Season's End & Something New

Another summer has come and gone and the Delta Farmer's Market season has ended. As vendors, we now enter the season of craft fairs, bazaars and fundraisers.

When we're set up at a craft fair we tend to be awestruck by the really talented crafters and artists around us. If you've never been to a craft show or fair you've been missing out.

When a person hears the word "craft" a lot of times their mind goes to hand traced turkeys and macaroni necklaces. Believe me when I say that today's crafters are very much not that!

Here in Delta County we have artists that use the latest technologies and the oldest techniques. We have crafters that use everything from plasma and laser cutters to hand tooling, foraging and re-visiting many of the "old ways". We often watch as an artist can take nearly nothing (for example: a skein of yarn) and turn that into a kid's most beloved birthday gift. Oftentimes in just minutes! We see modern potters working, sculpting and molding clay to their intended purpose just as in the past. We've watched carvers as they've created animals from wood and art from gourds. Many of our county's most talented artists choose to work with dough, batter and frosting, baking the next Most Beautiful Thing I've Ever Seen!

We know many people who have turned their passion into their primary income source, if they're lucky. And others who probably spend more money on their craft than they might ever make. But they do it because they have to. They're pulled to envision, explore, produce and share those creations. They are artisans, cooks, bakers, painters, knitters, yard art designers, re-purposers, leathersmiths and woodworkers. They make blankets and candles and soap and signs and tiny models and kitchenware and jewelry and wall clocks and walking sticks and birdhouses and cookies and stained glass and more and more and more. They'll print your stickers and create that snarky coffee cup for your boss. And of course, there's tie dye and basket weavers. Always. Or at least there should be.

All around us are talented and interesting people.

While farmers markets and craft shows have always been the bastion of the artist and the Bohemian, they're also the selling place of the practical and the down-to-Earth. Having a local farmers market where you can easily buy farm fresh produce and fresh baked breads is a huge plus to any small town or city. The local growers provide a much needed service and generally sell at the best price possible.

The current resurgence in shopping "small" or local has probably been fueled by the Covid scare. As a country we came to understand what it meant to wait in lines for things we needed, but also to realize that we might not always be able to get what we need or want from big box stores. And maybe the things with which we surround ourselves should mean more than mass produced junk from places very far away. Enter the craftsman, the entrepreneur, the problem solver. The artist.

Our local artists create the most innovative, beautiful, functional and gift-worthy products that you will ever find. And so many of them are more than willing to work with you to attain your vision. We have a unique and diverse group of craft vendors here in the Delta area. While you can certainly find that wonderful jam that your friend bought for you last Christmas, you can also find that new quilt to show off in your room or that perfect sign for your neighbor. Do yourself and your community a favor - get out there and support those church bazaars, civic organization art fairs and school craft shows. You just never know what new and wonderful thing you might discover.