Derek Hennigar, artist
The Southern Highland Craft Guild will host its annual celebration of woodworking on Saturday, August 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Folk Art Center. This year’s Wood Day will feature more than 15 masters of craft demonstrating a variety of woodworking techniques and displaying their wares.
In addition to being a Guild member, Carolyn Anderson is a member of the Brasstown Wood Carvers, which was established in the early 1900s. “It is important to see how the art of woodworking is being carried out in our modern times,” she says. “I am proud to be able to carry on these traditions.”
Valerie Berlage says Wood Day, like all of the Guild’s educational events, reminds consumers of the importance of buying local, handcrafted goods. “Sometimes I think people are so used to buying off the shelf at large retailers or ordering from Amazon that they forget what they are seeing at the Folk Art Center and our other galleries is actually made by a human being with creativity, two hands and a lot of sweat, tears, band-aids and love,” she says.
At Wood Day, Berlage will be demonstrating surface treatment, showing some of her painting techniques, and discussing her use of color, pattern and texture. “Sometimes,” she says, “just looking at an object, you can’t really appreciate all the steps and processes and practice, hard work, failures and triumphs that have gone into creating it. This event is an opportunity for the local community to meet our Guild artists, learn about the evolution of an idea from start to finish and see just what it takes to create it firsthand.”
SHCG is a non-profit organization established in 1930 to cultivate the crafts and makers of the Southern Highlands for the purpose of shared resources, education, marketing and conservation. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Learn more at SouthernHighlandGuild.org.
