North country artists featured at Remington festival
Oct. 10—CANTON — The Remington Arts Festival on Saturday in Canton's Village Park concluded the monthlong North Country Arts Festival with work from local vendors.
"This is our last event of the NoCo Arts Festival, and it's the Remington Arts Festival," said Maggie M. McKenna, SLC Arts Council executive director.
"It's a celebration of Frederick Remington's birthday, who was born in Canton," she said, adding that it's Canton's claim to fame.
The festival, she said, brings together different artists from the area to showcase and sell their work
"All the artists are chilly, but excited to be here," she said.
Despite being a brisk 45 degrees, nearly a dozen artists and dozens of attendees populated the Village Park by noon.
One of them, Kathy Montan, sold her felted wool art, which mostly depicted animals in nature.
"Everything is made of wool, even though it looks like a watercolor or oil painting," she said.
Because wool fibers have scales on them, she said, they can become entangled with each other and manipulated to make art.
Don't mistake it for knitting, though.
"It's got nothing to do with knitting," she said. Instead, she uses a special felting needle to prick at the wool and make it into a fabric.
For her, the festival is a lovely way to display art and bring people together.
"This is a really good place to show your art, especially when they coordinate with St. Lawrence University's family weekend, which they did this year," she said. "It's a nice community event."
Another artist, Katie A. Schuler, sold artwork she made entirely from wood.
"I make a myriad of things like wall art, tables, jewelry, and smaller pieces," she said. "It's all from wood, and it's a minimal-waste operation."
One of her favorite pieces on display featured multiple species of moss terraced onto a wooden square.
She's a staple in the regional art world.
"I go to larger shows down in Syracuse, and sell my stuff online, too."
Her work can be found at schulerwood.com.
"Last year, it was very rainy and cold, but I'm just excited to be here again," she said.
An art festival wouldn't be complete without someone selling pottery, and Nathan R. Cox sold hand-spun pieces at his stand, Seaway Ceramics.
He's been practicing pottery for less than a year, but you wouldn't know that from the symmetry and intricacy of his pieces — including bowls, plates, mugs, and jugs.
"I find pottery very calming," he said. "I do it after work or on the weekends, so I get home from a long day and get to watch a piece of mud swirl on a wheel in front of me."
Bowls are his favorite thing to make. "Since I have big hands, I have a little trouble with the mugs," he admitted.
He started selling his work partly in order to off-load some of it.
"The fact is, if I didn't sell it, I would be some crazy guy with a house full of pottery," he joked, though perhaps not so unseriously.
"So when you make something like this, you have to find a way to get rid of it as well."
His work can be found at seawayceramics.com.
A handful of local musical groups were scheduled to perform in the park throughout the day, including Uprooted, the Goddard Girls, and Angwa.
