PUTNEY — The 44th Putney Craft Tour, the oldest continuous craft tour in the country, takes place Thanksgiving weekend - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Nov. 25, 26, and 27 - from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and features a diverse group of artists sharing a passion for creativity.
“This year, we have 20 artists on the tour,” Ken Pick, one of the founding members, said in a news release. “It's never been more than 28.”
The artisans, including new and returning members, are students, teachers, makers, and inventors. Their art expresses itself in the variety of their work and also in the ways they choose to live their lives.
Visitors can meet glass blowers, potters, jewelers, and a woodworker, along with artisan cheese and winemakers and - new this year - an aromatherapist.
Artists returning this year after a hiatus include Tom Goldschmid, woodworker; Fiona Morehouse, painter and potter; and Joshua Gold, wood-fired and soda-fired pottery.
Over the years, more than 100 artists have been involved in the tour, which illustrates the power of the creative economy in Putney.
“It's not just the crafts studios that benefit, but area B&Bs, stores, restaurants, and retailers,” Pick says. “Local shop owners say it's their biggest weekend because of the tour. It also affords us the opportunity to give back to the community, and each year the tour donates a percentage of work sold during the tour to the Putney Foodshelf.”
The craft tour is joining two arts organizations - Next Stage Arts and Sandglass Theater - to promote “Thanksgiving Weekend of the Arts” in Putney.
Next Stage will offer an art exhibition- “Elemental Abstractions: Works on Paper,” by Joe Norris - opening late afternoon on Saturday, and Sandglass Theater will present “A Rafter of Crankies,” with performances scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights. [For full details, see Arts, section D.]
The collaboration “will provide an opportunity to create a bigger and better weekend to draw more people and bring a positive impact on area inns and restaurants and on our respective organizations,” says Pick.
This year's tour
• Putney Mountain Winery (Studio 1 and 2; also the Welcome Center with display of artists' work): The winery's unique wines and liqueurs have been described by the press as “extraordinary” and “love at first taste.”
Putney Mountain Wines are made not from grapes. The winery crafts its spirits in small batches using fresh produce grown by local farmers and growers.
• Deborah Lazar (Studio 3): An award-winning painter with work in international collections, Lazar says that she prefers painting from life. “Painting is for me about attempting to unravel the mysteries of light and emotion,” she says. “It's always about the light because without light there is no image.”
• Green Mountain Spinnery (Studio 4): This cooperatively owned mill has been manufacturing and selling high-quality yarns from U.S.-sourced fibers for over 35 years. These yarns of highest quality help sustain regional sheep farming, and the Spinnery has developed environmentally sound ways to process natural and organic fibers.
• Lindsay Saunders (Studio 5) paints in oil because, she says, “it's dynamic, vibrant, and timeless.” Saunders, who has lived all over the country, says she has been moved by dramatic landscapes. Most of her new paintings have been inspired by her recent move to Vermont.
• Pura Vida Essentials (Studio 6), a new stop on the tour, specializes in handcrafted soaps, massage and body oils, as well as essential oils, hydrating body mist, lip balm, and a wide variety of products for the bath. Products include Bug Dope natural bug repellant, a calendula salve made with organic flowers grown on site, and organic arnica oil.
• Ken Pick Pottery (Studio 7): Whether wheel-thrown or hand-built, Pick's pottery draws on his experience of energy flow, abstract form, and historical precedent. He reminds folks that he'll have a discount table and invites everyone to explore the many sculptures and wall installations animating the outdoor areas.
• Susan Jarvis (Studio 8) says she “transforms the histories and stories of objects, people, and places into beautiful, complex paintings, sculptures, and custom mosaic tilework.” She also creates custom home mosaic for backsplashes, shower stalls, garden benches, and other such installations.
• Joshua Gold Pottery (Studio 10): Gold says his wood-fired and soda-fired pottery work “involves the search and discovery of the endless combination of dances that express elegance and grace,” whether it is a mug or a 3-foot abstract figurative sculpture.
• Parish Hill Creamery (Studio 11) makes its award-winning raw-milk cheese seasonally - only when the cows are grazing on the unseeded, hillside pastures as they have done sustainably for more than 20 years.
“Our starter cultures are clabbered [naturally soured and thickened] milk from cows Sonia, Helga, Clothilde, and Abigail, and have been propagated at the creamery from the beginning,” the Creamery said.
Parish Hill is the only cheesemaker in the U.S. using exclusively natural methods.
• Josh LeTourneau Glassworks (Studio 12; small space, so please call 802-380-2763 for appointment). LeTourneau, a glass artist who works in both lamp working and furnace work, specializes in various forms of vessels. He also enjoys teaching and learning new techniques, and he intends to share his skills and knowledge onto his daughters.
• Nancy Calicchio (Studio 13) renders the Vermont landscape with oil paints on canvas. “I often begin paintings on-site and finish them in my studio,” says Calicchio, who will donate proceeds from paintings of fruit sold during the tour to the Putney Foodshelf.
• Judy Hawkins (Studio 14) paints the rich landscapes around her, interpreting and creating the mood and feeling of weather, skies, and water. Her paintings are “locally and nationally known for their inventive, bold brushwork and color, and use of rich glazes in the details on her canvases and panels,” she says.
• Jeanne Bennett (Studio 15) makes one-of-a-kind and limited-edition everyday wearable jewelry. “My designs are inspired by nature and all of the amazing ways one can work with metal,” says Bennett, who also teaches jewelry making to students of all ages, both in her home and at local schools.
• Tom Goldschmid (Studio 16) says, “As a craftsperson, my hope is to capture the history that lingers in a particular tree's memory, and simply shape and reveal the beauty that exists in nature.”
“Unlike other woodworking projects, the creation of a wooden vessel allows for a spontaneous and intuitive design process,” Goldschmid continues. “The proportions and flowing shape of a handmade bowl are often revealed as the wood is spinning on the lathe.”
He also creates memory wooden bowls from trees that have had to be taken down on a family's property.
• Jeanette Staley (Studio 17): A new body of work, “Predators and Pray,” informs this year's changes in Staley's studio.
Inspired by social and environmental justice activism, “these new paintings juxtapose the tumult of the 19th century with contemporary American culture,” she says. “New floor cloth and pet placemat designs are inspired by endangered species and environmental restoration.”
• Julia Brandis Glassworks (Studio 18): Brandis creates nature-inspired stained-glass lamps and panels. Her designs are not confined to traditional geometric shapes. Their unexpected angles and organic swirls move in and out of the frame, energizing the composition, and adding a sculptural element to what is traditionally known as “flat glass.”
• Caitlin Burch Glassworks (Studio 19): Burch is a second-generation glassblower and self-taught lampworker. “As a glassblower, my father [Robert Burch, Studio 21] has always talked about dancing with the glass and living with it,” she says.
Juried into the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen for jewelry and the Putney Craft Tour for her blown glass and jewelry in 2004, Burch has become known for her colorful and wearable collection of earrings, pendants, necklaces, and decorative pieces for the home.
Her studio is small, so capacity is limited.
• Ryan Burch (Studio 20): Potter and teacher Ryan Burch makes functional stoneware pottery for daily use. He'll be showcasing more than 300 new pieces, including garlic jars, salt cellars, and sculptural fish planters, as well as cappuccino and espresso sets in addition to the classics - mugs, bowls, plates, and more.
• Robert Burch Glass (Studio 21): Burch, celebrating his 50th year as a glassblower, will demonstrate glass blowing as he entertains visitors with his chatter about glass.