The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Arts Fest paints pretty picture
The 2019 Chardon Arts Fair began in the late morning of Aug. 4 and by noon was a qualified success. Cars poured into the small town, filling out parking spaces in municipal overflow lots. the people streaming into Chardon Square navigated through makeshift alleys and avenues made from dozens of artists’ tents. Food trucks, snow cone stands, live music and, of course, plenty of artists with their creations on display.
The Fair ran from 10 AM until 4 PM and was presented Chardon Square Association under favorable weather. Much of its appeal came in the variety of genres on display. Hand drawn illustrations and paintings held ground, so too did potters and glass blowers, jewelers, weavers, wood carvers and furniture creators.
Carl Hlavaty and Barbara Ashbury of The Hammered Music Duo drew intrigued crowds for their live performances on a pair of hammered dulcimers, the same instruments they use on the recordings they were also selling. Their sound resembles something out of a
lively medieval court.
“We’ve been at it for some time,” laughs Ashbury between performances, “something like twentyfour years.”
Visitors of self-ascribed “Broomsquire” Chuck Fath’s tent were flanked by rows of handmade brooms. What is easily thought of as kitchen surplus, was transformed into works of art with faux historic flair, hand carved wooden handles, and even
a few crowned with animal heads.
The Burton artist said he’d been working with brooms for the past fifteen years. He got his start through his involvement with the Geauga County Historical Society and a course on historical broom making. Noticing the initial spark, Fath’s wife convinced him to take more broom making classes, this time at North Carolina’s John C.
Campbell folk school.
Since then, Fath says his art style has “taken on its own life.” He adds that “it’s a creative outlet where you can go out and find bizarre things and wonder ‘what can I do with this?’”
When asked if there is a certain style or trend that he’s noticed with people throughout his travels to art shows and fairs he laughs. “People are people,” he says. “You can never predict what they will want or will feel like. There are no limitations, especially in the craft business.”