PIEDMONT CRAFTSMEN'S FAIR (Cheri)

Shortly after we moved to North Carolina two years ago, Mark and I headed to Greensboro, the next bigger town about 25 miles away, to a bi-annual "vintage" fair.

We were really disappointed, as it ended up being mainly a "straw hat and stuffed animal"-type crafts fair.  Needless to say, I was dubious about the local "Craftsmen's" fair that occurs each November here in Winston-Salem.

I went yesterday and enjoyed it greatly.  So much so, in fact, that I almost forgot to take any pictures.

You might wonder what you were seeing above.  The artist cuts items to a 1/8" thickness and melds them together.  Here is a picture of the full vase, which features horizontal and vertical slices of colored pencils:

I adored the concept of using colored pencils in a wooden vase!

James Edward Barnes made this bowl, and most of the other work in this post.  He had a poster that describes his work.  It said he uses "stumps, burls, or knotted trees that have been influenced by the passage of time."  I also heard him tell someone that one piece incorporated woods from Laos, Brazil, and his farm in Virginia.

The artist calls some of his other work "wood cloisonne," because pieces are bound together by bits of metal.  Here is an example of that work:

I didn't ask - there were a lot of people in this booth - but I'm assuming those are tiny bits of turquoise in the joints of the welds.

Mark's father injured his hand recently doing woodwork.  I had to laugh, and admire the lyric nature of another part of the narrative on Mr. Barnes' poster:

Protective gear is worn because the spinning wood breaks out, tools grab
and on occasion the whole chunk comes off and dances around the shop.

A couple more examples of Mr. Barnes' artistry:

I worry that artists don't often make enough on their work to be self-sustaining.  I'm pretty sure this artist was going to make enough money on the first vase, at least:

I would have included a link to his web site, but technology isn't his jam, and this was his very last show.  His grandson (@nbarnesdesign) is actually going to take over his business.  That decision came "after we sent him through college and everything," but I think his grandfather is proud.

The article about the Fair in the newspaper, which I read later, lead with an interview with one of the founders of the Piedmont Craftsmen, which is now in its 61st year.  It turns out that they decided not to focus on "country crafts" - his words - so I should have attended sooner!

There were so many other arts represented:  fine furniture, metallurgy, wearable art, earrings made from polished orbs of old Mason jars, art quilts, etc.

I bought etchings from the John Furches, the artist that made this beauty:

and a hand towel made of hand-dyed and woven fabric.  When someone hand-weaves a towel, it is definitely a "look at my towel but don't use it" type!

I made my wedding dress.  Kelly Walsh - who wove the towel - did too, but she also wove the silk before making the dress from it!  She had a magazine article that she had written about the process, and here is a blog post about it.

If you look soon enough, you can see many examples of the work that was for sale at this year's Fair at the bottom of this page.