Art in the Park connects craftspeople with public

Jul 23, 2017 | 3:58 PM

Art takes all kinds of different forms, and can take space in all sorts of different places, even provincial parks. 

Yesterday, several artists and craftspeople shared their handiwork at Art in the Park at the Greig Lake visitors centre. 

There was an array for the upwards of 150 attendees to take in, including woodworking, baking, jewellery, paintings, prints, dream catchers, photographs, clothing, crafts, beauty products, wool and yarn. There were also demonstrations of various crafts.

Kara Perpelitz of Goodsoil was a vendor at the event. As a master spinner and fibre artist, she works primarily with wool and silk to create various items such as yarn, needle felt paintings, scarves and other wearables. She became a master spinner through a six-year course at Olds College in Alberta but got her start in the art by chance.

“I was looking for cloth diaper patterns on the internet,” she explained. “I saw this picture of yarn, and was curious ‘did they make with that yarn?’ My mind exploded. It didn’t click for me before that yarn always used to be made by hand. Since then, it’s been a long hard fall into a fluffy rabbit hole.”

Perpelitz enjoys showcasing her work at events like Art in the Park, a regular event of her over the past four years.

“I enjoy settings like this where it’s kind of casual,” she said. “I enjoy talking to people about what I do. I also really like demoing, a lot of people don’t know it’s still a thing.”

As a part of her artistic endeavour called spinheartspin, Perpelitz offers drop-in classes for wet felt, needle felt and silk paper making Tuesdays over the summer.

Another group who took part was a collection of wood turners from Saskatoon, all involved in a club called Hub City Turners. The artisans are part of a collective of woodworkers who create pieces crafted from a wood lathe, which is a device that turns wood at a high speed while the woodworker uses tools to cut away. Lathes can be used to make various things like pen barrels, bowls, wooden tops, mallets and rolling pins.

Trent Watts is one of these wood turners and said he was thrilled to be able to take part in the event. 

“It’s a great venue here, really a nice place to have it,” he said. “We do a number of these types of events as a club, and we like to be able to share the craft with people doing demonstrations and have some of our goods out for sale. We really enjoy sharing what we do, it’s a really fun way to make really functional useful objects.”

He said he enjoys being a part of the Hub City Turners, as it is a supportive group that can learn from one another. He got his start as a boy as his father had some tools on their family farm.

“I was fascinated by the way the wood would peel off,” he said. “Throughout my life, I was always looking for opportunities to turn. I’ve taken classes all over, from world renowned turners, and in Saskatoon, a mentor was Michael Hosaluk. That’s why I really like [Hub City Turners]. We can share and teach and learn from each other. It’s been running for a number of years.”

He said one of his favourite things about these types of events is the curiosity that people show for the craft.

“We’re lucky to have events like this,” he said. “You never know what kind of influence you might have on a young person’s life in a positive way get them fired up about art.”

 

 

 

 

 

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath