By Chelsea Schmid
Staff Writer who is Special to LIVE!
March 6, 2008
Podcast
Chelsea Schmid Does the Chicken Farm- Chelsea Schmid interviews the artists and entertainers at the Chicken Farm's First Saturday event.
- Interviewer: Jennifer Litz
- Year: 2008
- Length: 6:40 minutes (7.82 MB)
- Format: mp3 stereo 160 Kbps 44.1 kHz (cbr)
Vendors, artists, and musicians from San Angelo and neighboring regions gathered at San Angelo’s Chicken Farm Saturday afternoon for the art community’s “First Saturday,” a monthly event where artisans and art lovers convened to buy, sell, and mingle while displaying their latest handmade crafts.
The event featured works created using a number of mediums varying from jewelry, mosaics, hand-made knives, pottery and found-object productions. Artists of all ages were entertained with good company; children sat at a table, creating their own free clay pottery that was fired by Chicken Farm staffers; and seasoned craftsmen and women showcased their unique creations among the sounds of serenade from a circle of acoustic “Chicken Pickers.”
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Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the art on display was its originality. One chicken farmer, Ester Morrison of Green Dragon Dreams Jewelry, spoke on the uniqueness of her pieces. “I don’t ever duplicate,” Morrison said. “I like the idea that you can buy something of mine and you’ll never walk into a mall and find someone wearing the exact same thing.” Morrison specializes in using copper or sterling silver with semi-precious gemstones and crystals.
At an adjacent table, Cora Wood of Hallelujah Designs proudly displayed mosaic crosses made with tiles of different sorts. Her favorite is an expensive Italian tile, but equally attractive is a cheaper iridescent glass tile that comes in vibrant colors. Wood, like most other artists at the Chicken Farm, does everything by hand.
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With a case of a little more obscure ornaments, Van Leebus displayed found-object artwork made mostly of old dinner forks. “[They're] old dinner forks that I flatten them out, then I bend the tines and punch little eyes on it so it looks like an octopus or whatever . . . ” Leebus said. The objects are designed for various uses, ranging from decorative pieces, when Leebus bends the handles back to make necklaces, or even utilizing their traditional purpose as serving utensils. Leebus said the inspiration for making art from forks came from a trip to Venice Beach in the ‘70s where he saw a woman with a serpentine armband that turned out to be a fork.
On the far end of the farm, a smoking forge was surrounded by blacksmiths making knives of steel and railroad spikes among other things. This work seems to be the most time-consuming; some have spent up to 40 hours to create one knife, but the product looks better than anything you’ll find in any store or magazine. Of the various forms for creating these objects, one of the most intriguing involves what they call Damascus, where several layers of different metals are folded over one another and beaten together, resulting in a blade with a visible ripple effect.
A number of the works are historical reproductions of Bowie knives and other weaponry, yet each is unique due to the nature of the creation. No one really knows what a Bowie knife looks like. There are standards for its length, but most other details are up to an artist’s representation, say the artisans who gather to make the weapons.
“How much you agree with the design depends on which side you’re standing on,” said B.W. Burnett, a blacksmith and knife maker.
The blacksmiths meet at the Chicken Farm twice monthly on Thursdays and again at the First Saturday event.
The event is open to the public and has an inviting atmosphere, reminiscent of the ‘70s.
“It reminds me of back when I was young and I first started doing jewelry,” said Leebus. “It was kind of like the hippie days . . . it was so relaxed and laid back—I just feel like it’s magic. There’s all these people doing arts and crafts and working in studios. And it just has a really mellow, magical feeling. I just love it.”
For more information on the Chicken Farm, the artists, or the First Saturday events, refer to http://www.chickenfarmartcenter.com/
I really enjoyed the music. There are very few places where you can hear live country and folk
music in San angelo. This is the best as far as I am concerned, And you can get to know the artist because they play right in front of you. Anyone with any music instrument is welcome to join in so if you play or even want to play join in. The Concho Blacksmiths also are great. Watching a blacksmith at work hammering red hot iron is a very interesting sight.
Jim
It was pretty cool. I hadn't been out there before, but it was definitely my kind of place. The people are real cool; talkative. They'll teach you all kinds of stuff about their trade. It's an environment with a good vibe. Chelsea
We LOVE taking our kids out to the Chicken (Art) Farm. We also make it a point to take any visitors we have from out of town out there. They ALWAYS love it. It's really a great part of San Angelo.
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