2025 Demonstrating Artisan

Staton, Amy

Amy’s Wool Applique

Fiber

The artisan has been creating wool appliqué for almost 20 years. Baltimore album quilts and other antique quilt motifs provide her with an endless supply of inspiration. She also incorporates antique crewel designs and fraktur motifs into some of her pieces. In addition to her wall hangings, table runners, and throw pillows, she creates penny rugs, a form of folk art which dates to the early to mid-1800s.

She uses both new and recycled wool from clothing and blankets in her creations. But whether new or recycled, it’s always 100% wool. The artisan applies the blanket stitch to secure the appliqué pieces after adhering them with heat activated adhesive. She also employs other embroidery stitches in her pieces.

The artisan has been selected for Early American Life’s Directory of Traditional Crafts for the last five years. For the most part, she sells her work at traditional artisan shows.

Instagram

Clark, Altyn

Altyn Clark Stained Glass

Glass

Discover landscapes that come alive through glass!

Each of my stained-glass panels captures a moment in nature – from rolling waves to desert skies. Feel the wind, warmth, and raw emotion in every intricate piece.

Handcrafted with copper foil technique, these aren’t just art, they’re experiences waiting to be hung in your space.

Applicant is an impressionist using glass to capture a landscape’s color, line, motion, and season—inviting you to feel wind in your hair, warmth on your face, water flowing around you, rough hide on your fingertips.

Landscapes may be real or imagined places.

Patrons often exclaim, “I’ve been there! You captured my place!”

The first step is selecting rolled art glass sheets whose texture, pattern, and color invoke land, water, and sky.

Applicant then draws a landscape jigsaw puzzle and cuts each glass piece to fit exactly. He cuts simple lines using traditional hand-held glass scoring tools. Intricate, high-risk lines are cut with a wet ring-saw.

Each piece of cut glass is foiled on the edge using copper tape. The cut and foiled pieces are soldered into place and a copper patina applied to the solder before framing in solid copper.

The making process is an invitation for the artist to flow, fully absorbed in the immediacy of vision, tactile response, and emerging result. .

altynclarkglass.com

Grotheer, Jacob

Georgia Colony Smiths

Metal

Jacob Grotheer

My trades-partner and I have both been participating in living history for over 20 years. He gravitated towards teaching himself blacksmithing, while I learned from a friend how to cast pewter. When big projects or ideas come about in either trade, we help each other to make the ideas reality. Due to the intensive labor it takes to smith steel, the majority of what we sell is pewter, including toy soldiers both painted and unpainted, musket ball dice, reproduction coins, historic necklace charms, salt cellars, chess sets, and spoons cast in original bronze molds or copies of original spoons of which I make molds.

georgiacolonysmiths.etsy.com

Botchlet, Heather

The Springerle House

Heritage Foods

My joy and goal in my work is to preserve and spread the knowledge and enjoyment of
traditional springerle cookies to others. I do this through making the cookies, cookie mold casting, handpainting ornaments made from the cookie molds, teaching cookie making classes, and lecturing on the history of springerle cookies.

The tradition of pressing painstakingly-carved designs into food goes back many centuries in the human story, and in nothing is it expressed so beautifully and deliciously as in springerle cookies. Enfolding life’s joys, setbacks, triumphs, and whimsies into intensely-flavored cake-like pillows, these little morsels are truly edible art and I am still – after 27 years – enamored of them

www.thespringerlehouse.com

Pittman, Jessica

Buddy Leather

Leather

Our work is a celebration of craftsmanship, sustainability, and timeless design. Using both new and vintage leather, we create timeless pieces of leather artistry that can be passed down to future generations.

The design process begins with an exploration of the materials at hand—vintage saddles, bridles, halters and reins. Each piece is carefully inspected to utilize the aspects with the most character. By repurposing these pieces of personal history, I believe that honors and commemorates the many memories created between horse and rider. Each saddle is a blank canvas, waiting to be reimagined. After design, it is then brought to life as a handbag to be used and loved for many years to come. We enjoy working to restore and repurpose tack into something fresh and beautiful, giving new life to items that might otherwise go to waste.

We also create unique items utilizing newly tanned leather. From wallets to belts, handbags to home decor, the utmost care is taken to produce the finest of accessories.

Our goal is not only to create accessories that are practical and durable but also to craft objects that carry an emotional connection and a sense of individuality. Each leather bag or accessory is a one-of-a-kind piece, meant to be cherished and appreciated for its artistry and sustainability. As we continue to experiment with textures, shapes, and techniques, our commitment remains to producing leather goods that transcend trends and endure through time.

buddyaprons.com/

Spangler, Donna

Fraktur by Donna Selfridge Spangler

Paper

I became interested in the historic art of Fraktur as a hands-on way to blend two core interests in my life – art and history. The traditional designs of the 1700s are my inspiration.

To help ensure our traditional arts continue, I demonstrate at 18th century events, such as Landis Valley Museum and Fort Loudoun Market Fair. For many years I have been recognized as a Master Artisan by the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and am listed in the Artisan Directory of Early American Life Magazine.

Fraktur has become, for me, so much more than art and history.

www.pafraktur.com

Oliver, Amy

Monkeytown Pottery

Clay

I love to draw on pots. I throw pots on the wheel with emphasis on form and function and when these pots are leather hard, I mix up and apply, a variety of colored slips to the pots. Once I have done this, the pot becomes my canvas. I usually look at the pot and try to spot an image of something with my imagination, just like one can look at clouds and start imagining images. Once I spot something, whether it’s a turtle, a tree or a bird, or anything else I can imagine, then the picture usually fills itself in, and in a sense I just draw what I see. My pieces tell a story and have some recurring characters like owls and tortoises, they portray in essence, moments in time.

I have been a potter for 30 years now, beginning my journey at James Madison University with my first ceramics class when I was 21. I was lucky to Apprentice with Hawksbill Pottery, during and after College. I moved to Loudoun county in 2001 and officially opened Monkeytown Pottery in 2005, where I make pots and teach others how to do so.

All my pots are food safe and functional, I fire an oxidation to cone 7.

www.MonkeytownPottery.com

Lavorgne, Maureen

The Rams Horn Connection

Fiber/Textiles

As so many businesses begin they begin with our parents. And with that being said mine began with my mother. My mother and father raised sheep. Romneys to be exact. Romneys have beautiful wool. Perfect for spinning and weaving.

What a talented and amazing spinner and weaver she was. She made beautiful coats, sweaters, jackets and more. She named her company Rams Horn Wool. She sold them at art and craft shows and did very well.

One day she decided to make little sheep from wire and wool to display the wool. Oh what a hit they were! So much so that she employed my two sisters who lived nearby and even my father to make these little fellows. Since I lived too far away she she said to start my own company. And so was born The Rams Horn Connection and that was 40 years ago.

This has been a craft of love for me. I trained my daughters on how to make these and now I am training my granddaughters. So hopefully 4th generation will start up. There are no tools used to make these just our hands and wire and wool.

Whimsical Woolies