Arts and Crafts

It may seem unusual for arts and crafts to feature in farmers markets but when one considers the fact that like much of the produce at markets arts and crafts related items are usually hand made from local talent and are far more luxurious than their mass produced counterparts they actually fit perfectly in amongst the organic vegetables and hand reared meats on offer. Arts and crafts is a term used to describe a wealth of activities and hobbies that all relate to making something with your own hands using a skill or trade of some form. More traditional arts and crafts include things such as basket weaving, pottery and iron working, whilst examples of more modern arts and crafts products might be hand-made greetings cards, or bead work and jewellery making.

Many people involved in arts and crafts do what they do because they enjoy crafting and creating something with their own hands and skills that they have learned through years of practise and study, and there are a large number of people who utilise more traditional crafting methods who are keeping alive traditions that otherwise would die out. Most importantly is the ability to express yourself artistically through your craft; when creating something from scratch you can allow your imagination to run wild and create something straight from your own imagination rather than producing an endless stream of identical products.

For many shoppers this is the major appeal of arts and crafts at farmers markets; you can be certain that the item you are purchasing is totally unique and in most cases there will never be another that is exactly the same. This exclusivity is appealing for obvious reasons in an age of cheap, disposable, mass produced and identical products created by multi-national corporations. It is easy to understand why the modern arts and crafts movement has evolved to represent the finer, more luxurious things in life, and an added bonus when purchasing arts and crafts related products is that you are supporting your local economy by providing business to local tradespeople.

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