Master Craftsmen Ray and Pat Oxenford Appearing at Five More 2016 Shows

Award-winning master craftsmen Ray and Pat Oxenford will appear at five more 2016 fine arts and crafts shows in eastern Pennsylvania including the Pennsylvania German Heemet Fescht, the Harleysville Mennonite Museum Applebutter Frolic, the PA Traditional Crafts and Folk Art Sale, the Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen Holiday Show, and the Pennsylvania German Christmas on the Farm Festival.

The Oxenfords are internationally recognized for carrying on the folk art and other traditions of their Pennsylvania German and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors. Ray Oxenford is a tinsmith, tinware restorer and woodworker. Pat Oxenford specializes in tole painting and creates crafts in the style of famous folk artists such as Peter Ompir and Joseph Lehn.

Together they design and create many items including German bride’s boxes, Weber-style chests, traditional tin ware based on 18th and 19th century patterns, coffee and tea pots, document boxes and spice canisters, and also teach and run workshops. Both are heavily involved in arts organizations.

• The Pennsylvania German Heemet Fescht will be held on Sat., Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the PA German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University, Kutztown, Pa.
• The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Rd., Harleysville, will hold its annual Apple Butter Frolic on Sat., Oct. 1, 2016 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Held for more than 40 years, the event raises money to support the center mission.
• The 49th annual PA Traditional Crafts and Folk Art Sale is at the Allegheny Evangelical Lutheran Church at Knauers, Pa., on Sat., Oct., 15 from, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It showcases the work of the Oxenfords and several other independent craftspeople displaying and selling hooked rugs, chalk ware, Windsor chairs, fraktur, baskets, fiber, baskets, folk art carvings and Delft Pottery.
• The Reading-Berks Guild’s 67th annual Juried Holiday Fine Arts and Craft Festival is being held at Kutztown University’s O’Pake Fieldhouse on Sat., Oct. 29 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sun., Oct. 30 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). The Oxenfords are lifetime members of the Reading and Pennsylvania guilds.
• The Sat., Dec. 3 Christmas on the Farm event at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, 22 Luckenbill Road, Kutztown, Pa., presents Pennsylvania Dutch folk life demonstrations, a Belsnickel visit, a petting zoo and more.

Pat Oxenford announced that she will teach a Pennsylvania German Feather Tree Workshop at the Harleysville Mennonite Museum on Sat., Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Email the center info@mhep.org for fee and other details.

Ray Oxenford also is currently featured in the “American Hands” traveling photo exhibit and Journal created by New York City artist Sally Weiner Grotto (www.amhands.com). Pat Oxenford has published two books, “Tole Painting: Tips, Tools, Techniques for Learning the Craft,” and “Brides’ Boxes: How to Make Decorative Containers for Special Occasions.”

For more details and information about the Oxenfords, including a gallery of their work, visit their website or email them at inquiries@paoxenford.com.