Art Walk gets a chance to shine with no rain

  • At the Fall into Art festival Friday during the Art Walk, Cathy Mozley tells Debbie and Jerry Cromer of Edisto Beach, S.C., about her ceramic bird houses.
    At the Fall into Art festival Friday during the Art Walk, Cathy Mozley tells Debbie and Jerry Cromer of Edisto Beach, S.C., about her ceramic bird houses.

        Murphy – Downtown was packed Friday night with people wandering the sidewalks, shopping in stores, and seeing the variety of talent in the community. About 30 artists were showing and selling their creations for the September Art Walk.
        “It’s one of best the ones we’ve had,” said Tim Ford, who organizes Art Walks for the Valley River Arts Guild. “I’m very pleased with the crowd turnout.”
        Ford was impressed with their variety of work, especially from new artists to the event like Amber Blevins.
        “What she brings is something we don’t get out here very often,” Ford said.
        In front of Rumors, Blevins’ repurposed wine bottles and antique dishes were getting a lot of attention. She started working with glass about a year ago, when a friend showed her how to cut the bottles and fire the pieces in a kiln. With a little help from browsing social media, she got ideas to turn the glass into items like earrings, wind chimes and bird feeders.
        Blevins sold several pieces throughout the evening, and had some people interested in learning which bottles were used or looking for a favorite. Lynn Rolfe, who was visiting from Harrison Tenn., thought her art was unique and “a good use for old bowls.”
        It was Blevins’ first time at the Art Walk as an artist. She visited the event in the past.
        “I thought it would be fun to come out and do it one evening,” she said.
        Before working with glass, Blevins was known for another art form - quilting. She enjoys that with glasswork, she can see the completed project faster.
        She planned to return and add Christmas ornaments to her display at future Art Walks.
        Inside the Murphy Art Center, the Cherokee County Arts Council opened its Cultural Calendar Room to the guild’s Fall into Art indoor craft festival. Painters, potters, photographers, woodturners, knitters, quilters and other artists filled the room and the guild’s classroom with tables displaying their crafts for sale. The fair was held both Friday and Saturday with 25 artists.
        Ford is already preparing for next month’s Art Walk, which he is anticipating to be the biggest of the year due to vacationers visiting to see the fall colors. The next Art Walk will be from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.