Artisans Selected for Festival Marketplace
The 81st National Folk Festival is pleased to announce the talented artisans and craftspeople who will be featured in the festival’s juried Marketplace in 2022. Generously supported by the Perdue Family, the Festival Marketplace will offer attendees the opportunity to purchase handmade creations from 26 of the finest artists and craftspeople from Maryland and the Delmarva Peninsula. It will include both deeply traditional crafts and more contemporary artistic expressions.
Reviewed by a committee with deep ties to the arts in Maryland, artisans were selected based on a set of criteria that included artistry; uniqueness; authenticity; connection to local, state, and regional culture; and relationship to the artist’s community, among others. The broad range of offerings include leatherwork, painted screens, jewelry, pottery, canned goods, and more.
In addition to the Marketplace, festival attendees are sure to enjoy Downtown Salisbury’s wide selection of retail shops and eateries just steps away from most stages. For more information on where to shop and eat downtown, visit: http://downtownsby.com/businesses/.
The 81st National Folk Festival takes place the weekend of August 26-28, 2022, in Downtown Salisbury, Maryland. Presented FREE to the public, the festival is a national showcase for America’s finest traditional artists, featuring over 350 musicians, dancers, craftspeople, storytellers, and other tradition bearers performing on the festival’s four stages, and participating in other festival areas.
2022 Festival Marketplace artisans include:
Bay Fibers Studio (Leonardtown, Maryland)
Eric Clark Jackson reflects the diversity of Chesapeake and Atlantic wildlife in his hand-waxed and dyed batiks. Each handmade piece balances beauty and biological accuracy, as expressed using traditional Indonesian batik-dye methods on all-natural cotton fabric.
BeeGeorge Honey (Oxford, Maryland)
George Meyer draws on a lifelong passion for bees and beekeeping to bring the sweet taste of the Eastern Shore to market. He and his bees produce pure, local honey from 200 bee colonies in the Oxford-Trappe area of Talbot County. George will offer free tastings and will bring an enclosed observation hive for festival-goers to learn more about beekeeping.
Beltway Merch (Towson, Maryland)
Angela Lacey designs traditional and modern patterns for her handmade belts, dog collars, leashes, and keychains. Many of her patterns are inspired by Maryland and the Eastern Shore. At Beltway Merch, customers will find vividly-colored accessories for the whole family, from kids to canines.
Bogan Pottery (Neavitt, Maryland)
From her distinctive “crabpots” to pottery fired with pieces of seaglass from the Chesapeake Bay, Martha Bogan makes ceramic art that is as beautiful as it is functional. Inspired by her local watermen village, Bogan Pottery’s distinctive opalescent blue glaze adorns mugs, batterbowls, and a wide variety of stoneware vessels.
Counterpoint Studio (Salisbury, Maryland)
Metalsmith Wanda Jester creates unique nature-inspired metal and watercolor paper jewelry out of her home-based studio in Salisbury. Her jewelry collections are inspired by the birds, sealife, and natural landscapes of the Eastern Shore.
ELF Moments of ZEN Photography (Fruitland, Maryland)
Erika Lewis Forsythe is a fine art photographer whose images inspire viewers to pause and be present, whether admiring Maryland beaches or dreaming of distant shores. She is also known for the quality and detail of her extreme close-up photos, featuring flowers reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe paintings.
Home Canning Classics (Pittsville, Maryland)
Patti Stetskal is a canner who derives her produce from local Eastern Shore farmers. She offers an assortment of pickled vegetables, relishes, jams and jellies, and cheeses with unique flavor profiles (such as habanero garlic dill pickles).
Ink and Annie Calligraphy (Parsonsburg, Maryland)
After studying with the Chief Calligrapher at the White House, Anne Taylor applied her steady hand to more organic forms: driftwood and oyster shells. Sourced locally on the Eastern Shore, Anne’s driftwood is woodburned and transformed into sailboats, while the oyster shells (also local) are decorated to be multipurpose catchalls.
Kelley’s Creations (Snow Hill, Maryland)
From a young age, textile artisan Kelley Gravenor loved to watch her grandmother sew on a foot-powered treadle machine. This early experience inspired her to start her own small business offering distinctive quilted fabric handbags, totes, and accessories. Her traditional designs touch on the natural beauty of life on the Eastern Shore.
Old Post Company (Salisbury, Maryland)
With matte gold colors and simplistic but bold designs, Amy Luppens crafts jewelry that has gained quite a following locally and nationally. Using high-end materials at affordable prices, Amy’s organic designs often incorporate sea glass beads and natural gemstones. She also makes essential oils that can be added to her Bellatrix bracelets, which are designed with oil-carrier beads for the wearer to enjoy calming scents throughout the day.
Malina Custom Leather (Cambridge, Maryland)
Craftsman Dennis Napolitan hand cuts, stitches, and molds leather into stunning handbags, belts, saddlebags, and guitar straps in his workshop in Cambridge. Each piece is lovingly made with distinctive stitching, applique, and sculptural elements.
Monocacy Forge (Frederick, Maryland)
Located near the banks of the Monocacy River, artist and blacksmith Stephen Dill crafts an eclectic mix of custom ironwork for homes, businesses, and public spaces. His hammer work is featured on a diverse array of items, from bottle openers to vases, while his larger designs include botanical-inspired sculpture and ornamental yard décor.
