The Folk Arts Marketplace at the American Folk Festival features artisans who sell traditional crafts created as part of their cultural experience here in Maine, or part of their heritage before moving to the Pine Tree State. This year, baskets, pottery, braided rugs and woodcarvings are among the many crafts represented. We encourage you to browse, talk with the artisans, and find a finely crafted treasure to take home.

Basketry

Dorothy Lawrence, The Basket Tree, Stratton, Maine

In northwestern Maine, guiding for sportsmen is a common occupation. Dorothy Lawrence makes woven backpacks for her three children – all Maine Guides – and for others to use camping, ice fishing and fly-fishing. She learned the craft from other Maine basket makers and is teaching it to her daughter and granddaughter. She fashions traditional Maine Northwest Mountain work baskets.

Knitted items and yarn

Paula Farrar, Done Roving Farm & Carding Mill, Charlotte, Maine

Paula Farrar was raised in Maine’s Washington County, where she learned to knit at age 5 from her eldest sister. Today she knits hats, mittens and sweaters, braids rugs, and makes jackets, vests, blankets, wall hangings and quilts from the fleece of her family’s sheep and from mohair, alpaca and llama wool. She opened her Fiber Studio and Learning Center at her farm to teach others about her craft.

Jo Eaton, No Repeats by Jo Eaton, Fairfield, Maine

Jo Eaton’s crocheted pieces are inspired by the fibers that shape them. She learned to crochet from her grandmother and has built a wide repertoire of skills in creating beautiful, functional accessories.

Joan McAfee, A Touch of the Past, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

Joan McAfee learned the art of crocheting from her mother at an early age. This skill has been passed down in her family for many generations. She learned her unique pineapple-style pattern more than 20 years ago.

Beeuw van Kuijeren, Vermeer’s Lace & Fiber Studio, Stetson, Maine

Beeuw van Kuijeren immigrated to Maine from her home in Delft, Netherlands, where her mother taught her to knit, crochet and embroider at age 6. Her father would spin the yarn from his brother’s sheep, and her mother and grandmother made clothes to keep the family warm. Today she lives in Stetson and owns a small business where she sells her knitted goods.

Rosemarie DiLernia, Hand-knotted linen jewelry, Brooks, Maine

Rosemarie DiLernia learned how to tie nautical knots from her father, a sailor in the U.S. Navy. She took that skill and turned it into a professional career tying knots and fashioning watchbands and other decorative pieces.

Fleece products

Kathleen Koveleski, Sew’n Wild Oats, Ocean Park, Maine

Kathleen Koveleski’s hats are practical, frugal and stylish: practical because they provide warmth for many of Maine’s winter activities; frugal because she often incorporates industry discards and byproducts in her art; and stylish because she blends traditional hat designs with her own creative flair.

Quilts

Nora Flanagan, Nora Flanagan Quilts, Lincolnville Center, Maine

Nora Flanagan loves color, which is reflected in her decorative quilts and pillows. She was inspired to quilt more than 30 years ago by her grandmother, who also practiced the craft. She makes quilts that not only are functional but also serve as records of special events.

H.O.M.E., Orland, Maine

H.O.M.E., or Homeworkers Organized for More Employment, is a human resource cooperative. Its many programs include teaching and making crafts. H.O.M.E. artists create quilts, quilted products and other fiber pieces.

Gabriella D’Italia and Ginger Phelps, The Spring Street Co., Newport, Maine

Ginger Phelps learned quilting from a relative in Southwest Harbor and passed her knowledge on to Gabriella D?Italia. Gabriella was educated at Boston?s School of the Museum of Fine Arts. The two have collaborated on projects for several years, making quilts that combine old and new styles.

Rugs

Dot Demyan, Braids and Wiskas, Eddington, Maine

Dot Demyan learned how to braid rugs from her community of female friends, and has practiced the craft for 10 years. Each of her wool and fleece rugs is a one-of-a-kind creation built with a braiding process that has been handed down over many generations.

John J. Halloran, Braided Works, Glenburn, Maine

John J. Halloran has been braiding rugs for more than 25 years. He uses woolens from Maine’s only surviving woolen mill in Oxford. His braided rugs are traditional in style, featuring designs and techniques he creates himself, and develops in working with other rug braiders. He passes on his skills through rug-braiding classes in Greater Bangor.

Hillary Hutton, Hutton Handwovens, Vienna, Maine

Hillary Hutton began making rugs as a child with a family friend. In 1980, she started her own weaving business, taking each rug through the process of design, weaving, sewing and finishing.

