Poway’s artisan market is a favorite for shoppers and crafters

With the sun shining, Old Poway Park transformed into a busy marketplace on Saturday, as artisans showcased their handcrafted treasures at the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild Artisan Market.

Artisans lined the boardwalk around the Hamburger Factory, selling handcrafted items such as crocheted baby clothes, hand-painted notebooks, beadwork, jewelry, handmade wooden items, soaps, pottery and more. Visitors could be seen walking through the vendor area and sitting on the park’s benches.

It is a scene that has been repeated weekly since Labor Day and will continue until Dec. 20. Then, after a post-holiday break, the market will resume on the first and third Saturdays from February through August.

Deneen Sedlack was at the park with her husband. They moved to Rancho Bernardo from San Jose two months ago.

“I love this park, it’s very quaint,” Sedlack said. “It gets us and others in the community out of our houses on beautiful days like today.”

Jen Landress, a Sabre Springs resident for 25 years, said she had just spoken with her son, who is a college student in Wyoming. She shared that he told her it was snowing and cold, and their conversation inspired her to get outside.

“It’s such a beautiful, sunny day today,” Landress said. “I was in the Christmas spirit and wanted to get outside and check out the artisan market.”

Lilia Martinez grew up in Poway, has lived in Chicago for the last three years, and is back for a visit over the holidays. She was at the park with her mom, Doris Reyes.

“I love a big city like Chicago, where I live now, but I also love coming home to a small town like Poway,” Martinez said. “When I’m home for the holidays, I want to spend time with my mom. Old Poway Park is a perfect place to visit.”

Jennifer and Chris McClean have lived in Poway for 16 years and at breakfast at the Hamburger Factory.

“We walked over to Old Poway Park because we live so close and the weather is great,” Jennifer McClean said.

Before an artist is invited to join the guild and sell their wares at the market, their work must be juried for appropriateness to the historical character of Old Poway Park, according to a guild brochure.

“Artists in the guild must work in a turn-of-the-century trade,” said Ray Eaton of Eaton’s Woodworking. “There is a multi-page application for prospective members, and current guild members gather monthly for meetings and to make decisions on new artisans allowed to join.”

Eaton said he is a self-taught woodworker who learned his skills in his middle school days. He and his wife, Betsy, life partners since 1976, started their business in 2020 and sell handmade wooden items such as vases, keychains, cutting boards, wooden toys and candlesticks.

Eaton said he uses a traditional wood lathe to create his handmade wooden items, keeping his work in line with the guild’s guidelines.

Eaton said he enjoys being part of the Arts and Crafts Guild, especially because it gives back to support local middle school and high school art programs via the Jenna Park & Voletta Hervy Donation Fund. The money schools receive can go towards their equipment and supply needs.

According to the guild’s website, a portion of all booth fees collected support the fund.

“We write 13 checks every year to support art programs in Poway Unified School District,” he said. “I’m so honored and blessed to be able to do this.”

One of the teachers at the market on Dec. 6 to receive a check was Poway High School teacher Rodger Dohm. For the last 30 years, Dohm has taught computer animation, architecture and introduction to design. Dohm said the $275 will help him buy supplies for his architecture class, where students learn to draw a 3-D illustration of their dream house.

“We are so very grateful for this money,” Dohm said. “It’s a tough economy right now, and I have to buy many supplies, so this really helps.”

Jessica Johnson, who was selling her handpainted gifts, has been the president of the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild since 2023, the fourth since its was founded in 1993, and a guild member since 2021.

She sells handpainted notebooks, wood bookmarks, pocket sketchbooks, magnets and pins.

Johnson said she has been drawing since she was young. She recalled watching a DVD with her family, “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” and said one of the DVD’s extra features was a step-by-step tutorial on how to draw Spirit, the main character.

Johnson said she spent hours practicing her drawing skills to recreate the movie’s main character, and that’s how she developed her love of drawing.

Chris Castberg of Casper Pottery has been a guild member for nine months. His handmade pottery includes colorful vases, bowls, plates and mugs.

Castberg, a Ramona resident for over 30 years who teaches history and ceramics at Liberty Charter School in Alpine, said he has been making pottery ever since he took a class in high school.

“I make the pottery I sell at the market right along with my students in class. We have a lot of fun together,” he said.

Guild artisan Sharon de Jong has lived in Poway since 1993. She specializes in crocheting baby and young child clothing such as booties, hats, scarves, sweaters, dresses and whimsical crocheted mermaid tails. She usually sells her items at the market once a month.

Roger Mohling, the general contractor who designed Old Poway Park 35 years ago, said his vision was for the park to be a crafts-oriented area.

“It’s important to remember that when you buy something from the artisan market, you are buying it from the person who actually made it,” Mohling said.

The Poway Arts and Crafts Guild Artisan Market is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Labor Day weekend through Christmas, and on the first and third Saturdays from February to August in Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Road.

For details, visit powayartscraftsguild.org, call 858-486-3497 or email powayartscraftsguild@gmail.com.