Artists Pull Out the Stops for Crafts and Fine Arts Festival

Nature swept and washed the streets of downtown Haddonfield for a full day Friday, providing a fresh canvas for the start of the 19th annual Crafts and Fine Arts Festival.

The artists began to set up around dawn Saturday and will remain through Sunday, offering watercolor paintings, stained glass, soap, baskets and thousands of pieces of hand-crafted, sometimes hand-blown, jewelry.

It’s a stunner.

By 7:05 a.m. Saturday, the driver of the last pick-up truck on the street, reminded by police of the order to clear Kings Highway of traffic by 7, had driven off. The same moment carried the OK to begin setting up tents and vendors checked out their two-day property markings and hunted for a coffee shop.

Coco ("no last name, please. I'm promoting my brand."), designer of Paris Totes, was searching for the sign she displays, advising that her bags are not made in China. “They’re pretty and functional,” said of the brightly colored bags that include a drawstring liner and are made from the same material used for Panama straw hats. From Bensalem, PA, this is Coco’s first year at the arts show.

It also was the first year for Susan Wise of State College, PA, who sells fleece-lined mittens made from recycled sweaters. “There aren’t a lot of good summer shows and we applied late, so we were happy to be accepted,” said her son, Jeff, who was sitting on the curb waiting for their rented tent to be delivered.

Susan Wise buys the sweaters at thrift shops and yard sales and will make a pair of mittens from a special sweater, one that has been outgrown or had belonged to a friend of family member.

The rental spaces stretch from borough hall to the PATCO parking and include the first block of side lanes, rented for $325 a day. There is a two-day commitment and for some vendors the cost of exhibiting included a hotel stay.

“My storefront is art shows,” said Gina Romano of Summit in Union County. With a master’s degree in fine art and jewelry making, she’s been selling 14-karat gold and sterling silver jewelry at shows for 17 years and has been to Haddonfield’s show for 10.

“The economy has made things challenging,” said Romano, who skips fashion trends and sticks with “classic, contemporary, modern, timeless” pieces.

Sports-themed items are popular, including a montage of Phillies’ players in a wood frame marked $125. There are vendors selling clothing with sports logos.

Appliqued denim jackets and sweatshirts have been created and sold by Soni and Paul Gavzy for decades and have had a presence at the Haddonfield show since it opened. On the drive from Hopewell, they decided to cut back on their shows. “We’re getting too old for this,” said Paul Gavzy, who’s in his early 80s. “Besides, we have a farm,” where he raises poultry. Their jackets are $60 in child sizes, $95 for adults.

Kate Parkhurst of Maple Shade, known as the Dog Biscuit Lady, has added hand-fashioned leashes and collars to her stock. “I have a yellow lab and he’s huge, but he always hated leather collars so I decided I had to make him something lighter and more comfortable,” she said. She came up with a light-weight webbing covered by cotton.

Abe and Bonnie Warren of Quinton, Salem County, were displaying hand-crafted wooden benches, tables, along with bowls, platters, and cutting boards. They benches and tables were about as far from picnic tables as could be, even if they were crafted from scrap lumber.

One bench, said Abe Warren, came from a white pine struck by lightning. Most of the tree was used to build pallets, but a thick slab went home with him and came out of his shop as a bench that’s a conversation piece, with arms and legs of mountain laurel. Another table was crafted of cherry wood.

It’s their third year at the Haddonfield show, said Bonnie Warren. “We have a little ritual at shows,” she said. “We don’t fight. Not about anything. We may give each other the eye over a comment, but no harsh words.”

Abe Warren uses a time-tested way to check for the strength of the benches. “My dad is a bit rotund. He’s our test pilot. If he can sit on it and lift his feet, it’s good,” he said.

Once past the 11 a.m. scheduled opening of the show to customer, crowds filled both the sidewalks and the perimeter of the tents. Natali Gleimer of Cherry Hill, a second year emergency room medical resident at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, was trying on collapsible straw hats.  She needed one, she said, to take with her to her November wedding in Jamaica. She wanted something with a wide brim that could be squeezed into luggage. Trying on five or six, she settled on a $40 purple number.  

“We bought jewelry up the street. It has a very cool look,” said Natali’s mother, Ahuva Gleimer. “We were at a show in Manayunk (earlier this summer). This is so much better,” said Ahuva Gleimer.

One of the best draws on the street was one that used a 15th-century Chinese technique to create hand-painted silk scarves. The combination of water and acrylic paint on the 72-inch long scarf had some women calling to their husbands for an extra $25.

Claire Faust of Barrington reached for the sign-up sheet as soon as she walked by. “I’m doing it myself, for myself. I really like unique things. I’ve never met a sale I didn’t like,” she said.

Traci Beden-Tambussi, a potter from Cherry Hill, brought out a stall of vases and bowls, platters and condiment dishes from her studio. “It’s my first time here,” she said, although she has work at Wheaton Village and at the Earth Tones Gallery in Merchantville. She’s been a professional potter since 1982.

Haddonfield Patch has two photo galleries from this weekend's festival: and .