Happy New Year to all! Greenfield survived the heavy snow, high winds, power outages and ice storms that plagued the whole region over the holidays.
Here’s hoping for a calmer January, and maybe some decent snow that will stick around for skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers. We were excited to see evidence of moose near our house recently; hopefully they are finding enough to eat this winter, and getting a break from the ticks.
Judging by the success of the farmers’ and crafters’ market and last month’s holiday craft fairs, Greenfield is a town with a lot of creative people, and I hope to write about many of them in this column. One fascinating new artist in town is Greenfield native Cassandra Yerkes. I met Cassandra, who doesn’t live far from me, this fall, but I had never seen her art until I came across her table at a Greenfield craft fair. I was delighted by what I saw; Cassandra makes fairy houses! Growing up in Greenfield surrounded by woods, fields, streams and ponds, Yerkes recalls that she and her best friend “spent literally all day, every day out in the woods, making fairy houses.” You can tell from Yerkes’s work that she has plenty of experience making these whimsical little creations – she is obviously a pro!
“It wasn’t that long ago when I was growing up,” Yerkes, 27, said with a laugh. “But it was before every kid had a phone, before online games and before social media. It was when kids could still be kids! I don’t know if kids play outside as much now; we were always outside.”
After graduating from ConVal, Yerkes attended college in Utah, and stayed another several years after graduating. She loved the change of scenery in Utah’s deserts and mountains, but in her heart, she “missed the woods—and pretty much everything about New Hampshire!” Being back in the beloved woods of her childhood inspired Yerkes to start making fairy houses again, and soon, friends and family encouraged her to start creating them as a business.
Each fairy house is unique and takes between two and five hours to complete. Yerkes starts the process of each creation by heading into the woods to search for materials, with every expedition bringing slightly different results. Depending on the time of year, a fairy house foraging walk may yield moss, bark or lichen, seed pods or nut shells, stones, pinecones, vines or even feathers.
The next step is prepping the materials, cutting them into workable size pieces, removing dirt and “debugging” if necessary. Using pieces of wood she has found or cut into certain sizes, Yerkes creates the frame of the house, and then adds whimsical detailing: mossy doormats, round acorn-cap windows, curly bark chimneys. Each little house would look right at home in Hobbiton or Narnia.
“I don’t plan the houses ahead of time,” Yerkes said. “I just go by what I find each time and work with that. I kind of let the materials guide me, let the houses kind of make themselves.”
Yerkes’s creations are a delightful and charming addition to any patio or front step, or would look adorable tucked among houseplants or a flower garden. She is happy to take commissions and work with clients to create the fairy house of their dreams. The price ranges from $50 to $200 depending on the size and how much time went into the creation. You can find her work at farmers’ markets in the area next summer, or you can find her on Facebook.
Are you a Greenfield artist, crafter or musician? I would love to write about you in the Greenfield Beat! Please email me at jesstimm17@gmail.com.