Now in its 27th year, the state-sponsored wholesale trade show and retail marketplace, Kentucky Crafted: The Market has adopted the theme “Kentucky Crafted: Naturally!” for 2009.

Many artisans who will be exhibiting at Kentucky Crafted: The Market this year have developed products that use natural and organic materials to create art and craft work with a natural connection to Kentucky.

Photographer Carol Shutt of Hillsboro, Ky. (Fleming County) has collaborated with papermaker Gin Petty of Berea, Ky. (Madison County) to develop papers from natural materials that can be used to make prints of her digital photos. “Even though the same image will be used more than once, each piece is really one-of-a-kind,” says Shutt.  “The edges come out differently each time, the inclusions fall in different places and the paper itself varies depending on how the pulp is pulled.”  She currently prints on paper made of abaca, hemp half-stuff and 100% cotton rag.

Louisville artist Marlon Obando Solano will be showing his line of Naturaleza Organic Jewelry for the first time at Kentucky Crafted: The Market. The originally designed pieces are created from a wide variety of seeds and woods that have been sustainably collected from his native country, Nicaragua.  His necklaces, earrings and rings often incorporate recycled silver and copper inlays using ancient Mayan symbols and numerology.  Because of the naturally found patterns and textures of the materials, no two pieces are exactly alike.

Additionally, five artists who will be marketing work made with botanical materials at Kentucky Crafted: The Market, have also been selected for the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea exhibition “Shaping Nature: Kentucky Artisans Work with Natural Materials.” Jennifer Zingg (sculptural gourds), Sharon Chartier Haines (dried botanical arrangements), LuAnn Vermillion (hand-made paper objects with botanical inclusions), Josie Lamb Williams (natural objects jewelry) and Christopher Robbins (brooms) will have their fine craft on display along with the work of 28 other Kentucky artisans in the show that begins February 6 and runs through May 31, 2009.  The Kentucky Artisan Center, located at 975 Walnut Meadow Road, just off I-75 at exit 77 in Berea, is open from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. and admission is free.

Special guest to this year’s market will be nationally renowned garden designer, Jon Carloftis.  Kentucky Crafted: The Market will feature garden vignettes designed by Carloftis, who will also make a presentation, “Designing a Kentucky Crafted Garden,” sharing his ideas about creating beautiful garden spaces and incorporating many of the wonderful products that can be found at Kentucky Crafted: The Market in home gardens. 

Kentucky Crafted: The Market 2009

Kentucky Exposition Center, South Wing B, Louisville, Ky.

Trade Only Days (Registration required with 2 forms of business identification)

Thursday, February 19, 2009, 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. E.S.T.

Friday, February 20, 2009, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. E.S.T.

Public Days

Saturday, February 21, 2009, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. E.S.T.

Sunday, February 22, 2009, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. E.S.T.

Adults $8 (Children 15 and under free), Parking $6

$3 off admission with coupon, go to www.kycraft.ky.gov

Designing a Kentucky Crafted Garden

with Jon Carloftis

Saturday, February 21, 2009 10:00 a.m. E.S.T.

Fee: $25 (Includes free admission to Kentucky Crafted: The Market)

To register: www.artscouncil.ky.gov/forms/CarloftisReg.htm

Kentucky Crafted: The Market is produced by the Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency in the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet that creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Funding for the Kentucky Arts Council is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.