Tipping my Hat to Artisans
Allison Marchese | June 26, 2015 | Comment
So I know a little about artists. They are lovely people. They are full of ideas. They express these thoughts and emotions with their hearts, using paint, clay, textiles, found objects, pencils, paper, and through countless other mediums into breathtaking displays.
A selection of products from Mary Anne Davis, one of the vendors at the upcoming Hudson River Exchange.
There are also artists like me, who choose words to express what’s swirling around in our emotional gas tanks. But the visual artists, well they are unique.
My first reaction to art that stimulates my epicenter is to put something on paper, to write about the feeling, and let my reactions ruminate on a page. When I fill up my journal or my computer file, I’m happy… but it’s not exactly like a painting, or pottery, or an amazing hand-crafted piece of clothing, or a huge metal sculpture.
Ok. With all judgment aside I want to call attention to the visual artists in our community and mention that this coming weekend there’s a very special event for these folks in Hudson, NY. Saturday, June 27 and again Sunday, June 28 at the Henry Hudson Riverfront Park is a major event on the waterfront near the Amtrak train station called The Hudson River Exchange. The event is open from 10-6pm on Saturday and 11 to 4pm on Sunday and it’s free for everyone.
Photo courtesy of Hudson River Exchange
This event actually started three years ago and it’s being promoted as a summer ‘market’ featuring over 100 vendors of high quality goods. To spice things up there will also be a few key food trucks, some music and people selling vintage items, which these days could be things made back in 1990, but who’s counting.
The artists themselves come from all over the Northeast and seem to span a space between Virginia and Vermont…an interesting geographic area.
Also curious is that this event seems rather dominated by women. This is a good thing. On the Hudson River Exchange website the headlines are printed in bright Pink! Go girls!
Women have been the backbone of building community for hundreds of years and so it’s not a surprise that women are behind this event. It was created by three women: Stella Yoon, Kate Sterlin and Kate Moore. They apparently got motivated to continue a long held tradition in this region where artists come out to sell their wares on the wharf and in the process, offer the community a place to gather. The focus is cultivating the spirit of creativity. The intent is to provide a platform for commerce and exchange. This is great and much needed.
In the line up is Mary Anne Davis from Spencertown, NY. Mary Anne creates hand-made fine porcelain and giftware for davistudio.com. Mary Anne is a true artist and is known around the world for her unique and fantastically pieces. This weekend Mary Anne is offering new collections called Good Thoughts, Namaste, and City States and Regions. Also in her booth are pieces of amazing dinnerware. It’s totally worth stopping by, saying Hi and taking home a mug, dish, tumbler, tray or an entire set of dishes in brilliant colors.
Erika Fink, from North Carolina is showing off her cloth and textiles. Caroline Wellner is bringing her hand-made tiles. Jocelyn Krogman is a metalsmith. And the list of ladies is long including Anna Lorich Akers is bringing LORAK Jewelry pieces which are a “feminine and modern take on an old world craft,” according to her website.
A selection of pieces from LORAK Jewelry
She comes to Hudson River Exchange from Norfolk, VA. And from Kingston, NY, there is Crystal Moore from Lock and Key Leathers. For the complete list of vendors, food and more go to the organizer’s website: hudsonriverexchange.com
See you on the waterfront.