Being knotty and decoy-ative earns craftsmen awards at N.C. State Fair’s Village of Yesteryear

RALEIGH – Two local residents won the Village of Yesteryear Craftsman of the Year awards at the N.C. State Fair. Anitra Stone won the female category for her decorative tatting art, and Vic Kirkman won the male category for his decorative wildfowl sculptures.

The Village of Yesteryear is located near Heritage Circle, and nearly 100 crafters demonstrated old-time heritage crafts to fairgoers each day.

Tying knots is a passion for Stone. She has taken the art of tatting to a higher level since she began in 1980, when she tatted her wedding veil between classes at N.C. State University. Tatting is an early-19th century technique for handcrafting long-lasting lace made from a series of knots and loops. Tatted lace was often used to make edging for dresses, doilies, collars and other decorative pieces. Today, tatting remains a decorative art form rather than a utilitarian one.

Stone learned to tat from her mother 27 years ago and has perfected her technique through studying pattern magazines and fellow artisans. This is her ninth year in the Village.
“I love this. I live for this,” Stone said. “I spend this as vacation time from work. Since the first year I was here, I felt like I’m home now. I’m in, and you’re not getting me out unless it’s feet first with a sheet over my head.”

Each year, Stone brings a new collection of patterns and decorative pieces made with colored thread and beads. “Tatting has gone past the utilitarian form and has become its own art form,” she said.

Stone has won numerous awards at the N.C. State Fair, but the Craftsman of the Year award is the one she cherishes most. The award came just in time to offset a setback Stone recently experienced at a charity auction where her work was insulted by an auctioneer. “The judgment of my peers outweighs the ignorant auctioneer,” she said. “These guys are my family. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Stone’s fellow Craftsman of the Year is decorative decoy carver Vic Kirkman. He started carving decoys when he was 11 years old and has been featured in Our State and Wildfowl Carving magazines. He has won several open class blue ribbons at the Ward World Championships. His goal is to win the World Championship Floating Pairs competition, a prestigious event in decorative decoy carving.

“I’ve won a lot of awards, but they were all for things I did with my hands,” Kirkman said. “This award is most important to me because it was awarded to me by my peers and craftsmen of far greater skill than I have. So I consider this to be the most valuable award I’ve received.”

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