DEERFIELD — Thousands came from across New England to peruse a variety of crafts and shop at more than 100 vendor booths at the 46th annual Old Deerfield Fall Arts and Crafts Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
With an eclectic mix of mediums displayed on the grounds around the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association’s (PVMA) Memorial Hall, the artists and craftspeople shared different approaches to their work.
Dan Merlo, who runs Rescued Wood in Eastford, Connecticut, sold bowls at the fair this year, but recalls that wasn’t always his passion.
He once owned a store where he made and sold cabinets and attended craft fairs to sell handmade cutting boards, but Merlo always found woodturning to be interesting. In 2013, he bought a lathe. His interest in making bowls expanded, slowly replacing his cutting board sales.
Merlo explained his favorite part of the process is finding out what the designs in the piece will look like.
“It is impossible to know what’s inside,” Merlo said, pointing to intricate designs in one of the bowls that come naturally from the wood.
He added that people will hire him to make pieces for them out of old trees that needed to be cut down that have some emotional significance for them.
Fifteen-year-old Kylie Spice from Northeast Woodworkz used machinery for her pieces as well. She sold knitting hooks and specialized pens at the craft fair. The grip of each piece contained either hand-poured resin or wood, which Kylie then smoothed down and screwed together.
Kylie learned how to do this technique from her father’s friend when she was just 6 years old, and has been in business for five years.
Some booths at the sale offered highly functional items, while other crafts were all about being decorative. Husband and wife duo Veronica and Kevin Howley took the decorative approach, selling home decor.
Seasonal is the name of the game in their line of work. Mostly selling wreaths and baskets, the Howleys take wood cutouts, plastic flowers and leaves, lights and other materials to make centerpieces for different holidays. They brought mostly fall decorative baskets to the weekend’s craft fair, along with a few Christmas baskets.
“If I find a nice basket, I see what I can do with it,” Veronica Howley said. “I arrange with what I have to make something nice.”
Also in the seasonal realm, sewing mother-daughter duo House of Flags has sold flags throughout New England for the past 30 years. Sandy Guiel explained she saw decorative flags she liked once, and decided to replicate the look at home on her sewing machine. Years later, the South Hadley-based duo owns custom factory sewing machines for their work, making durable flags for all seasons and occasions.
While many people were looking for products for their homes, some were enhancing their personal style. Erin Unz, from Syracuse, New York, had products just for them.
Uninspired by poorly made hair clips people can buy at chain stores, Unz went to work designing hand-beaded, stainless steel hair clips. Her hair clips come in four sizes to work for small bits of hair, to full braids, to dreadlocks.
“I made something stylish and functional,” she explained. “People wear this to a wedding or while they clean their house.”
Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.