Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 3, 1993 TAG: 9309020117
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOANNE ANDERSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CLAYTOR LAKE LENGTH: Medium
This weekend's Claytor Lake Arts and Crafts Festival features more than 50 booths of arts and crafts that embrace quality workmanship, unique designs, contemporary function and Appalachian heritage.
In its 15th year, the festival is sponsored by the Virginia Mountain Crafts Guild and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The guild was formed in 1975 to promote arts and crafts in the region and to emphasize quality in craftsmanship.
"Most of the exhibitors at Claytor Lake are guild members, but it's not a requirement," said Kathy Hudson, this year's festival director. "To participate, potential exhibitors must submit five samples of their craft for examination by a guild committee."
Crafts cannot be mass- or machine-produced or made from a kit. The final product must be original, and materials and workmanship must be of excellent quality.
"Additionally," Hudson said, "there are limits on the number of similar crafts allowed at the show." The result is a very balanced show, a variety of products, techniques, style and creative workmanship.
Jerry Powell, a doll maker from Pulaski, will show for the 10th year at the Claytor Lake festival. "As a juried show, the standards are very high for participation," Powell said. There is a place for other levels of work, she said, but "it just cannot be accommodated at this event."
Powell grew up in the mountains of Buchanan County. When she wanted a doll, her mother handed her some fabric scraps to create her own. "Surely they were misshapen, but I didn't care," she said. "I was making dolls and doll clothes when I was 6 years old."
She started advancing from those "loving hands" dolls many years later, when her daughter asked her to make a specific doll.
"We bought the pattern and I made it, but I didn't like it," she said. "I redesigned it and made another one. I was looking for extra money, so I started creating my own doll and clothing designs."
Powell makes high quality animal, Amish, counted-cross-stitch and pillowcase dolls, which originated on the prairie in the wagon trains going west. Mothers would make dolls for their children from worn pillowcases.
Other exhibitors at Claytor Lake include glass blowers, basket weavers, woodworkers, painters, photographers and potters. Kathy Hudson is the only stained-glass artist with original lamps, window panels and sun catchers.
Food booths and folk-music performers will be set up on the grounds of the historic Howe House. "This festival helps keep alive the tradition of quality handmade arts and crafts for which this region has been known for so many years," said Richard Johnson, Claytor Lake park manager.
Claytor Lake Arts & Crafts Festival Hours: Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, noon-6 p.m.; Monday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.\ Admission: Free.\ Parking: $2.\ Directions: Exit 101 off Interstate 81; follow signs to Claytor Lake State Park.
by CNB