Mosaic Arts (Lanham, Maryland)
Drawing on Turkish mosaic lamp traditions, Altan Erginkoc has added his own creative twist by using gourds as the light-giving vessel. Festival-goers will delight in his exquisite and practical gourd lamps, as well as the pleasing shadows they cast.
Mudboy Guitar Works (Chincoteague Island, Virginia)
Edward Opiel handcrafts acoustic and electric cigar box guitars, each one a distinctively ornamented instrument. You’ll be amazed at the sounds that can come from these unusual three- and four-string instruments—especially when they are plugged in.
The Painted Screen Society of Baltimore, Inc. (Catonsville, Maryland)
Painting colorful scenes on woven-wire-mesh-window and door screens has been a tradition in Baltimore’s row house neighborhoods since 1913. These landscapes and contemporary images are functional as well as beautiful: from inside you can see out, but no one can see in. Screen painters and members of the Painted Screen Society, an educational organization whose aim is to preserve this art form, bring this enduring urban folk art tradition to Salisbury in the form of decorative window screens, banners, and a range of objects using woven wire as the canvas.
PaperLiberated (Silver Spring, Maryland)
Maryland artist Ashley Chiang puts a unique twist on traditional quilling, an art form dating back to French and Italian clergy during the Renaissance. PaperLiberated features vibrant monograms in various colors and sizes, abstract works, flowers, and mandalas, all created entirely by hand.
Joan Betzold’s Partnership Crafts (Bel Air, Maryland)
Joan Betzold’s baskets are woven using a technique that originated on the Eastern Coast in the 1700s. She creates colonial baskets, as well as more modern designs using traditional weaving techniques. Festival-goers can enjoy her award-winning baskets, including picnic baskets and totes.
Poppyfield Press (Piney Point, Maryland)
Carla Tomaszewkski’s makes painstakingly hand-crafted goose, duck, and chicken egg shells, as well as cards and prints. Her work is unique for the realistic renderings of local wildlife combined with more decorative designs. All her eggshell work is completed freehand, without the use of patterns or tracings.
Quillows by Fran (Easton, Maryland)
It’s all in the name: Fran Phillips designs personal-sized quilts that can be quickly and easily folded into decorative pillows. This unique product was first made in 1898 and is perfect for sleepovers, camping, airplanes, or wherever you might need respite. In addition to a wide variety of patterns for all ages, Fran sews custom-made quillows as well.
Secrets of the Universe (Salisbury, Maryland)
The mother-and-son team of Joan and Michael Devaney create eco-friendly, nature-inspired jewelry that incorporates recycled material from around the world, repurposed into wearable art. Their jewelry features hand-blown borosilicate glass and fused dichroic glass, and utilizes distinctive objects such as porcupine quills, fossilized wooly mammoth ivory, and arrowheads.
Shore Woodcraft (Salisbury, Maryland)
Using locally-sourced wood from the Eastern Shore, and even wood from his customers’ favorite trees, Kevin Dzimiera specializes in handcrafted bowls, plates, salt and pepper mills, and “live edge” charcuterie and cutting boards.
The Weyward Sisters Soap and Candle Company (Salisbury, Maryland)
Born and raised on the Eastern Shore, Weyward sisters Beth and Rachel are inspired by natural scents and landscapes to create their vividly-colored candles and soaps. With homey scents in modern designs, their personal care products transport customers to their favorite beachside retreat. Beth and Rachel pay careful attention to detail from creation to packaging, making their products the perfect gift.
Wildwood Lavender Farm (Hebron, Maryland)
Shana King’s motto is “a quality product at a fair price.” The farm’s lavender oil is sourced and distilled on site from her lavender fields in Quantico and Hebron. In addition to the oil, King makes a variety of personal care herbal products, such as soaps, face bars, lip balms, and sachets. Decorative items like wreaths and fairy wands are also popular with local customers.
Windmill Hill Studios (Bivalve, Maryland)
Windmill Hill Studio is a family-based guild of jewelry artisans, raised on the banks of the Nanticoke River on the sixth-generation Rencher family farm. While Dorothy Ansell dazzles with her fine silver and reactive glass creations, John Gorney stuns with his stained glass and Venetian-style lampwork beads. Barbara Gorney fuses texture, form, and patina in her metal work, while JoAnne Hoeffner creates original pieces in textured silver and semiprecious stones.
Woven Sculptures and Baskets (Easton, Maryland)
Heidi Wetzel is an award-winning fiber artist and basket weaver who crafts beautifully constructed woven works, from wall-hangings to wrapped vases. Masterfully incorporated into her work are natural artifacts from the Eastern Shore, such as antlers, shells, seagrasses, and pinecones.
The Woven Word (Baltimore, Maryland)
Kelly Ennis uses recycled paper and mixed media to weave portraits of historical, iconic figures. Her work blends the strength of the image itself with printed words that make up the image, such as an image of RBG woven with portions of her Ledbetter dissent. Using beautifully crafted and thoughtfully selected paper to make each weaving a distinct and original piece of art, Kelly ensures that no two pieces are alike.
For more information about the Festival Marketplace visit:
