CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – This year’s Autumn Leaf Festival will feature a new artist, April Weaver, who has made 65 commemorative porcelain pitchers to celebrate the Festival’s 65th Anniversary.
Weaver last showcased her work at the Brookville Laurel Festival Day of the Arts where her pottery caught the eye of a representative from the Clarion Chamber of Commerce. Coincidentally, the Clarion Chamber of Commerce was looking for a new artist with new ideas to provide a keepsake item for the Autumn Leaf Festival this year. As a result, Weaver not only provided the commemorative pitchers, but will also be featured with a variety of handmade porcelain items on Friday during the Autumn Leaf Festival Arts Day.
Weaver says she is excited to have this opportunity to be involved with the Autumn Leaf Festival and looks forward to setting up on Friday. She will have a stand set up in front of the Immaculate Conception School along the main street.
However, festival-goers looking to purchase a special commemorative pitcher should stop by the Clarion Chamber of Commerce office first. “They have the pitchers at the Chamber right now,” Weaver explained. “I delivered them last week. They will be on sale during the Festival, but these items are usually all sold before the Festival starts.”
Weaver, who is also a teacher at Butler County Community College (BC3) in Brockway, says she likes to use simple, comfortable shapes and has started using brighter colors in her pottery. It’s also very important to Weaver that her pottery is user-friendly. This means that everything she makes is dishwasher and microwave safe. “Everything is vitrified, meaning it has the same properties as glass,” she explained. “Otherwise you could get moisture and germs in it. I feel like, why not use the safe way?”
As a mother of two young children, Weaver is also inspired by her family life when it comes to the types of designs and pieces she creates. “Some of it is based on what I use around the house,” she said. “Like the little vases come from the kids picking dandelions and flowers all the time. I couldn’t find little vases, so I started making some.”
Weaver also takes advantage of the opportunity make wood-fired pottery, thanks to the faculty at Clarion University who provide a location for her to do that. Her pieces that have been wood-fired have a different effect on the color of the piece because of how the flame of the fire imprints on it.
For more information about local artist, April Weaver, find her on Facebook at April Made Pottery.
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