Cottonwood Art Festival

Cottonwood Art Festival is perhaps of one my favorite art events each year.  I LOVE the atmosphere and the quality of the art that is showcased.  It is a beautiful day and we are meeting up with Mister's family for dinner so we decide to combine the two into one trip north.

At the end of the first row of booths, we discover quite a crowd.  I move in as close as I can to watch and find that one of the local artisans is demonstrating his craft.  Oh it is fantastic and perfectly fills my need to learn.  I watch in amazement for quite some time, snapping pictures as often as I can remember to.  I know that I do not have enough to show all the steps, but I was very focused watching.  What can I say?

He pulls a VERY hot vase from his stock  and brings it to the front where there is a metal tub of wood chips.  He sprays the item with a substance (I think either kerosene or alcohol) and then uses a torch to heat it up.

The next step is to bury it in the wood chips and turn it while gradually exposing different areas to the air allowing the colors to appear.

After several moments of turning and bringing different areas to the surface, the vase is removed and put into a water bath to scrub all the residue off and begin to cool the vase.  It is the first time that he handles it without gloves on.  I am so impressed, but we need to move on so that we are able to see everything before we have to leave.

After we finish touring the festival, I ask Mister if we can return to this booth and watch again.  This time I have a better watching spot and we are once again enthralled.  As I didn't get a picture of the finished item the first time, I do get one this round.  Is this not beautiful?  Too fun.