11/17/2022
The Rochester Folk Art Guild will host a Holiday Shopping Event from 12 noon to 4 pm both December 3 and 4, at 1445 Upper Hill Road in Middlesex. Guests are welcome to visit the Weaving Studio, the Pottery Studio, the Woodshop, the East Hill Gallery, and “Romeo” to view and buy unique gifts for this season of giving. The Guild’s crafts provide a huge range of gifts, fashioned from natural materials, and made with care.
Over in Pottery the variety and colors and gift possibilities are nearly overwhelming. Just the choices in mugs and tea bowls are so many! The generous selection serving bowls, pitchers and platters are augmented by fresh firings for each public event. The potters have always offered some sweet holiday treats to go along with their ware.
Up in Weaving you can find blankets and ponchos, woolen scarves, shawls, and hats woven right there in the airy studio. The earthy colors add to the cozy feeling of being tucked into a warm cocoon.
In the Woodshop, what people are choosing so far this season are kitchen tools and backscratchers for selfcare. There are many types of freshly made cutting boards, ones with handles, some with geometric end grain patterns. On another workbench are the wooden toys, either for toddlers or for puzzle lovers. Also popular are the Woodturning Classes, for yourself or to give as a gift.
The displays in the East Hill Gallery include the women’s clothing and many giftable accessories from Natural Fiber Clothing Design. Several racks of tops and jackets, eco-print pillows and sachets, will be available then. A wonderful selection of books, non-fiction, cookbooks and great children’s books brighten up the room.
Not to be missed is Romeo, the building over near the Woodshop, where there will be three displays. The Graphics Shop will offer this fall’s harvest of one-of-a-kind notecards made from dried flowers and handmade papers. Liz Yockel of Honeoye has her yarns, and will lead a hands-on project in making your own yarn pompom.
Also Colleen Runner will share the large space, with Inspired Designs. About her creations, Colleen said, “We recycle 150 year-old barn wood along with vintage tools to create one of a kind signs and characters which are described as ‘talking pieces.’ Old jewelry, beads and findings combine with driftwood from the Finger Lakes to create hanging designs.”
The whole family can find many gift opportunities among the choices in the craft shops, and visit with the makers who tell about the making, starting with the clay, the tree, the sheep. December 3 and 4, noon to 4 at the Guild’s home at 1445 Upper Hill Road in Middlesex.
