In honor of Mother's Day The Tenth Muse gallery-owner Mary Ann Spencer has raised the bar with a show by the Pennsylvania-based husband and wife crafters Tom and Judith Neugebauer. Spencer told Patch, "I'm just so fortunate to be able to bring such talented artists to Maplewood. I've sold and worn 'Judith' for years."

Judith Neugebauer works in gold and silver, adding such elements as freshwater pearls and opals. Her work may also be found at fine arts galleries nationally, as well as at various juried shows.

Judith Neugebauer grew up in Summit, NJ and met Tom while taking a class at the Visual Arts Center there. She trained as a classical ballet dancer and danced professionally with the Radio City Ballet corps, as well as the New Jersey Ballet Company. She also performed in musical theater and summer stock. Judith told Patchm, "Line and form and movement are instrumental in ballet and I brought that aesthetic to my jewelry designs. All of my pieces have movement."

Tom Neugebauer is a ceramics artist and sculptor whose work is in the permanent collections of the Morris, Newark and Noyes Museums—all in New Jersey—as well as in corporate and personal collections. His work is on exhibit at fine arts galleries nationwide.

Many of his pieces are in the Raku style, which was originally developed for pieces used in the traditional Japanese Tea Service. These pieces are fired quickly at hot temperatures and then removed and exposed to various combustible materials (straw, sawdust, etc). The resulting smoke creates unusual and unique finished glazes. Tom told us, "The low-fire, rapid-fire Japanese process of Raku gives dramatic results to the glazes."

The Neugebauers pieces will be at the Tenth Muse through Sunday, May 9—Mother's Day.  The ceramic pieces range from $150 to $700 and an average price for the jewelry is $350.