Plenty of dazzle at Maker’s Hand

The Maker’s Hand festival of fine craft contains everything you would imagine, a lot you would never imagine and even the kitchen sink – albeit that sink is a magnificent creation from natural stone.
The 7th annual show and sale is hosted by the Prince Edward Arts Council this weekend at the Prince Edward Community Centre at the Picton fairgrounds. It features more than 40 of Eastern Ontario’s finest artisans presenting work in a wide range of mediums.
Karyn Gingras, of Toronto, showed her creative spirit creating “Countylicious” food-enhanced hats with her delightful collection of traditional custom millinery.
Kevin Maclean is a metal oddment artist and shows off highly creative and clever ways to store your keys, put a tiny bouquet on your fridge or feed the birds – using mostly reclaimed materials.
Visitors to the show were testing out “tongue drums” from the collection of Jean Pierre Schoss that he creates from small propane tanks.
And Raphael Kerem shows radiance of the ordinary with beautifully crafted handmade brooms.
“For many people, Christmas shopping isn’t a stressful checkbox on the holiday to-do list as much as it is a fine art,” says show publicist Lizanne Donnelly.  “These are the people that hunt for the perfect gift for their loved ones – something that is meaningful, yet still manages to make a statement.”
For a full list of exhibitors and their work, click here: http://www.themakershand.com/exhibitors.shtml
The show opens at 10 am and closes at 8 pm on Friday, and 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Also look for the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory booth selling bird related products to help raise funds to run the research station.
Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory monitors the numbers and health of more than 200 species of birds annually as they migrate through Prince Edward County on route to and from their nesting sites in the Boreal Forest. PEPtBO is a member of the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network and has been in operation for 15 years.