Specialty foods

Steve and Diana Hobart, Breakneck Ridge Farm, Blanchard, Maine

Steve and Diana Hobart produce the same all-natural, authentic maple syrup that has been made in Maine for centuries.

John Kelley, Jack’s Gourmet Pickles, North Yarmouth, Maine

A chef for more than 30 years, John Kelly makes traditional jams and pickles as well as his unique hot pepper products. Laurie Kelly makes food-related quilts.

Michael and Ellen Kiley, White Oak Apiary, Whitefield, Maine

White Oak Apiary is a migratory beekeeping farm. Each year the Kileys transport about 800 bee colonies from their winter home in Georgia to their summer home in Maine, where they harvest and sell pure, natural honey.

Betty Maker, Blueberry Bliss, Jonesboro, Maine

For more than 30 years, Betty Maker and her family have participated in the annual blueberry harvest in Down East Maine. With the fresh fruit, Maker makes savory blueberry jams, jellies, toppings and syrup. Blueberry Bliss can be found in cupboards across Maine, including the Blaine House, the Maine governor’s residence in Augusta.

Wilma Stanchfield, Stanchfield Farm, Milo, Maine

As a child growing up on a farm, Wilma Stanchfield learned the tradition of canning food. Moving to Maine in the mid-1970s, she purchased a farm in Milo, where she produces many of the vegetables and seasonings used in her pickles, jams, jellies and other products.

Everett and Lee Worcester, Worcester’s Wild Blueberries, Orneville, Maine

In Orneville, Everett and Lee Worcester cultivate up to 40 acres of wild low-bush blueberries each year. Regulars at the Bangor, Brewer and Orono farmers markets, the Worcesters also sell their blueberries in pint- and quart-sized packages at numerous local stores and from a roadside stand near their home.

Stained Glass

Mark Wren, Wrenovations Stained Glass, Robbinston, Maine

Mark Wren always loved stained glass and learned to create it as an offshoot to his occupations as a millwright and a carpenter. He began making stained-glass pieces as gifts and later turned his hobby into a business, designing and creating his own unique artwork. He also serves as a mentor, demonstrating the art of stained glass.

Herbal arts

Natalia Bragg, Knot II Bragg Farm, Wade, Maine

Natalie Bragg’s family has been making herbal remedies for six generations. Some of her family’s medicinal plant treatments include Old Log Drivers Arthritic Formula, Balm of Gilead Healing Salve, Sweet Birch Complexion Cream and Stinky Feet Soap. She helped to found the Aroostook County Herb Association and has been a practicing herbalist for more than 30 years.

Janet Edwards, Mountain Mama of Maine, Anson, Maine

Introduced to plants by her Canadian grandmother, Janet Edwards now cultivates and collects herbs to make a line of personal care products.

Betsey-Ann and Dale Golon, Commonfolk Herb Farm, Naples, Maine

Growing up in Maine, Betsey-Ann Golon enjoyed working with her father in the family garden and learned about medicinal plants from her grandmother. She has created a business out of her hobby, producing herbal teas from her home and working in the nearby Shaker community.

Sandra Hare, Naturally Bee-Ewe-tiful, Houlton, Maine

A fourth-generation herbalist of French Canadian descent, Sandra Hare makes beeswax-based, herb-infused soaps and lotions. A nurse and gardener, she uses family recipes as well as ones she develops in her own kitchen.

Mary Mondello, Maine Coast Herbals, Milbridge and Corinth, Maine

From a young age, Mary Mondello learned to make home remedies from her grandmother. She cultivates diverse organic herbs in her greenhouses and gardens. She is a certified herbalist and prepares and sells herbal teas, tinctures, salves and facial creams.

Jewelry

Terrence C. Williamson, Appalachian Resources Inc., Hampden, Maine

Terrence Williamson worked for 30 years in mineral exploration in the eastern United States and Canada. Later in life, his artistic mother encouraged him to try his hand at making jewelry. His creations are made with sterling silver, gold-filled wire and Maine gemstones. The jewelry is solderless and is made with simple hand tools, including pliers, cutters and hammers.

Leatherwork

Robert Dickens, Leatherworkers, Ellsworth, Maine

Bob Dickens has been in the leather business for years. He got his start working with cobblers in Hancock County. For more than two decades, he has produced leather bags, belts, sheepskin slippers and other items.

