Grab the DeLorme gazetteer, fill up the tank and head across the state for Maine Craft Weekend. Arriving just as the leaves start to turn, the self-guided excursion Oct. 1-2 satisfies many cravings.
“It’s a chance to go into the places where people live, see cool structures, many that artisans made themselves, and get out and explore,” said Sadie Bliss, executive director of The Maine Crafts Association, which produces the event with partners such as Maine Made, a state-sponsored program. What started in 2013 as a way to help artists sustain a living has become a tourist magnet. This year more than 200 studios, breweries, museums, galleries and workshops participate in the statewide tour.
Tucked away in Aroostook County, dotting Down East and set along the southern edge of the state, crafters fling open their doors to the curious, the inspired and the intrepid. If you are familiar with artist open studio weekends, you know the drill. Blacksmiths, jewelers, woodworkers and, yes, even brewers invite the public in to experience their world.
“It’s a great mix of people making things with their hands, using tools, fiber, metal, paper, large scale outdoor sculptures,” Bliss said, adding that a partnership with the Maine Brewers’ Guild means no one will go thirsty. “It’s a way to extend our reach into different kinds of makers. We have our idea of what craft is; this is an opportunity to celebrate brewers, too.”
Now that craft beer is king in Maine, brewers like Rising Tide in Portland are collaborating with a chocolatier and ceramicist for a dual celebration.
“This gives people an opportunity to envision their day as fully rounded. You might visit a studio and stop at a brewery,” Bliss said.
Douglas E Wilson, a Little Deer Isle blacksmith, will be firing up his forge all weekend. Enter his “old timey” blacksmith shop, adjacent to his house to see this crafter up close.
“I am deeply rooted in the technical process done for thousands of years. It’s ancient, but my designs are contemporary,” he said of his steel restoration work, which includes railings and gates.
The shop is located next to a house he built himself, giving people a window into the life. Watch him turn steel into objects over hot coals. “I’m very interested in sharing my love and enthusiasm with people. I’m a master craftsman. I don’t want to see it disappear.”
If it sounds like an adventure, it is. Wear sensible shoes.
“The idea of people traveling down dirt roads they’ve never gone down before to see crafters working in studios, meeting people seeing people garden, getting to know the life of craft artist,” Bliss said, is the idea.
“I love it. Every year I go to a different region,” Bliss said. “One year I went to Harpswell, where I had never visited. The residual effects are getting to know a new area of Maine.”
For more info on the free event, visit mainecraftweekend.org.
