ARTISTS DISPLAY THEIR SKILLS

A small crowd gathered to watch Grant Lund pull wood block prints Saturday afternoon at the 28th annual Spring Arts and Crafts Fair.

He carefully inked the wood block, carved with an image of a tree and birds, laid the paper over it and rubbed the paper with a flat stone to pick up the inked image.

Then he peeled the paper away and hung it up to dry.

Lund, a well-known local artist and professor at Southeast Missouri State University, is one of about 90 exhibitors at the fair, which is sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

Lund uses white pine for the blocks.

"It's soft enough that it's easy to cut. If I could afford it, I'd use cherry."

The wood blocks usually last for about 150 prints before the image is too worn down to print well, Lund said.

The Spring Arts and Crafts Fair continues from 10 to 5 today at the A.C. Brase Arena in Cape Girardeau.

Potters, woodcarvers, painters and other crafters will be displaying their wares and their work.

Arts council organizers this year asked exhibitors to demonstrate how the job gets done -- from fashioning wooden chairs to hand painting ceramic bells.

Myra Kaha fashions bowls and plates on her potter's wheel.

"I'm mostly interested in the functional, stuff people can use for everyday wares," said Kaha, who lives in Makanda, Ill.

Most of the items she exhibited Saturday were mugs, bowls and pitchers.

There's something soothing about pottery-making, she said.

"For me, it's really therapeutic. It's kind of mesmerizing," Kaha said.

People watching her have had the same feeling, she said.

"I think people come around to see it and they get hypnotized."

Sharon Ledure of Cape Girardeau was carving a bust in basswood.

She said it's important for customers to see artisans at work.

"I don't think they appreciate the work as much if they don't see it done," Ledure said. "If you see somebody working, you have a little different concept."

Ledure was working at the River Valley Carvers Club booth.

Cleda Curtis' students were working on still lifes of a blue bowl and apples Saturday.

Curtis, an Oran artist, said this is the first year she's brought her students out to do classwork during the event.

Rory Jaros of Makanda was fashioning chair slats Saturday afternoon.

Carved wood has a "romantic value" other media lack, Jaros said.

"How does it differ from steel? It's natural. It's organic. That's a big buzzword now, natural," he said.