Giving new life to the old: 2019 Moss Rock Festival to feature Huntsville artist who repurposes fabric

Some people simply throw away a bed sheet or clothing item that has a stain or tear in it, but not Sarah Conklin.

That’s exactly the kind of item she would turn into something else. The Huntsville-based artist specializes in taking second-hand fabrics and turning them into artwork or decorative functional items such as bandanas, cloth napkins, dish towels, pot holders, coasters, zipper pouches or grocery tote bags.

Conklin is the featured artist for the 2019 Moss Rock Festival in The Preserve subdivision in Hoover on Nov. 2-3 and will be there to showcase and sell some of her work.

She does free-hand drawings inspired by river rocks, patterns in nature or books and then transfers the drawings onto fabrics found mostly in thrift stores by hand printing them with water-based ink on a screen printing press. She then takes the fabric pieces and cuts and sews them to make artistic and everyday objects.

“There’s so much stuff out there than could be repurposed,” Conklin said. “My whole point is to try and be as Earth-friendly as I possibly can be.”

Conklin’s mother taught her how to sew when she was about 6 years old, and she began making her own clothing with a cast iron sewing machine. During high school, she became interested in working with metal objects. In college, she finetuned those skills and learned about printmaking. She also began working with clay as a potter’s assistant.

After college, Conklin served as an apprentice to North Alabama artist Connie Ulrich and helped create Ulrich’s silver line of jewelry. In 2011, she returned to her sewing and printmaking and became a founding member of the Green Pea Press in the Lowe Mill Arts Community in Huntsville. She now teaches classes there and sells her textiles under the Feather Wild brand.

Alex Kunzman, co-director of the Moss Rock Festival, said he has always loved Conklin’s perspective and how her art is so eco-friendly. “It’s very graphic, very simple and straightforward,” he said.

She will be one of about 100 artists with work on display and for sale at the festival, Kunzman said. The artists’ work either depicts nature, is influenced by nature or uses natural or recycled materials as part of the artwork.

Art is just one aspect of the “eco-creative” event, which is billed as an event where art and nature collide. The festival, in its 14th year, will also feature innovative and ecofriendly design and “smart living” ideas and allow people to participate in on-site art projects and outdoor nature activities, including some in the adjacent 350-acre Moss Rock Preserve nature park.

Kunzman said about 10,000 people attended last year’s festival over two days.

One of the new features this year is a focus on Airstream travel trailers. Several trailers retrofitted with cool, artistic interiors will be on display, he said.

Attendees can also experience live art, watch woodturning artist Carolyn Ray at work, as well as get a glimpse into the artistic process of Birmingham artist Celesta Amparo Pfau as she creates longleaf pine needle sculptures. Visitors also will get to wind through a group of botanical monoprinted panels arranged to create a unique space in the forest, and relax on natural wood stump seating designs by Alasaw.

A Birmingham artist collective called Vinegar will have an art installation designed to give people a walk through a tree line through the perspective of the forest. The work is designed to connect local and global deforestation practices and show how people begin to see the world differently when tree lines change, Kunzman said.

In The Preserve Town Hall, festival goers will have a chance to see four short documentary films about Alabama’s environment, natural resources and environmental issues facing the state. The Southern Exposure film fellowship program was made possible by the Alabama Rivers Alliance and other environmental and conservation groups across the state.

Also in the town hall, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark will have an exhibit of iron and steel sculptures created by youth who participated in a summer apprenticeship metal arts program.

For people who like outdoor activities, Mountain High Outfitters will have a rock-climbing wall, and kids can maneuver across a rope bridge built by Scouting Troop 93, based out of Oakmont Chapel Presbyterian Church.

At 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, The Access Fund Conservation Team will lead hikes through the Moss Rock Preserve boulder field that will showcase trail infrastructure, graffiti removal, favorite climbs, trail building tools and techniques, and a little bit about rock climbing. Also, the Friends of Moss Rock Preserve will lead interpretive hikes through the nature park.

Scott Bennett, an avid fly fisherman, will give demonstrations on how to tie on lures for fly fishing and exhibit some of his beautiful artistic lures, Kunzman said.

“They’re amazing,” he said. “It’s not an actual fly on there, but they’re made to look like insects.”

The festival will have an “aspiring gardeners” area, where experts will give tips. Groups participating include the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Gardens Oy Vey, Jefferson County Master Gardeners Association, Pathway Gardens, Southern Cultured Orchards & Nursery, and WE Community Gardens.

A Greenways and Pathways Expo will feature ideas for outdoor activities, travel, parks, preservation and appreciation of nature. Participants include the Alabama Rivers Alliance, Freshwater Land Trust, Railroad Park Foundation, Red Rock Trail System, the Gasp clean air group, and Earth & Ember Yoga.

A “Smart Living Market” — similar to a farmers market — will introduce people to fresh, organic, locally made, sustainable products, including food and items for the home, body and health.

The festival also will have a WonderKids art studio, where children can create cardboard catacombs, natural sensory paintings and abstract nature art projects, as well as design their own insect species.

Several area schools have participated in the annual Planet Project, where students learn about flowers native to the Southeast and their ecosystems, and design group sculptures based on a native plant or group of native plants. Those sculptures will be on display at the festival.

The event also includes live music and a “Café by the Woods” that will include food and drink by The Anatomy of Pi, Baba Java Roaster & Café, Catering by Lanette, Coca Cola United, Greek Tavern, Hyderabad Dum Zone, Magic City Sweet Ice, Miami Fusion Café, Piper & Leaf, Rae Rae’s Catering, Steel City Pops and Yarbrough Festival Food Service.

There also will be a “sweetery” with baked goods and a beer garden featuring about 65 craft brews from more than two dozen brewers, home brewers and distributors, and biodynamic wines from Whole Foods Market, Kunzman said. The beer garden will include a man cave with big-screen TV sets showing football games.