Judith Copeland, fused glass artisan, Manchester: Textiles and fabric patterns have always fascinated Copeland. She knits and has spun her own yarn. Though finding a love of glass, she never really left her weaving history behind. Instead, her love for textiles and her fantasy of becoming a weaver inspired her to create glass tableware featuring stitches and patterns found in fabrics. ''I love the color and the unpredictability of (working with fused glass). In retrospect glass has always been in my life. I’ve always been taken by it,'' said Copeland. Copeland’s work will be featured in the Living with Craft Exhibition, as well as at her own booth, at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair. (Heather Matthews/Manchester Mirror)

Performance schedule

Performances will be given each day at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 6:
Truffle, acoustic music
Sunday, Aug. 7:
The Panhandlers Steel Band, Caribbean steel band
Monday, Aug. 8:
Amoskeag Strummers Banjo Band, banjo music
Tuesday, Aug. 9:
Sweet, Hot, Sassy, swing and folk music
Wednesday, Aug. 10:
Under the Song Tree, folk music
Thursday, Aug. 11:
Mamadou Dip, African drum music
Friday, Aug. 12:
Bow Junction, Celtic, folk and Kentucky hills music
Saturday, Aug. 13:
New England Noise, 20th century music
Sunday, Aug. 14:
East Bay Jazz Ensemble, jazz music

Teen and adult workshops

Pre-registration is required.

Saturday, Aug. 6:
Sugan Stool Seat Weaving with Grant Taylor; all day; $85
Friday, Aug. 12:
Hand Paper Making with Angie Follensbee-Hall; all day; $15
Sunday, Aug. 14:
Napkin Baskets with Ruth Boland; 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4:30 p.m.; $22

Children’s workshops

Pre-registration is required.

Sunday, Aug. 7:
Round Reed Baskets with Ruth Boland
Monday, Aug. 8:
People Faces with Susan Neet Goodwin
Tuesday, Aug. 9:
Pinched Pottery with Ethan Hamby and Shana Brautigam
Wednesday, Aug. 10:
Island of Life with Liz Fletcher
Thursday, Aug. 11 and Saturday, Aug. 13:
Tree Stars – Weavings by Nature with Alice Ogden

Main Exhibitions

• Living With Craft exhibition is a professionally designed series of room vignettes furnished with about 200 handcrafted works. Dining room, bedroom, living room and entryway settings present creative arrangements of handcrafted furniture surrounded by functional and decorative items.

• CraftWear will showcase beautiful one-of-a-kind clothing, jewelry and accessories for men, women and children handcrafted by state-juried League members. The selection includes a dazzling selection of traditional and avant-garde jewelry made of gold, silver, beads, pearls or polymer clay, and gorgeous silk and velvet coats and jackets.

• The Sculpture Garden exhibition showcases garden art in both sculptural and functional designs. Located adjacent to the Garden Cafe at Sunapee Lodge, the garden offers a wide variety of outdoor sculptures, furnishings, fountains and garden accessories. The exhibition demonstrates how these beautiful pieces can be easily integrated into any garden, lawn or open-field setting.

For more information, including hours and directions:
• NH Craftsmen

By Eric Baxter
Mirror Editor

New Hampshire Craftsmen will kick off the 72nd installment of their annual craft fair. More than simply a showcase for locally made items, the fair has deep historic and cultural roots that can be seen in each of the offerings from more than 250 of the League’s 800 members. The eight-day event is also the oldest, and one of the largest, of its kind in the nation, and brings together some of the top craftsmen in their respective fields.

The fairgrounds at Mount Sunapee in Newbury will ring with the blows of blacksmithing hammers and the distinctive thud and scrape of wood artisans using techniques perfected more than three centuries ago. Yet the historic arts and crafts are only a small sampling of the wide variety of skills and techniques used by the master-level artisans exhibiting their work through the fair.

Indeed, the many modern techniques used to make the items are a reflection of one of the driving ideas behind the League.

“It doesn’t seem to me that arts and crafts have ever died. The League has worked to preserve tradition and fine crafts techniques and hearing about some of these other organizations like ours, we’re not the oldest, but we are one of the oldest and we are very much respected,” said League Executive Director Susie Lowe-Stockwell.

Preservation of older crafts techniques and helping new artisans become established has been a League focus since it was first founded.

The League came about as a curious mix of coincidence, vision and economy. It was 1926. Boston native Mary Coolidge was summering in Sandwich when she took note of the work being produced by Sandwich Home Industries, a group of women producing and selling rugs and baskets and tatting and other “domestic” arts to tourists in the area. Coolidge, a member of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, noted the quality of the work and encouraged the women to form a craft cooperative as well as better market their efforts. With the Depression looming on the horizon, jobs and money were scarce and selling crafts offered a viable way to bring a few extra dollars into a financially strapped household.

At the same time, Wolfeboro resident and artisan A. Cooper Ballentine was conducting workshops and classes on woodworking, rug braiding and a number of other crafts. His workshops had a growing following as more people lost jobs and sought ways to supplement their income.

The pair met, pitched the idea to then Gov. John Winant, who granted money to form a commission to study the economic viability of arts and crafts in the state.

In 1932 the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts was born. In 1968 the name was changed to the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, but the mission remained the same.

Lowe-Stockwell said the League’s early history was marked by finding and supporting local craftsmen and bringing new crafters to the state, as well as laying down the foundation ideals of serving as a resource, marketing source and advocate.

Among those early crafters were pottery artists Ed and Mary Scheier. The couple, now in their 90s and living in Arizona, remain a seminal force in pottery as an art form as well as a craft. Another was Otto Heino, now an acknowledged and sought-after ceramics master who got his start with the League. Indeed, he will return to his roots at this fair and provide a demonstration of his work at an open, public seminar.

While the craftsmen are among the most accomplished in their fields, League organizers want to give the public as much access to the artisans as possible. This year, every day at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., artisans will act as tour guides for a more in-depth, 45-minute-long look at their particular field.

“We want the public aware of what’s involved in making these items. This adds more to the educational aspect of the fair,” said Terry Wiltse, League operations manager.

Each day will also offer seminars and hands-on demonstrations from artisans on topics ranging from creating outdoor sculpture to soap carving to quilting and Raku-fired pottery.

For Lowe-Stockwell, looking to the past, or into the future, the League’s main purpose will always be preserving and promoting arts and crafts in New Hampshire.

“We are going into our golden age. We have a significant story to tell. The League isn’t going to go away. We want to teach people New Hampshire is a great place for (arts) to happen,” she said.