If you can’t wait another three months to get your fix of cottage country-inspired artwork at the Apsley Autumn Studio Tour, then you’re in luck.
On Saturday (June 27), 26 regional artists will be gathering at the North Kawartha Community Centre for the third annual Apsley Artisan Festival. During the free-admission event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., local artists will display their work, connect with visitors, and celebrate the area’s vibrant arts community.
“We have so much talent in our area, and unless people have an opportunity to attend an event to see it, they typically don’t even know that it exists,” says Apsley Artisan Festival organizer and fibre artist Judy Ranieri.
“It brings our local talent together in one place at the community centre and gives the locals, cottagers, and visitors to the area an opportunity to come and see what talent exists, to talk to the artisans about their craft, and to purchase if that’s what they’re looking to do,” Ranieri says.
Based in North Kawartha and surrounding areas, the participating artists work across a range of art styles and mediums including jewellery, fibre arts, acrylics, stained glass, wood, and more.
New this year, there will also be food vendors selling homemade maple products as well as vendors selling gluten-free and whole foods. Grape and Wedge will also be on site for visitors to purchase snacks and lunch items.
Ranieri, who resides on Chandos Lake, will be displaying and selling her colourful wearable art.
Through nuno felting, she fuses wool fibres with silk to make scarves and shawls.
“Nuno felting is the process of attaching wool to another fabric, in my case silk, and the process uses soap and water,” Ranieri says. “It’s not glued, it’s not sewn, and the process allows the fibres from the wool to migrate through the silk and attach themselves.”
Ranieri will also be selling needle felted landscape that take inspiration from the birch trees, sunsets, water, and other landscapes of North Kawartha.
“I love working with colour and I love interpreting nature in my designs,” she says.
Ranieri began as a watercolour painter before connecting with a fibre artist led her to discover a whole new passion.
“I was at an event and saw someone that was doing landscape art pieces using wool and I thought ‘Wow, that looks from a distance a lot like a watercolour,’ and I was really intrigued by the process,” Ranieri recalls.
“I ended up taking a couple of courses in Fenelon Falls and at the Haliburton School of Art and Design. That was where I was also introduced to the process of nuno felting and creating not only things that could be framed, but things that could be worn.”
Now, Ranieri is on the other side of the table of the events like the Apsley Artisan Festival and gets to introduce even more people to her unique artform.
“Being able to speak with the artisans about their craft is part of the event and part of the day,” Ranieri says.
“That’s one of the things that is really successful in drawing the community together — both the artistic or the artisanal community and the community visiting the event.”
Though admission to the festival is free, there will be opportunity for visitors to donate to Community Care Apsley.
Guests can also enter a free draw to win one of several door prizes containing a collection of work donated by the participating artists.
“It’s a community builder, bringing local artisans together with the local community and provides an event at a time of year when we’ve got a pretty heavy population,” says Ranieri, referring to seasonal residents and visitors. “It’s summertime and people are looking for things to do.”
For more information, follow the Apsley Artisan Festival on Facebook or Instagram.
