Festival of the Arts draws crowds to Carroll Creek
Jun. 12—Along the shores of Carroll Creek, artist Josh Fradis had his "Crashing Waves" lined up for sale.
The glass artwork featured curving blue waves, each with a spiky whitecap at the top.
Fradis, who is based in Palm Beach, Florida, said he starts with clear, molten glass heated to about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, then adds color and sculpts the glass into the design he wants as it turns into a liquid at about 1,000 degrees.
It's not a simple process.
Fradis said he has an entire warehouse of equipment that he uses to create his work.
The festival continues Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This was the second year Fradis has brought his work to the Frederick Festival of the Arts.
It is the 28th year for the festival, which brings more than 100 artists and craft artisans from around the country to Carroll Creek Linear Park in Frederick.
The two-day festival, which continued Sunday, featured displays of jewelry, painting, sculpture, leather work, wood, photography, and others.
Fradis said that while Saturday morning's overcast skies and some light rain had probably kept some people away, things had picked up by early afternoon.
On the other side of the creek, Lucy Kirk explained the process for creating the pottery that she and her husband Noah brought to the festival.
Noah is the potter, and she makes the glazes and does the carving for the lanterns, vases, and mugs the couple had for sale, she said.
A lantern or pot takes about a week to create, Kirk said.
Each one is thrown on the potter's wheel as a solid pot, then Lucy cuts out the design she wants.
Each piece is fired and cooled in the kiln for 24 hours, before she adds the glaze and it's fired again for another 24 hours.
Kirk said she's been involved in pottery for 13 years, while Noah has been doing it for about 20 years.
As crowds made their way along the creek, several stopped to talk to Muthulakshmi and admire the bright colors of her paintings. Some of the paintings are oils and some are pastels, she said.
Her tent is a virtual collage of faces, from Nepal, China, Japan, Cambodia, and elsewhere.
She said she prefers to paint people because you can always find similarities and a connection with them.
"I love telling people's stories," she said.
Growing up in the Netherlands, she said she always loved painting.
"It's my life's calling. So I always do it, because it makes me happy," she said.
Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP
