LOVELL — The 37th annual Lovell Arts & Artisans Fair on Saturday, Aug. 18, will feature juried works by about 60 artists and artisans. On display will be photography, fine jewelry, fabric art, paintings, textile and fabric art, ceramics, wooden works, funky jewelry, dolls, whistles and more.

The fair will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at New Suncook School, 95 Main St. (Route 5). the event is a major fundraiser for Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library.

Among  newcomers to the fair are Paula Hughes, a local artist who specializes in the design and construction of floorcloths; and Lauran Sundin, whose internationally acclaimed techniques in jewelry design evolved from her fascination with weaving and lace-making.

Hughes discovered the art of floorcloths while visiting friends in the Ozarks. She then studied the craft, visiting and learning from designers of floorcloths throughout New England.

Explaining the time-consuming process, Hughes said she first cuts a piece of 14.5-ounce canvas and covers both sides with acrylic primer. After the canvas dries, she lays down the first base coat of color and lets that dry. Then she carefully marks the hem, folding, cutting and gluing it with mitered corners. She applies a second coat of base color and allows it to dry before starting the design process.

When the design is completed, she gives the floorcloth six coats of a polyacrylic varnish, drying between coats and finishing with a coat of nonyellowing hard wax. She then buffs it to a sheen. Hughes aptly calls her enterprise Art Underfoot.

Sundin said she has since childhood seen patterns in the natural world around her —  in the clouds, swaying blades of grass and tree bark. She traveled to Japan, where she studied Kumihimo braiding techniques; to Guatemala, where she worked with indigenous people to learn their weaving techniques; to Hawaii, where she studied the intricacies of Asian textiles; and to Denmark, where she learned the ancient art of making bobbin lace.

This summer she traveled in France, touring lace sites before attending the International Lace Congress in Caen. All these techniques are reflected in her organic designs of lace-like jewelry, woven out of fine silver and gold wire. Sundin is sought after as a workshop leader and will give a course in wire bobbin lace in Wooton Wawen, England, in June 2013.

As part of the festival there will be a raffle of items donated by participating artists, each with a guaranteed value of at least $50. Raffle items will be on display at Charlotte Hobbs Library, 227 Main St., where tickets may be purchased for $1 or a book of six for $5. Tickets may also be purchased the day of the fair.

Homemade sandwiches and desserts may be purchased for lunch; and there will be a sale of gently used books.

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