Creativity of 80 vendors reigns at summer arts fest

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

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Jeff Lange | The Vindicator SAT, JUL 9, 2016 - Kiley Lisko of Poland admires a painting of Cleveland Cavaliers' forward Lebron James and other stars from the 2016 NBA Championship team painted by Willie Duck of Youngstown at this year's Summer Festival of the Arts held at YSU on Saturday. According to Duck, the painting took about eight days to complete.

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Jeff Lange | The Vindicator SAT, JUL 9, 2016 - Bladesmith Lizz Beltz of Niles makes a miniature katana out of a nail during Saturday's Summer Festival of the Arts held at YSU.

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Jeff Lange | The Vindicator SAT, JUL 9, 2016 - Various sports themed gnomes carved out of wood by artist Walter Dolata of Hermitage for sale during Saturday's Summer Festival of the Arts held on the campus of YSU.

It’s quite straightforward and expected for one to use a 1920s-style ironing board for removing wrinkles from a shirt or pair of pants, but if you want to use it to brush up on a John Fogerty lick here or an Eric Clapton solo there, you might do well to consult with Ed Wentling.

“This is a double-neck, steel guitar,” Wentling said in describing the $725 electric guitar that is attached to the top of a vintage ironing board and made from a cigar box.

The instrument may seem highly unusual to most musicians and nonmusicians alike, but in many ways, it represents a typical day at the office for Wentling, who owns Bayou Blues Guitars, a Farrell, Pa.-based business that specializes in building and selling unique handmade cigar-box guitars.

Wentling and his wife, Carol, also are among the nearly 80 vendors who are the main attraction of the 18th Summer Festival of the Arts at Youngstown State University.

The free, two-day event kicked off Saturday and has brought in numerous local and regional artists, musicians, photographers and others. The festivities continue from 11 a.m. to

5 p.m. today at YSU.

Today’s entertainment includes performances by County Mayo, the Youngstown Connection, the Ursuline High School Spanish Club Dancers, Conjunto Riquena, Ballet Western Reserve, Songbird Lumberjack and the Spanish Evangelical Church Dance Group.

“We do enjoy what we do,” Ed Wentling said Saturday afternoon as he dabbled on the strings of a full-scale, four-string electric guitar made from a white Cohiga cigar box that was selling for $285.

Wentling had on display a variety of shapely guitars and amplifiers – all made from cigar boxes. He also uses a similar mode of operation to build mandolins, banjos, violins and ukuleles, he said, adding that he removed the AM component from an old radio and adapted it so as to serve as a guitar amplifier.

For her part, Carol has built nine guitars. She also assists with design ideas and deals with customers, she said.

Those who attended the fest Saturday enjoyed the wide array of merchandise, which included paintings, embroidered T-shirts, photography exhibits, calligraphy drawings, wooden cutting-board art and prints. Also on display are designer necklaces and jewelry, colorful ceramics, wind chimes made from glass and beads, scented soaps, and psalteries, which are medieval instruments similar to dulcimers and played by plucking the strings with the fingers.

Those who favored handmade, all-purpose pottery – including fish with a variety of unconventional uses – likely walked away pleased if they visited Catherine Kendrick’s tent.

“Most everything I have is highly functional,” said the Salineville woman, who owns Catherine’s Art Corner, which specializes in making numerous pieces of hand-created pottery.

Kendrick demonstrated for one customer the uses of a fish-shaped item, which can hold everything from toothbrushes to loose change. On average, it takes Kendrick nearly three hours to make such an item, she added.

Kendrick, who is an oil painter by trade and has an additional studio in Estero, Fla., said she creates her own glazes for her pottery. She also had on hand a variety of ash trays, vases, mugs, cups and mini pitchers; the small pitchers sold for $7 apiece.

Much of her work follows the trajectory of that of many artists, who, as part of the creative process, see a lot of deviation between their original ideas and finished products. But for Kendrick, therein lies much of the satisfaction and joy, she explained.

“I’ve been doing this for four years,” she said. “The journey and adventure of doing this makes the pottery fun.”