For more information:
• Truth in Materials Gallery of Fine Craft and Art, 379 East Main St., Lexington, KY 40507, (859) 231-1202

Producers: Brooke Barnett and Tom Mould
Videographer: Tom Mould

All in the Family

the artistic Streckers

Chris Strecker studied forestry in college, but found her true calling when she started experimenting with pottery. Her daughters, Erika and Zoé, also tried other careers but wound up as artists—Erika as a metal sculptor and Zoé in sculpture and multimedia. Zoé also married an artist, potter Mike Frasca.

The matriarch of this artistic family, Chris, was born in Greece but came to America when she was 11. She moved to Mercer County when her husband took a job at Centre College, and the family “homeplace” there—a farm where the Streckers restored a log cabin and grew much of their own food—now belongs to Zoé and Mike. Chris and Erika, who is also one of only a few women blacksmiths, live in Lexington and run the Truth in Materials Gallery.

Our profiles of the artistic Streckers visit them in their studios to take a look at their creative processes and finished work.

Watch This Story (10:55)

For more information:
• Lincoln Trails Honey Farm, 300 Steel Dr., Elizabethtown, KY 42701, (270) 769-5846
• Kentucky State Beekeepers Association

Producer: Phillip Allgeier
Videographers: Phillip Allgeier, Josh Niedwick, Courtney McDowell

Business Is Buzzin’

Lincoln Trails Honey Farm

Things get a little sticky in our next segment, but at least the results are sweet.

Hardin County farmer Ken Garman started keeping a few beehives as a hobby. Now it’s his full-time business as proprietor of Lincoln Trails Honey Farm. On this visit, he shows us some of the varied work involved in operating an apiary, from managing the bees themselves to extracting the golden honey from the combs.

Kentucky has several thousand honey-producing bee colonies, which collectively produce around 200,000 pounds of honey each year. Garman retails his with the help of his business partner, Roger Cardin. Lincoln Trails honey is available at several Kentucky health and organic food stores.

Watch This Story (5:52)

For more information:
• Klass Photography, 11 Morningside Rd., New City, NY 10956

Producer: Cheryl Beckley
Videographer: Phillip Allgeier

Lighting the Darkness

photograher Raymond Klass

We’re back to art for this next segment, in which we accompany photographer Raymond Klass into Mammoth Cave. He’s shown working on a project to document the cave’s many wonders, but with a unique twist. One of his favorite techniques is to “paint” with light on the walls. By highlighting certain areas to make shadows and contrasts and experimenting with exposure times, he illuminates features that are usually hidden and creates views of the cave that no unaided eye could ever see.

The results can be seen in Klass’ book Mammoth Cave National Park: Reflections. Since our visit, the former Warren County resident has moved to New York.

Watch This Story (4:22)

Producer: Dave Shuffett

Natural Wonders

national park scenery

Scenes from Mammoth Cave National Park also show up in the “nature video” that closes this edition. A celebration of the beauty of three of Kentucky’s national parklands, it also includes scenery from Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.