A Fair of the Arts

On the second Saturday of every month, the Fair of the Arts sets up in the Bloomington Farmers’ Market.

On Saturday, vendors sold a variety of arts and crafts from stalls across from stands of fresh fruit and flowers.

Meet two regulars who sell traditional crafts made from saved and recycled objects.

Bob Tidd, traditional woodworking

Tidd lives in Terre Haute but estimates he has attended the Fair of the Arts for three or four years. He works with Jeff Wilkinson to create traditional woodworking pieces from saved or naturally felled wood. What started as a hobby has turned into a business.
 
Tidd said he used to make cabinets and furniture but now focuses on the bowls they sell at the fair. The bowls are all-natural, with no dyes or stains, and are sealed with a food-safe beeswax finish.

“Bloomington has been a really great market,” Tidd said. “One guy walked up and asked where we get all our exotic wood. It’s Indiana. We reclaimed it, recycled it. Indiana has such beautiful hardwood.”

Tidd and Wilkinson make their bowls from green wood, which comes from logs.

“When I started working with the green wood, you could really feel the texture,” Tidd said. “I just enjoyed more of it and made it a bit more artsy.”


Lynne Mikolon, weaving and knitting

Mikolon is originally from England but has lived in Bloomington since 1977. She said her love of crafts started during childhood. 

“My mom made my clothes, and I learned to make my own clothes,” Mikolon said. “It kind of got out of hand.”

While Mikolon said she has always knitted, she started weaving about three years ago.

She now sells rugs woven from upholstery selvage and cast-off ends of Indian rugs. Mikolon also sells bags made from old wool sweaters.

“I love patchwork and piecework,” Mikolon said. “I really enjoy being able to use up something that’s trash and turn it into something that I think is cool.”