Kevin Shorey, Quoddy Trail Moccasin Co., Perry, Maine

Kevin Shorey makes handmade moccasins, slippers and shoes. He is a fourth-generation moccasin maker who still cuts all the leather and sews it using an awl and two needles. His patterns are all traditional Maine styles, hand-cut and sewn on century-old sewing machines.

Traditional American Indian arts

Stanley Sayers, Micmac Indian Crafts, Jonesport, Maine

Stanley Sayers grew up in Canada’s Shubenacadie Tribe, where traditional art skills were passed down through generations by watching elders. Today, Sayers makes and sells traditional Micmac Indian crafts, including turtle clocks and bags, horn rattles and jewelry.

Frances Frey, Beaded Quill Designs, Princeton, Maine

As a child, Frances Frey worked with her family making bushel baskets. Later, she continued to learn traditional basket making from Sylvia Gabriel, whose skills are known nationally. She now is passing along these traditions to the next generation by teaching her son.

Woodcrafts

Christopher Beyer, Cabin Creations, Shin Pond, Maine

The scenery and resources surrounding Shin Pond provide inspiration and materials for Christopher Beyer’s chosen art – pyrography, or woodburning. An experienced woodworker since childhood, Beyer worked with his father and uncle while growing up in southern Maine. Today, he decorates driftwood, fungus and other material with artful scenes of wildlife and nature.

Norumbega Woodcarvers, Eddington, Maine

Edward Harrow and his group of fellow carvers are experienced carpenters, sign painters, craftspeople and furniture makers who have turned their skills to carving wildlife-inspired artwork. Norumbega Woodcarvers specializes in making traditional Maine duck and fish decoys as well as flora- and fauna-inspired pieces.

Ralph and Deen Hicks, Island Intarsia, Eastport, Maine

Ralph and Deen Hicks create wooden artwork inlays of Maine birds, animals and scenes using intarsia, which features contrasting woods and gives a three-dimensional appearance to the finished work. Ralph Hicks learned woodworking as a child and still uses some of his father’s tools in his craft.

Jim and Linda Leach, Fine Pine Designs, Bangor, Maine

Jim and Linda Leach have been making finished hardwood furniture for more than 15 years. Their products are created by hand- and machine-tooling, followed by a clear oil finish that brings out the rich beauty of the wood.

Bob Mowdy, Abba’s Workshop, Bradford, Maine

Bob Mowdy turned a favorite childhood hobby – woodworking – into a career. He learned to construct authentic Windsor chairs under the tutelage of master craftsman Michael Dunbar. Mowdy also produces turned bowls and furniture in the Shaker, Arts and Crafts, and colonial styles.

Jeff Peterson, Peterson’s Woodworking, Harrison, Maine

Jeff Peterson learned traditional Swedish woodcarving from his family. He is a carpenter by trade and a woodworker since childhood. He makes pickle forks for pickled herring and ladles for rice pudding for his family’s annual holiday smorgasbord. He also makes wooden spoons, rolling pins and dough bowls.

Gary Poisson, Maine Bird Carvings, Eddington, Maine

Carved wooden bird decoys, originally used when hunting waterfowl, have become a cherished home decorating element. Poisson began carving birds in college under the guidance of an experienced decoy maker. His education in zoology and work experience with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have fueled his creativity in designing new carvings.

Rollin Thurlow and Jerry Stelmock, Island Falls Canoe Co., Atkinson, Maine

Rollin Thurlow has spent much of his life paddling, repairing or building wooden canoes. In 1975, he and Jerry Stelmock became partners in the Island Falls Canoe Co., building canoes off the original E.M. White forms in addition to a wide variety of other construction and restoration pieces. Together, they are regarded as among Maine’s finest boating craftsmen and have developed numerous wooden canoe-building techniques and designs that have been used around the world.

Pottery

Susan Dickson-Smith, Proper Clay Stoneware, Gouldsboro, Maine

Susan Dickson-Smith, a native of southwestern Maine, learned her art as a girl in an area with a vibrant crafts tradition. She began working with clay at age 7, studying with a neighbor. After graduating from college, Dickson-Smith apprenticed with Maine artisan April Adams of Columbia Falls Pottery. She now is passing her skills on to the next generation by teaching children in her family.

Antler Art

Ed Croy, Art Designs from Moose Horn and Deer Antler Sheds, Oakfield, Maine

At age 58, Ed Croy discovered that he had a talent for carving. He uses moose and deer antlers to create pieces ranging from lamps to cribbage boards. He says the trick is finding the antlers before other animals such as bears and porcupines gnaw on them.