Besides the handmade arts and crafts, there will be raffle drawings all day; winners must be present to win.
SPRINGFIELD –Woodworker Jeffrey L. Rembrandt, of Longmeadow ,will bring a variety of utilitarian wooden tools to the 2013 JCC Artisan Festival.
“My stuff is not decorative, it is useful and beautiful,” he said of his items that include pens and pencils, wine stoppers, salt and pepper shakers, bowls and trays.
The free event takes place at the Springfield Jewish Community Center, 1160 Dickinson St., on Nov. 17, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Rembrandt uses a variety of woods, some imported hardwoods from Latin America, some found in local woods. He especially likes wood that is “spalted.”
Spalting is wood coloration caused by fungi and is mostly found in dead trees.
“It doesn’t look like the wood grain you find on your desk top or cabinets” because of the extra mold lines, he said. “It polishes up to a beautiful shine, and is doubly unique.”
His work will be featured along with up to 100 other vendors, with work that includes fused glass jewelry, woodcrafts, homemade foods, leather, gemstone jewelry, hand knits, beaded jewelry and hand-dyed clothing.
“I am always awestruck by the quality of the work, the variety of the crafts and the creativity that these crafts people bring to the festival,” said Carlin Preisick Trietsch, coordinator of arts and culture at the center, and director of the festival.
“We want to give local artists and crafts people a cost efficient opportunity to showcase their work.”
She noted that the "Pioneer and Connecticut valleys have such a wealth of quality artisans,” Trietsch said.
“We are lucky to have attracted so many of these quality craftspeople. Though this is not a juried show, most of the vendors have submitted photographs or websites of their work to be reviewed before they are accepted in to the festival.”
Gus and Paul’s Bakery, the in-house caterer and that runs the center’s coffee shop, will offer lunch items at the festival.