Make by hand.
Distillery Lane Ciderworks is a family-owned and run orchard located in the shadow of the Appalachian Trail in rural Maryland. They have 3500 trees with over 45 different apple varieties, producing national and international award-winning hard ciders with their fruit.
Established in 1984, T. H. McGinn & Co. is a general contracting firm located in historic village of Waterford, Virginia.
Over the course of nearly three decades they have acquired an extensive knowledge of both traditional and modern building materials and methods. Their reputation for historically sensitive rehabilitation projects has been established from years of working on a variety of traditional building types and architectural styles.
Mr McGinn, company owner, apprenticed for nine years before forming his company. He holds a Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation from Goucher College. This will be his third year with the Waterford Craft School.
Mike is a professional upholsterer in Latham, NY with over 40 years of experience in working and teaching; he’s also the Director of the Professional Refinisher’s Group, a national organization founded in 1998 to connect professionals in the restoration, refinishing, and conservation trades.
In his upholstery work, he divides his time between classic furniture and classic cars, specializing in the British MG, Triumph, and Jaguar, employing period correct materials and detailing. His finishing expertise is based on years of shop experience, and the counsel and mentoring of some of the most experienced wood finishers in the industry. He has contributed to ‘Roubo on Furniture’ by Don Williams (Lost Art Press) and ‘With Saw, Plane & Chisel’ by Zach Dillinger (‘Popular Woodworking’, 2016). He also writes for the ‘American Period Furniture’ journal of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, and has completed several instructional videos on upholstery techniques.
Stone Sculpture Carving
Mr. Kirk has been teaching stone carving part-time for 25 years with Northern Virginia Community College, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University and Shepherd University. He is a full time Art teacher with the Loudoun County Public Schools. His work is on exhibit at Rust Library, Luckett’s Elementary School and Catoctin Elementary School.
A calligrapher for over 35 years, Karen enjoys studying all forms of calligraphy. She is a member of the Washington Calligraphers Guild and has been fortunate to take classes in everything from Illuminated Manuscripts, to Chinese Brush, to Slate Carving.
Her love of lettering began while working on commercial signage and has continued to grow over the years. She enjoys teaching all ages and has offered classes through the Loudoun County Adult Education Program, the Round Hill Arts Center, and privately. She works from her home studio, in Round Hill, mainly on weddings, commissions, and teaching.
She feels strongly that this art should be shared with as many people as possible… it’s useful, beautiful and fun!!!
Karen and her husband Stuart have long been Juried Artisans at the Waterford Fair.
Molly Grant began leatherworking in her early 20’s, first by working on her own and then by apprenticing at the Black Swan Leather shop in Portsmouth, NH, where she learned the basic skills of traditional leatherworking. She first saw Cordwainer Shoes when she was ten years old at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair, known nationally as the oldest craft fair in the nation. She became a juried member in 1989, and participated by showing her line of handbags. There, she had the opportunity to meet Paul Mathews, owner of the Cordwainer Shop. Within a few months’ time Molly was traveling to craft shows nationally with Paul and learning the Cordwainer art. Molly still makes handbags, but the main business is teaching shoemaking workshops at the Deerfield, New Hampshire shop and at craft schools across the country.
The Cordwainer Shop was founded in the 1930’s by Edward F. Mathews. His son, Paul, carried on the shop tradition as main footwear designer, and except for a 4-year stint in WWII, shoemaking became his life’s work and joy. Many of his footwear designs are still produced at the shop today. Molly Grant now carries on the Cordwainer tradition of creating custom handmade leather footwear, and it has become as much a passion to Molly as it was to Paul. She specializes in teaching shoemaking workshops as a way to share this tradition of craftsmanship.
Ms. Goins has been working with paper for over 25 years. This work includes papercutting, repurposing books and making paper by hand. She has a master’s degree in Art Education. Her work has been shown in West Virginia, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Nichole Gerding is an 18th Century Foodways Historian and Domestic Skills Interpreter and the owner of Thankful Sage Farm School. Her background is in Living History, and she trained as a Foodways Historian in Colonial Williamsburg. From there she went on to start Thankful Sage Farm School, which manufactures small batch soaps and candles and gives classes on heritage skills and forgotten arts.