Had your fill of Solvang’s delectable treats? Stroll them off, as you shop for some treasures: this year’s Solvang Danish Days Old World Artisans Marketplace runs both Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17, from 9:00 AM until closing (approximately 5:00 PM, Saturday and 4:00 PM, Sunday).
The Danish Days Old World Artisans Marketplace features demonstrations and artisanal, hand-crafted items including Scandinavian arts & crafts, papercutting, rosemaling, fabric art, jewelry, pottery, and the ever-popular Danish Sisterhood Booth. Click here for Marketplace location, and more Danish Days information.
The 2017 Old World Artisans Marketplace participants include:
Jewelry by Diane Sorensen Brown
Handcrafted Original Jewelry with silver and precious stones. The artist has a long connection with the town of Solvang, including the fact that her great-grandfather did the wooden carvings at Bethania Lutheran Church. Diane’s family has been active in Danish Days for many years, and she has participated in the event since she was a child. Diane’s sister, Gail (Sorensen) Page, will be happy to show you her beautiful designs.
Baltic Crossroads (Alfreds Stinkuls)
Handcrafts of the Baltic region including silver pieces, carvings, handmade leather bookbinding, ceramics, jewelry and weavings. This year, Inguna Galvina will also be demonstrating ribbon weaving.
Danish Sisterhood Booth
Handmade and unique items, and delectable home-baked goods, reflecting our Danish Heritage. Proceeds fund the Danish Sisterhood Scholarship fund.
Fiber Artist (Cari Summer)
Fiber artisan who creates with a decidedly Scandinavian flair. Handmade fabric dolls, animals and baby items – creative pieces for man and beast!
Master Papercutter Rick James Marzullo (Solvang Papirklip)
Watch this artist draw with scissors as he creates hand cut works of art. “Papirklip”, or papercutting, is a thriving Danish art form as well as an ancient one. Original hand-cut designs, boxes, framed artwork, mugs, notecards, patterns for adults and children, ornaments and more.
Earth Creations Pottery by Petti Pfau
Pieces by local ceramicist, Petti Pfau, who is also this year’s Danish Days Grand Marshal! Hand-thrown stoneware bowls and forms.
Solvang Husflid
Hand-crafted original paintings, decorative art, ornaments, Papirklip (papercuttings), Rosemaling and more.
Sylvie Terrell
Local Norwegian artisan creating hand-crafted Art Glass Jewelry.
Viking Knit Jewelry (Gale Rugnetta)
Viking Knit Jewelry hand-made by the artist. Watch her demonstrate this handcraft! Also featuring other Scandinavian-inspired handcrafts and vintage Scandinavian items.
Rosemaling by Beth Twogood
Hand-painted Norwegian Rosemaling by a member of the California Rosemaling Association (CRA). Rosemaled woodenware including plates, bowls, boxes, planters and more.
Miss Lacey Designs (Carol Bassoni)
Beautifully hand-knitted items such as hats, scarves, sweaters and ornaments as well as tote bags and lucets for braiding. A lucet is a tool used in cordmaking or braiding which is believed to date back to the Viking and Medieval periods, when it was used to create cords that were used on clothing, or to hang items from the belt.
Illustrator (Cara Nilsen)
Cara Nilsen is an illustrator specializing in Norse mythology, in addition to Celtic and other fantasy subjects. After working in traditional drawing and painting methods for a number of years, Cara now completes her paintings digitally in Photoshop, though initial sketches are still done in pencil. Her great-grandparents migrated from Norway to a farm in Upstate New York, where Cara was raised. Surrounded by natural beauty, she first learned to draw and paint from her mother, Lynda Naske, who is also an accomplished artist.
Nordic Education (Earl Jepson)
“Demonstrator par excellence”, Earl is featured in this year’s Danish Days “Velkommen” Magazine. Earl is happy to talk with you about the history of Viking-age carving, and much more. View his assortment of handmade and purchased items that reflect Nordic culture from the period 600-1500.
Paddlewood Designs (Daniel Tayler)
Daniel Taylor of Paddlewood Designs is a carpenter by trade and a home chef. He has combined these two passions and is hand-crafting exotic and domestic hard wood cutting boards, cheese boards, “lazy susans”, bowls and more. These items are designed using the beautiful work of Mother Nature, and just rearranging it a little to expose the end grains and the spectacular colors of the wood. Don’t let the beauty of these cutting boards fool you; they are made to be used and are of the highest quality.
Rex Saint’Onge and Crystal Rocha
Rex creates handcrafted leather bags using vintage and imported cotton. He will be demonstrating his process and also show his Nordic leather key chains. An artist since childhood, he has degrees in Graphic Design/Fashion and is a licensed character artist with Warner Bros. Studio.
Crystal creates hand-painted henna body art in Scandinavian inspired designs at “Trankebar Henna”, which is named after the Danish colony in India. Trankebar was established from 1620-1845. She is also a makeup artist and face painter, and uses natural products to enhance beauty and add colorful flare to any event.
Emily Abello
Once she retired from teaching, Emily Abello began watercolor painting and moved on to silk painting because of its similarities in using color blending. Each hand-painted silk scarf made by Emily is a unique piece of wearable art. She works with French dyes, and producing each scarf from start to finish takes about 8 hours. The technique is challenging and time intensive; there is no such thing as exactly reproducing a design, as the colors have a way of spreading and making each piece uniquely different. She also adheres the silk paintings on canvas to create a piece of wall art, and creates lavender neck pillows to soothe. Emily will only be at the Old World Artisans Marketplace on Saturday.
