Wow what a wonderful weekend we had in Edgewood New Mexico for Heart of New Mexico Fiber and Art Gathering. We reconnected with some old friends and made some new ones as well. The weather was great and the event was well organized and attended. Many classes were offered and lots of people attended them and learned new things. They had a sheep shearing demonstration and many artists processing yarn and finished goods from raw resources. You can see more about their show at https://www.heartofnmfiberandartgathering.com/, they have another show planned for Labor Day weekend.
It has been way too long since I have written; a Christmas break turned into a Winter break and stretched into spring. I feel ready to get back into the swing of things though in actuality we have been working on several things since mid April. We have been to a show at American Legion Post 49, back to our regular attendance at Los Ranchos Art Market, we made an appearance at the New Mexico Jerky Fest, and finally the Heart of New Mexico Fiber and Art Gathering.
Though we haven’t been very active we have introduced a couple new products. Long handled wooden spoons (18” from tip to tip) and lazy susans in 12” diameter size. Both the spoon and lazy susan have been well received and we actually sold our first this past weekend. Both will have various engraving options.
Some other new products include a shorter spoon we will produce and we plan on adding a slotted design of the shorter spoon. Spatulas (egg turners), cooking forks and grill scrapers are planned as well. A couple other items we plan to add will be deviled egg trays and egg stands for storing farm fresh eggs on the countertop. Oh and lets not forget rolling pins! We have big plans for these!
We have been diligent behind the scenes learning new software and the ins and outs of new tools. We have been using new 3d modeling software which has enabled the design of the kitchen utensils with our existing tools. Our first spoon has gone through about 12 design changes. We have also acquired a rotary device for our cnc so we can begin making rolling pins, chair spindles, bats and chess pieces among other things. A lot of that list can be done on a lathe but the rotary will allow us to cut facets into a spindle or engrave a bat, or even inlay designs on round surfaces.
Our visit to Edgewood to take part in the Fiber and Art Gathering provided a venue for having some of the more artistic pieces we create entered into a contest. I always struggle with the topic of what is art and what is craftsmanship. I’d say about 90% of what I produce falls into the craftsmanship category. There are some pieces that I feel I release my artistry on and I entered one of those into the contest. It was the Southwest Serving tray that I designed a year and a half ago. The piece won best of category and best of show in the novice division. I told them I didn’t feel like a novice but apparently novice is their term for anyone who has never entered one of their contests before.
