Vendors Spend Hours Perfecting Craft
by admin on Oct.21, 2007, under Products
Les Casteel thinks a true artist creates for art’s sake. Casteel wants his woodworking to be more. He wants to marry high function to allure, whether it’s a rocking chair or a bowl.
Vendors succeed when they can put those two aspects into their work, he said at his booth at the Spanker Creek Farm Arts, Crafts and Gifts show in Bentonville.
Depending on where residents venture over the craft fair weekend in Northwest Arkansas, they may encounter someone like Casteel, who’s spent years perfecting his “old world” craft, he said.
Casteel, a carpenter for six years, operates Wood That Rocks out of his home in Harrison, and spends hours carving or turning wood sculptures and furniture.
He said he’s seen the trend of craft fair vendors migrating toward buying and reselling retail items.
“I tend to be the Neiman-Marcus,” he said, smiling. “I see the trend heading to Wal-Mart and more for less.”
Craft fairs are a place for customers to go and see a handmade product and meet the artist behind it, he said.
Nancy Lancaster of Springdale said she’s met a lot of nice people at Old Orchard Farm in Gentry this weekend.
Lancaster moved to Northwest Arkansas from Maryland to be with her sister and has been creating jewelry with polymer clay for 10 years. This year she’s paid attention to what colors are popular by watching home decorating shows on TV. Blue and brown combinations, along with purple, are a trend she’s seen either in fashion or design.
The latest in jewelry design has also evolved from “frilly, frilly” to a more “tailored” look, Lancaster said. Novelty items like miniature teapots on a simple chain have also been a hit with customers, she said.
Don Jackson of Foreman said vendors can’t go wrong with contemporary colors. Jackson, a potter, had a booth at Arts and Craft’s Show at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center in Rogers.
“I make it pretty,” Jackson said with a grin.
Jackson started to create motifs on his pottery, including acorns and leaves. He said he wants to have an item that isn’t easily reproducible. He added he just laughs and doesn’t mind at all if patrons photograph his work to then reconstruct it at home, because he’ll be creating new pottery the next day.
The key is to not compete with other potters or craft vendors but to have unique items, Jackson said. He added it doesn’t matter to him if his booth is among resale booths because customers know his artwork is made by him.
Lori Lee was knitting alongside her friend Mary Anderson at their booth, which featured knitted scarves and hats at the Hammons Center.
“Yarns are so much more interesting than it used to be,” Lee said. What used to be itchy, scratchy wool is now sleek to the touch. Lee said she purchases yarn based on how it feels against her fingertips and imagines how soft it will feel against someone’s ear or neck.
A special touch can help.
Sara VanHorn of Monett, Mo., has been painting craft items for 18 years and said personalizing items at the fair can help sell more.
VanHorn sat at her booth at the Hammons Center and painted names on bricks, which already featured a painted snowman, reindeer or other artwork for customers. VanHorn said customers are now buying more primitive creations compared to items featuring geese, apples or bears.
Mike Kessler of Tulsa, Okla., was a few booths away and featured handcrafted baskets, shelves and ornaments made out of wood.
This year Kessler created different ornaments and wind chimes to attract patrons eyes.
“I spent a lot of time making this,” Kessler said. “Some people buy to turn around and sell.”
Some vendors don’t want to invest the time and energy it takes to create a one-of-a-kind craft, he said.
AT A GLANCE
Last Day For Crafts Fairs
What’s Open?
* War Eagle Farm, Benton County 98, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* War Eagle Mill, Benton County 98, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Sharp Show, Benton County 98, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Frisco Station Mall Arts & Craft Fair in Rogers, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Ole Applegate Place on Arkansas 23, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Spanker Creek Farm Arts and Crafts Fair, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at McNelly Road location and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Clarion Inn in Bentonville.
* Long’s Old Orchard and Farm Arts and Crafts Festival, Gentry, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Source: Staff Report
By Melissa Sherman
THE MORNING NEWS