Eagle Harbor — Cool temperatures, wind and rain did not deter visitors from the Copper Country Associated Artists’ 63rd Annual Eagle Harbor Art Fair on Saturday and Sunday. The event showcased the diversity of talents offered by local and out-of-state artists as tourists observed and purchased their art. The fair was located outside and in St. Peter’s By The Sea Church with the Eagle Harbor Fire Department providing food along with Eagle Harbor Emergency Medical Responders offering a bake sale on Saturday morning.

Eagle Harbor took in a plethora of art observers as the streets around the church became packed with cars and the air filled with music and laughter.

The fair began with a little bit of trouble since the wind had obstructed one of the artist’s tents, but once it was resolved the fair continued with little issues.

“I see people with jackets on and weather-appropriate rain coats and umbrellas,” Linda said on Saturday. “And that’s one thing that’s always good about this art fair. People come no matter what the weather is. We’ve got a good variety of items to appeal to anybody and everybody.”

Within the diversity of artists were two tents run by creators from the Upper Peninsula. On the edge of the fair was a tent run by Explore Keweenaw Gallery and Gifts’ copper and epoxy resin artists Johnny Gladstone and his fiancé Monique Blanchette. The artwork the duo has created for 10 years is a multitude of mostly Yooper-themed and Upper Peninsula-shaped designs made of copper with some even having a green coloring from oxidization. There was also many crafts regarding epoxy resin made to look like beachfronts and contained a multitude of stones found on Superior shores and even crayfish claws.

“We do a lot of rock hunting and exploring so a lot of our art is inspired by adventure,” Blanchette said. “So a lot of our art is from our adventures from when we collected all the rocks and minerals.”

Gladstone was not fond of the rain, but was having fun and enjoyed the crowd that had showed up to the fair.

“I love it (being an artist in the Keweenaw),” Gladstone said. “Everyday we’re living the dream.”

Another tent with a Yooper artist was water colorist and sculptor Chris Wirtanen. Wirtanen dedicated many of his designs in both of his mediums in retirement to one of his favorite hobbies: fishing. His booth was filled with carvings of fish and watercolor paintings of his favorite fish species and nature. Wirtanen has been making these wooden fish for 12 to 15 years and creates them with simple tools.

He first laminates strips of basswood and saws out the fish shapes with a coping saw. Then he carves the structure more extensively with an X-ACTO knife and then rounds it a bit with a little rasp. Once Wirtanen sands the fish down, he then colors the it with watercolors and three layers of varnish. Wirtanen explained that these fish are actually not sculptures since they are not pulled out with something known as “emerging form.” He said that they are sculpted upon but cannot be classified as sculptures.

“I meet some of the niftiest people I’ve ever met in my life at the fair,” Wirtanen said. “And I enjoy talking to them simply because of the fact that they have an appreciation of what I do. I consider it (being an artist in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) missionary work.”

The CCAA will host the event again next year, though hoping for warmer and more pleasant weather.