Southdown fest gets crafty

Patterson resident Gloria Causey and Houma’s Linda McCord have been burning the midnight oil, creating one-of-a-kind art for this month’s Southdown Marketplace Arts & Crafts Festival.

Set for Nov. 7 at the Southdown Plantation House/Terrebonne Museum in Houma, the arts and crafts show features 300 booths of handmade crafts and fine arts.

A back injury prevents Causey from pursuing her passion – fishing with her husband, Jeff. But she’s managed to craft her husband’s “catch of the day” into unique jewelry and exclusive Cajun ornaments.

Over the past 25 years, Causey’s perfected her product line. The ornaments have a local touch. They’re made with crawfish claws, oyster shells, crab tails, alligator hides and garfish, tarpon and redfish scales. Fishermen at Morgan City’s annual Tarpon Rodeo contribute the fish scales, according to her husband.

Causey’s creations take form based on each individual fish or gator part.

“When I look at an oyster shell, I see a snowman or a Santa Claus,” she explained. “I look at a crawfish claw and may see a ballerina or reindeer antlers. It’s really a gift from God to be able to envision these objects and bring them to life.”

Each year, Causey unveils a new ornament. She’s unveiling butterfly pins made from tarpon scales at this month’s show.

“Tarpon fish scales are bigger than any other scales I have used before,” she said. “When they begin to dry, they curl up. Looking at them for a while, I saw a butterfly – that’s what I made.”

A car accident ended McCord’s career at her family’s electrical supply business, Trinity Power Systems in Houma, where she’d worked since the mid-1970s.

To pass the time, she looked to the wire so common to her trade. In time, she was creating wire-sculpted jewelry.

“I already had a feel for wire and the way it can be manipulated,” McCord said. “When I was at work, I would strip a piece of wire and free-form a design out of it while I was waiting for my next assignment.”

Using vintage glass, cabochons, semiprecious stones and gems – along with wire – McCord sculpts pendants, bracelets and earrings. Over the last eight years, she’s traveled the craft show circuit, selling her one-of-a-kind art.

“When I decided to start wire-sculpting jewelry, it just all fell into place,” she said.

McCord said the trick to making the perfect piece of jewelry isn’t in the wire, although wire is the foundation for her work. The toughest part is finding the right jewel to fit her vision.

“I choose my wire for its flexibility and strength,” she explained. “But finding the right jewel is a different story. If I don’t like it, I won’t buy it. I have to make sure the stone will fit my design.

Because of that, “I rarely have two pieces of jewelry that look alike – unless it comes in a set,” McCord added.

McCord and Causey are among 235 vendors selling their wares at the festival.

The twice-yearly festival draws crowds shopping early for the holidays, said Katie LeCompte, Southdown’s interim museum director and event coordinator.

Sale items include a variety of clothing, furniture, pottery, paintings, photography, toys, plants, metal work, florals, candles, local authors’ books, bath and body goods, gourmet food and seasonal decorations. There are also hands-on activities for children.

The arts and crafts show serves as a major fundraiser for Southdown; proceeds help maintain the day-to-day operations, according to LeCompte. Admission fees, vendor booth rentals and food concessions account for much of the landmark’s annual budget.

Admission to Southdown’s arts and crafts festival is $4 (children under 12 are admitted free). Festival hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (985) 851-0154.

Houma’s Linda McCord works on a piece of one-of-a-kind jewelry.