Arts and cars fill park for festival

Spectators checked out polished vintage cars as the Iron Maidens held their annual cruise-in on Jefferson Avenue. The classic cars coupled together with the 13th annual Arts & Crafts Festival at Sisters Creekside Park on Saturday to create an enticing event.

"We organize the cruise-in and all the women love their cars," said Nadine Katz, director of the Iron Maidens. "The early term used for a hot rod was 'iron,' and that's how we came up with the name Iron Maidens."

The Mayor's Choice Award went to Gary Jones from Prineville for his 1934 Chevy Sedan. Krell Teasdale from Bend won the Fire Chief's Award with his 1929 Ford Model A sedan.

"It's been a great event, especially since the entry fees for the classic cars went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon," said Sisters Mayor Brad Boyd.

Folks flocked to the park lawn in search of creative handcrafted art from an eclectic assortment.

First-time festival vendors Kay Pederson and Nan Gard from Eugene showed off their jewelry.

"All of our necklaces and toggle bracelets are made with vintage game pieces like dice, monopoly and dominos to name a few. We also use old pocket watch parts and clock keys on our necklace designs. We've even gone to Paris to collect little treasures like vintage chandelier beads and Eiffel tower souvenirs to use on a necklace. We traveled to Ecuador to purchase natural elements like the Tagua nut or acai seeds for necklace and earrings," said Pederson. "We decorate our booth with all kinds of game boards."

Event organizer Richard Esterman was pleased.

"Today was a success, and the car show was great. Everyone is a winner."

Folks enjoyed the cooler weather and strolled around and listened to the '60s-style music provided by the group Three Quarter Short.

New vendor and artist Karla Piatt from Portland explained how she creates her unique glass on canvas paintings:

"First I paint with acrylic on canvas. Then I begin the process with full sheets of Bullseye fusible glass. I cut the glass into carved shapes and lay it out over the canvas in a special design. Then I put the glass into a large kiln at a high temperature. Sometimes I fire the glass two or three times for a textured look. It is then mounted onto the canvas without glue. Most pieces tell a story, and there's emotion involved."

More than 50 vendors savored the warm, sunny day.

Gary and Cathy Williams from Redmond were all smiles as they both told the story of their unusual name for their wood creations.

"Our business is called Fatland Wood'n Creations, and nobody understands where the Fatland part comes from. We had a cat named Roy, and he got fatter and lazier as he grew older, so we called him fat Roy. As he got even older all he did was lay out in the backyard and we ended up calling him fatland," said Williams.

"I use basic wood-turning techniques to handcraft wooden bowls and platters, and Cathy makes bottle stoppers. We use a variety of wood like myrtle, juniper or walnut. A lot of our friends bring over wood they don't use," added Williams.