master carver sculpted St. John out of a piece of black walnut.  The experience reignited a spark and he told Phoebe he really wanted to get back to carving.

Phoebe agreed that he should do it and they arranged a trip to a large woodworking shop in Hickory to buy some basic tools to get started. At least that was the plan.  Phoebe grabbed a cart and they started down the store aisles. “She was grabbing tools from both sides of the aisle and throwing them in the cart.  I said, ‘Phoebe, have you noticed how much those cost?’ She said, ‘It doesn't matter. You're gonna need them.’” They both laugh about the memory now, but that was a pivotal turning point in Don’s artistic career. 

Today, Don’s carvings are in art galleries all over the region, he is often hired on commission, and he typically turns out a couple dozen Santa Claus’s a year.  Just as importantly, he has taken everything he’s learned through the years and passed along that knowledge through his classes, first at Isothermal and now at Raven’s Wing Studios. 

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Phoebe has always had an artistic bent as well. Decades after their childhood in Alaska, her sister visited Phoebe’s first-grade teacher in Wasilla, Alaska, and found that there was still a painting done by Phoebe on the classroom wall.

During her time in the Air Force, Phoebe was also well known for her cartoons depicting stories of her time in the military. “My cartoons would line the halls at the base,” she says. “I just like to make people laugh."

With time, her favorite creative outlet has become writing and illustrating children’s books. She has published over 20 books and provided illustrations for at least five books by other authors.  She illustrates primarily with color markers and often finds inspiration for her stories and illustrations in her many children and grandchildren.

“It started with the first grandchild and now we have eight,” Phoebe says with a laugh. Her first book was written in 2003 when they lived in Hawaii. “I like children because they haven't been bent by life to not believe. They still believe they can do anything. I love that.”

The books are an eclectic mix of stories, poems, and her whimsical drawings. “One of my grandkids looked up and saw the moon when it was just a sliver. He said. ‘The moon is hungry!’ So that became a book.”

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The Blackwells believe their school is much more than a technical education. They are proud of the community they’ve created where artists can learn from one another and support each other at the same time. Phoebe is particularly pleased by the number of students who’ve told her that finding Raven’s Wing Studios reinvented and reinvigorated their lives. 

In that sense, Raven’s Wing is part school and part incubator for people looking to reimagine their lives. So much so that the financial side of the enterprise is very clearly a secondary consideration for Phoebe and Don. “We’re not making a huge profit,” Phoebe explains. “We make enough money to keep lights on.  Everything goes into the school.

Phoebe and Don firmly believe that the process of creating art - in any medium - is essential for true happiness in this life. “It's good for your soul,” explains Don. "Art feeds your spirit. It makes you a more rounded individual. It will teach you to think outside the box. It teaches you to enjoy God's creation. It is a very spiritual experience for me.”

Don points to Phoebe’s books as examples of creativity that convey a deeper meaning than you might see at first glance. “Her work tends to be whimsical. And yet some of her stories have profound meaning for children.” 

Their art also gives their lives direction and meaning and is clearly a priority despite living in a culture that often places more emphasis on career success. In fact, they see misplaced material priorities as counter to finding real happiness. “When I told her I’ve got to do artwork,” Don explains, “She said she would live in a refrigerator box with me if that’s what it took to pursue my art.”  Then he adds with unexpected honesty, “I have a tendency to be pretty eccentric sometimes. She keeps me centered. God love her.”

They also provide inspiration for each other. Don is a natural teacher who has helped Phoebe nurture her artistic expression. In turn, he credits Phoebe with being his muse. “I've always got her in the back of my mind when I do things. She's encouraged me so much. I'm forever grateful.” The couple smile at each other and Don adds, “We're best friends and each other’s true love.

Don and Phoebe are two artists who’ve figured out how to build a symbiotic relationship in both life and art. Whereas some artistic couples may feel an unspoken competition to be successful, the couple makes it clear that they are fully committed to supporting one another. “We encourage each other,” says Don.  “I love nothing more than to see her soar.” Phoebe’s eyes smile at Don as he speaks and she immediately agrees with his assessment. “I'm his biggest fan. And he’s mine. That works out well.”

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Spend just a few minutes with Don and Phoebe Blackwell and you will quickly realize that they have given their lives to art and each other. Clearly, it is their mission to nurture the creative spirit in the students they host at Raven’s Wings Studio as well as all the lives they touch through their art. Ultimately, their gift to the world is the beauty created with their hands … and their hearts.

Learn more about Raven’s Wing Studio and School of Art class schedules at ravenswingstudios.com