COLRAIN — Crafts of Colrain showcased the diversity of local artists and craftspeople, with 16 home studios throughout Colrain open to visitors Saturday and Sunday.
The kinds of work on display and available for purchase ranged from visual art, like paintings and photography, to tangible craft goods, like pottery and jewelry. What they all had in common was that they were all handmade locally.
Most of the visitors were from Franklin County and the surrounding areas. But artists also said they got smaller numbers of visitors from the Boston area, and that some locals seemed to have invited friends from farther away for the weekend.
“You can talk to your customers. That makes it really fun,” said Inge Jockers, who makes jewelry at her home in Colrain.
She has a small metalworking studio at her home. Jockers makes every part of her jewelry from scratch, even the utilitarian parts like the metal clasps and the chain links.
“I like the imperfections,” she said.
Jockers’ specialty is a Korean technique of fusing gold foil onto silver pieces. She starts with sterling silver, heats it and treats it with acid several times, then heats the surface to a liquid and scratches in a textured pattern and applies the gold foil. A whole piece takes about two to four hours.
“Patience is the most important thing. Patience and creativity,” she said.
Jockers said she has lived in Colrain for almost three years. This was her first year doing Crafts of Colrain. Late Sunday morning she had a slow but steady flow of visitors. Saturday had been very busy, she said.
Lynn Fisher is a fiber artist in Colrain. She does knitting, weaving, feltwork, dying, “anything fiber,” she said. Her studio, a small converted barn behind her house on the northern end of Colrain, was filled with hats, scarves, dish towels, napkins, pillows and others for sale.
“I do this to keep from getting a real job,” she said.
Fisher said she started working with fiber in 1983, when she was living in Granby, Conn. and her sister-in-law was raising sheep. She has been part of Crafts of Colrain since it started in 2004.
Early Sunday afternoon, Fisher’s studio constantly had people coming and going. Mornings are usually slower, probably because people who are touring the studios start on the southern side of town, off Route 2, and work their way through, she said.
Helen and Bob Olson were one of several married couples whose work was on display this weekend.
Bob Olson was showing pastel paintings of Franklin County landscapes. Several were recognizable by real landmarks.
“I like the water,” he said of his Bridge of Flowers painting. “It’s always changing depending on the time of year.”
Some of his original pieces were for sale, but the prints had been more popular, he said.
Helen Olson was showing jewelry she made by collecting beads, stones and glass pieces while traveling in different parts of the world for the last 20 years. She mentioned Australia, Madagascar, Brazil and parts of Europe.
“I start off with something that has particular interest —” like a certain bead or a pendant, she said — “and then go from there.”
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-772-0261 ext. 261.