By Jennifer Feals
There is only one place to be this summer to get quality, custom-made, one-of-a-kind pieces of arts and crafts made by 350


regional craftsmen: The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair. With talent of this magnitude, you might say this event is in a league of its own.

This year, the oldest continually running craft fair in the country will celebrate its 73rd anniversary from Aug. 5 through 13 at the Mount Sunapee Resort with shopping, activities and fun for everyone. There will be artist booths, exhibitions, demonstrations and workshops from New Hampshire’s finest craftsmen who will be displaying their work in many mediums like leather, jewelry, mixed media, fiber arts, glass, pottery and photography, just to name a few.

The craftsmen participating in the fair are members of The League of N.H. Craftsmen, an organization that encourages fine hand craftsmanship by juried member status. In order to be a member of the league, artists must live in New Hampshire or within 10 miles of state borders, and they must have their work juried in person by a group of peer experts.

Carol Fusaro, the fair promotion consultant for the League of N.H. Craftsmen’s Fair, says this is what makes this craft fair particularly unique. “There are definitely high standards associated with this organization. You know you’re really getting quality products,” she says.

Products of some of the craftsmen will be displayed in three exhibits to show how art plays a role in our everyday lives: Living with Craft, Craft Wear and the Outdoor Sculpture Garden. Fusaro says in Living with Craft, room vignettes will be set up and furnished with handcrafted furniture and functional and decorative items like table settings and wall hangings. The Craft Wear exhibit displays one-of-a-kind clothing, jewelry, and accessories, and the Outdoor Sculpture Garden displays outdoor sculptures, fountains, and garden accessories showing how these crafts can be incorporated into your home garden.

More than 200 artists will also display their work in their own personal booths. Fusaro says this adds something unique to the fair, allowing visitors the chance to spend quality time with the artists.

“It’s fun,” she said. “You really get the time to meet who does the crafts face to face.”

Face time at the fair

Diane Louise Paul, a self-taught leather craftsperson from North Hampton and League member for seven years, says the face-to-face interaction is just one thing she loves about the fair.

“We need to spend time with the customers, talk to them, and tell them about our stuff so they have an idea of the time we put into it and the quality of our items,” she says.

Paul makes what she calls “one-of-a-kind stuff” with leather, such as her specialty item, authentic sleigh bells that have been passed down as family heirlooms. She also does period work such as reproduction fire buckets, leather scoops, leather baskets, leather-covered bottles, and even belts, dog collars, leashes, and custom horse equipment. All of her work is done by hand with antique tools more than 100 years old and her work is done just as it was all those years ago, with two needles, a thread, and a stitching horse. For using these period appropriate methods and materials, Paul was named one of the top 200 traditional craftsmen in the United States by Early American Life Magazine.

Paul is fascinated by history and antique items and says people need to start supporting the arts, especially in their own state of New Hampshire. “This stuff we’re making now is the antiques of the future,” she says. “My stuff is going to be around 100 years after I’m gone. That’s what I want. I want my stuff to be around so that someone can sit around and say, Gee, I wonder who made this.’ Then decide, hey, I can make this. That’s just history.”

Paul says no item at the fair is ever the same since everything is made by hand. She says when visitors come to the fair they will find “something that nobody else will have, something unique, a different custom piece that nobody else has. It’s always different because it’s done by hand. That’s very important for people to realize,” she says.

Fair visitors will have the chance to purchase beautiful, functional, and feel-good items that bring them enjoyment, but most importantly, they will be gaining a piece of the artist, Paul says.

Paul’s work will be displayed in her own booth as well as in the Living with Craft Exhibit. For information on Diane Louise Paul and her work, visit www.dlpleather.com or call 964-8821.

Third time’s a charm

Marsha Francis from Stratham will be showing her work in the Living with Craft Exhibit as well. The mixed media artist is participating in her third fair and her first as a League member.

Francis has been working with the medium for more than five years, creating hand-painted floor cloths that she describes as “functional art.”

Francis says a lot of floor cloth artists like to make more traditional designs, but she likes to be more creative, designing “bold and dramatic floor cloths that in general, add a lot of interest and drama in a room or area. They can enhance the character for me and how I view it,” she says.

