Using a foot-powered lathe, Brian Houf says it takes him about 45 minutes to turn a piece of wood into a bowl.
“It is a good cardio workout,” said the Corunna man, who was demonstrating his craft with the self-built, spring pole lathe at Art in the Park in Bright’s Grove Sept. 9.
People gathered to watch him at The Houf Workshop tent, one of 115 exhibitors at the annual event that Rotary Club of Sarnia Bluewaterland organizers expected to draw 3,000 to 4,000 people.
“It has been nice, steady,” service club president Dale Wilcox said as browsers checked out painters’, jewelers’ and other artisans’ wares in Mike Weir Park.
Organizers hoped to match the $30,000 they raised last year, when the event returned from a two-year hiatus amid COVID-19, she said.
The Rotary club provides funding every year to community agencies for various projects.
The measured pace, on a day that started with rain, was welcome, Wilcox said, noting some years it’s been more difficult logistically with many more people showing up early.
“I’ve talked to one or two vendors and they’ve said. . . it’s a good show for them sales-wise,” she said.
Phew, who said he started turning bowls from salvaged wood three or four years ago, said he carves when the wood is green or wet, and it wraps as it dries, giving it “a more organic, more alive visual aspect.”
It was his second year at Art in the Park, he said, adding sales had been OK.
Sarnia’s Katrina Gardiner, a first-time attendee, was checking things out with her kids and friends.
“It seems to be pretty busy,” she said. “I like it. I’ll come back.”