Visitors enjoy Art in the Park

As the cold winds of June abated, this weekend's annual Art in the Park spread out along the lawns of Creekside Park drew healthy crowds of rodeo revelers and guests to absorb 75 vendor booths of incredible summer art.

Cajun fiddler Kelly Thibodeaux and his rowdy Etouffe Band helped kick off the festival Southern-style with some foot-stompin' tunes to accompany a breezy Saturday afternoon with friends and visitors under the pines.

The show was a sell-out, with a wide array of artists and craftsmen selling their wares and wonders, from Western cowboy paintings, artisan jewelry, hand-blown glassware, boutique botanicals and rustic barnwood furniture.

Ben Silver of Bendini Glass made the trip over from Eugene to present his brilliant collection of hand-crafted bowls, colorful vases and drinking glasses.

"This is my first event in Sisters, and it's been great," he said. "The crowd is really friendly and I love it here. Sisters has its own thing going. I first got into glass working for a stonemason in Bend, and that creative energy was sparked in me. Glass requires a lot of physical labor, turning the pipe and keeping the molten glass on center. The hotter it is the faster it wants to fall to the floor. Playing with color and form through glass is kinda what I do."

With his forge glowing bright orange, Chuck Weisoff's CW Forge Works set up his functional iron artwork alongside Whychus Creek and hammered steel as visitors admired his craft. His specialty items included hand-forged coat racks, campfire cooking tripods, mild-steel steak turners and kitchen pot racks adorned with leaping trout, horse heads and Indian arrows.

"I've been a farrier for over 18 years, and the iron business was just a natural progression of shoeing horses," he said. "All my designs are old-fashioned and traditional. I had to figure out something else to do because my back is pretty much shot. Nice to see people out today with the warmer weather."

Event organizer Richard Esterman was happy to see the park full and the art vendors doing well.

"The show is full, everybody is out in the sun and having a great time," he said. "We have a variety of new exhibitors this year from all over Oregon. Bad Boys Barbecue is feeding people some amazing food and the crowd loved the fiddle band, Etouffe. They'll be back again next month for the Arts and Crafts Festival. And this is the 12th year having the Make-A-Wish silent auction, and I'm glad to make them a yearly part of this show. It's been a good weekend in Sisters for everybody."