{"id":6799,"date":"2021-10-18T09:48:17","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T13:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6799"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:25:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:25:53","slug":"aroostook-countys-artisans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/10\/18\/aroostook-countys-artisans\/","title":{"rendered":"Aroostook County\u2019s Artisans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maine is known for many things: sweet lobster, great fishing and hunting, beautiful landscapes, majestic moose and Stephen King. It\u2019s no wonder that such a beautiful state draws a high number of craftspeople and artisans. It seems that Aroostook County has more talented artisans hiding away than anyone would expect. You can find them at local fairs and farmers\u2019 markets, their goods finer than any found at the fancy stores in big cities. Most of them seem to have the same attitude: they don\u2019t create to make a living. They create because they must. Having people love their work is just a bonus.<\/p>\n

When you dig deeper into the roots of Maine history, you find a can-do attitude. It has a rich history of inhabitants who made their living by making the best out of any situation. Mainers have lived through incredibly tough times and just kept going. Their willpower is practically a trademark. And yet, the more you hear about them, the more there is to admire.<\/p>\n

There are many residents in northern Maine who still live just like their grandparents, in dirt floor cabins without electricity. Of course, some have embraced modern technology, but not all. And in the midst of such seeming unwillingness to change, one wonders how art and beauty could be born. And yet\u2026those who create always find a way. Things that are useful can be beautiful, too.<\/p>\n

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Cricket Griffith, a potter from the Houlton area, grew up with a desire to learn how to mold clay. She said, \u201c I am a creator, an artist, a dabbler and an experimenter. I am a potter, which I feel like encompasses all of these things. Definitely an artist. I started making mud stuff in 2006 and just kind of never stopped.\u201d Cricket learned the basics of her art form at UMPI and now offers to teach others the basics if they are interested. She said, \u201cMy favorite part is how therapeutic pottery is. You can sit down with a lump of clay and just tell it what to become. You have a picture in your mind and the clay becomes it. Or sometimes, you have no picture in your mind, but the clay will still become.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cricket Griffith. Finished coffee mugs, ready for a customer. 22 Aug 2021. @muddycricketpottery<\/p><\/div>\n

Cricket, like many of Aroostook County\u2019s local artisans, sells her pottery a number of ways: word of mouth, online marketing such as Facebook and Instagram and local farmers\u2019 markets and craft fairs. Cricket said, \u201cI sell more at craft fairs\/farmers\u2019 markets. But that is also where I take my random creations that don\u2019t really follow a theme.\u201d So, the next time you head to your local farmers\u2019 market or the county fair, check out the craft tables. You never know just what you\u2019ll find.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the spectrum is a more robust art form: chain saw carving. Jon Hopkins, of Caribou, has been working with his chainsaw for about the past four years now. He said, \u201cI\u2019m still unsure about things that I carve, if they are any good. It\u2019s a lot of work to try to form something out of a dead piece of wood. I started to accumulate quite a collection, so I had to do something with them. I\u2019ve given a lot them away. Sold some. Burnt many in the campfire.\u201d For Jon, the joy lies in the creating. \u201cAll the work that comes to it just so you can chainsaw for about 45 minutes. Maybe an hour. Because your arms and elbows just don\u2019t want to go any more. But I can say I\u2019m pretty good with a chainsaw,\u201d Jon said.<\/p>\n

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Jon Hopkins. Personal Photo. Eagle Chainsaw Carving, front view, perched. 26 Aug 2021.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wherever you look in the County, you\u2019ll be sure to find an assortment of art made by talented artisans. Keep an eye out on Facebook Marketplace for gems such as Jon Hopkins\u2019 chainsaw carvings. And make sure to check out your craft fairs and local listings for artists such as Cricket Griffith. There are so many talented artists hidden in Aroostook County, you\u2019re sure to find something to your liking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maine is known for many things: sweet lobster, great fishing and hunting, beautiful landscapes, majestic moose and Stephen King. It\u2019s no wonder that such a beautiful state draws a high number of craftspeople and artisans. It seems that Aroostook County has more talented artisans hiding away than anyone would expect. You can find them at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6799"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8238,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799\/revisions\/8238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}