“This is an old craft. It takes a lot of creativity. But it is a functional art that can be used. People have to be willing to walk on or use art,” Francis says.

She will design and create floor cloths depending on where they will be used and incorporates designs, colors, or “anything people really like and that they want somehow represented,” she says. “It’s about taking things from what’s around you and applying or incorporating them.”

Francis says showing her work at the Craftsmen’s Fair allows her to demonstrate her quality and style. She enjoys being a member of the League and the quality that is demanded from members.

“The League gives you the opportunity to show your work in a pleasant, comfortable, helpful environment. There are also a lot of other artists there.” Francis loves the camaraderie of artists during the fair and the friends she makes each year.

To find out about Francis and her work, visit www.mjfrancisdesign.com.

A community of artists

League member Lia Gormley of Portsmouth looks forward to seeing all the other crafts people each year. “We belong to an artistic community,” she says.

Gormley designs and makes traditional-styled jewelry inspired by nature. She uses natural forms like leaves and flowers while still keeping it modern. This will be her sixth year at the fair and she will be displaying her work in the Craft Wear Exhibit.

Elizabeth Nordgren, a Durham resident, who works with fiber, has been a member of the League for more than 25 years and says the group is known all over the country for the caliber of crafts. “People get better every year,” she says.

Color is Nordgren’s main inspiration in her work with wall hangings and silk scarves. “I love color. I love to see color.” She says in working within the frame of a wall hanging, she plays a game with color, which she says is almost like performance art.

“It’s almost like watching color unfold. It’s kind of fun to watch.”

Nordgren says there are lots of different experiences for a craftsmen during the fair, including working alongside customers and other artists. It is nice “getting together with people in your craft. It’s a chance to get out and see what everybody’s doing.” She says it is also good for artists to “meet and educate the public, seeing how they look at your work, letting them know what you do and how you go about doing it.”

The League of N.H. Craftsmen is interested in educating the public as well as the craftsmen about the craftmaking process. Fusaro says every year there are different educational programs and a series of demonstrations and workshops where children and adults can experience making their own crafts. “It gives people an appreciation of what is involved in making this craft,” she says. The demonstrations are presented by the juried members of the League with hands-on education about making their crafts ranging from glass blowing and paper making to woodcarving and outdoor sculptures.

This year, Fusaro says there will also be two special guest demonstrations and lectures from world-renowned artists Gerry Williams, a potter from Dunbarton, and Jon Brooks, a wood sculptor and furniture maker from New Boston. Fusaro says since their works have been collected throughout the country, “this adds another level of excitement to the fair.”

In addition, as fairgoers browse through all the event has to offer, they will be treated to a variety of musicians and performers with styles including original acoustic, banjo, jazz, Celtic, folk, Kentucky hills, a Caribbean Steel band and 20th-century music.

Suzie Lowe-Stockwell, executive director of The League of N.H. Craftsmen, says it is “a great place for families to come. There’s a great feeling about it,” she says. “It’s wonderful to see people making things by hand and experience something in New Hampshire that’s a tradition.”

If you can’t make it to the fair, or are intrigued by what you see there and want more, you can visit one of the seven League of N.H. Craftsmen Retail Galleries located in Concord, Meredith, Center Sandwich, Hanover, Littleton, North Conway, and Wolfeboro. Each location holds works from juried members and Lowe-Stockwell says each is a little different.

“They try to cater to the audience that travels in that area,” she says.

What: The 73rd annual League of N.H. Craftsmen’s Fair

When: Aug. 6-14; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, rain or shine

Where: Mount Sunapee Resort, Newbury

Cost: $8 adults; $6 seniors; children 12 and under free

Directions: From the south: I-89 N to Exit 9 (Bradford/Warner) Right off exit onto Route 103W to Newbury, continue to entrance of Mount Sunapee Resort. From the north: I-89 S to Exit 12 A (Georges Mills/Springfield) Right off exit to Georges Mills, at stop take right onto Route 11 into Sunapee. Left onto Route 103B to Newbury, continue to entrance of Mount Sunapee Resort.

Amenities: Child care available for a nominal fee; free parking and free shuttle bus service; picnic areas, food tent, two building cafeterias and outdoor Garden Café on site; disability parking and electric carts available for rent; please no pets allowed on grounds or left in vehicles.