Lynn Stanley, the manager of Cumberland Crafts is busy this week getting ready for the shop's Craft Heritage Days, July 23-26. A full line-up of traditional artists will be there to entertain and enlighten the crowd. Pictured above are Peggy Whitted of Sevierville, TN and Bill Henry of Oak Ridge, TN. They will be there weaving and whittling. They will be joined by Dale Liles (spinning), Anne Freels (making corn shuck dolls), and Jim Gentry (macrame jewelry).

Cumberland Crafts is located at the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Visitor's Center in Middlesboro, KY. If you have any questions about the event call 606-242-3699.










There is a great diversity of fine crafts represented among the 200 exhibitors at the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands. The snapshots above are a small sampling of what visitors to the event can see. The Craft Fair continues tomorrow at the Asheville Civic Center from 10am to 5pm.
Top to bottom:
Wood art by David Datwyler
Wood carvings by John C Campbell Folk School
Fiber art by Sondra Dorn
Ceramic art by Marti Mocahbee
Friendship Houses by Holden McCurry
Glass art by Phillip Nolley
Wearable art by Janet Taylor
Balsam Mountain Pottery by Laurey-Faye Long

For more photo galleries of the show check out the Asheville Citizen-Times. Guild member and fair exhibitor, Judy Simmons also has images of the show on her blog.






The Asheville Civic Center has been bustling with activity this weekend as thousands of visitors have made their way through the concourse and arena levels to view the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands. The images above are just a few glimpses of the fair.

Outside, Guild artists demonstrated natural dyeing and spinning, sunpainting and blacksmithing. Inside the Civic Center over 200 exhibitors were selling their pottery, jewelry, fiber art, metal, paper, natural materials, and wood.

Community connections are important to the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Representatives from Mission's Children's Hospital, as well as volunteers from the Asheville Humane Society were invited to the Craft Fair to share their mission. Folks from Our State magazine were also at the Fair on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday, Martine House joined other fair demonstrators showing visitors her talent for mixed media, embroidery and fiber art. Ann Gleason hosts a children's activity table where kids (and their parents) can play and create with clay on Saturday and Sunday.

The arena stage came alive on Friday as regional old time and bluegrass musicians delighted crowds taking a break from shopping and craft inspiration. Demos, exhibits and bands all continue on Sunday. Check out the website for a full schedule.




Here are a few images of demonstrations from the Craft Fair today. The top picture is of Sandra Rowland sun painting or leaf printing outside the Civic Center. The next two pictures are of David Edgar's Plastiquarium. He spent the day at the Fair making fish pins out of detergent bottles. The final shot is of Dea Sasso's book restoration demonstration. Other demos were: Kathy Seely, beadweaving; Dede Styles, dyeing; Alwin Wagener, blacksmithing.

Of course there were also 200 exhibitors selling their amazing work. A steady stream of visitors enjoyed the Show. The fun continues tomorrow, and the music begins as well. For the full schedule check out the website.

For the past few weeks we have been busy promoting the Craft Fair by distributing posters all across Asheville. We are grateful for the kindness and support that so many businesses have shown by letting us display a poster in their window or on a bulletin board. The pictures above are of Cafe Azalea on Tunnel Rd. You will find the posters in bookstores, cafes, galleries, movie theaters, markets, salons, libraries, bead stores, yarn and fabric shops, studios, pubs, ice cream shops and boutiques.

We would also like to thank the many Craft Fair exhibitors who passed out posters in their own communities to get the word out about the show. With a few days to go before the Craft Fair if you know of a place we should send a poster let us know - if we don't make it this summer we definitely will for the October Fair.

See you Thursday (Craft Fair runs July 16-19 at the Asheville Civic Center)! For all the details about the show go to: www.craftguild.org.
Friends and members of Southern Highland Craft Guild have shared their favorite recipes to create the brand new book, Artful Eating. The result is an inspiring collection of dishes including appetizers, entrees, salads, soups, breads and desserts.

The cookbook will be ready this Fall. It is now available for purchase at a pre-order discount of $16.95 plus tax. To buy your copy, call the Folk Art Center at 828-298-7928. It will make a great gift for the holidays so be sure to stock up for friends, family and yourself! Your early purchase will not only reserve your copy and save you some money, but it will also help the Guild offset the price of printing.
As a non-profit organization the Southern Highland Craft Guild is grateful for the work of volunteers in fulfilling its mission. Members of the community share their time and talent with the Guild in many ways including working in the main gallery at the Folk Art Center. Volunteers also play a vital role at the Craft Fairs held at the Asheville Civic Center each July and October. The Guild is now seeking volunteers to help out at the upcoming Craft Fair, July 16-19.

Some tasks volunteers can do at the fair include: taking tickets, handing out programs, working at the information desk and providing lunch relief for exhibitors. The jobs are divided into three hour shifts. Some benefits of volunteering at the Craft Fair include: parking reimbursement during the time you volunteer, a name badge which will get you into the Fair all four days, and two VIP passes to the show for friends or family.

If you would like to help out at the Craft Fair contact the Guild's volunteer coordinator, Jim Sugrue at the Folk Art Center, 298-7928 or you can email him at volunteers@craftguild.org.