Vendors bring eggs, bread, art and more to farm market

CORNWALL — Even as vendors were still arriving and setting up for the Farmers Market on May 14, customers were scooping up freshly baked bread, newly laid eggs, art, tomato seedlings and choice cuts of local beef. Nick the Knife was there, too, waving around steel and expounding on the joys of a well-sharpened prep knife.Welcome to Saturday mornings on the shady Wish House front lawn in West Cornwall, and the opening of the Cornwall Farm Market for its fifth season. Locals anxious to sell their locally grown and produced wares at what has become a lucrative venue have overflowed onto a waiting list. It isn’t just about shopping, though. The market is also a place to catch up with friends, enjoy performances by local talent and a place where visitors can get the full flavor of Cornwall. The market has become a wonderful surprise for tourists who happen to wander up the hill from the nearby Covered Bridge.Among Saturday’s vendors was Magaly Ohika. It wouldn’t be Cornwall if there were not at least one artist in the mix. Her whimsical creations are filled with images of charismatic people and animals. They all have names; her inspirations are drawn from life.At the market, she brings new creations as well as pieces that were her bestsellers last season, including embroidery hoops covered with canvas and pencil drawings. Cardboard circle boxes are painted to become wall art. Colorful scraps of material and tiny zippers become pencil cases. Stuffed creatures are meant mostly as art, but a child could love them, too.Inspiration comes from the folk art of Puerto Rico. Ohika was born and raised in the East Village in New York, but has lived in Puerto Rico, where her mother now resides. Her studio is the living room of a tiny Popple Swamp Road home she shares with her sweetie, George Wolfe, and assorted pets.She has exhibited her work and curated shows for other artists, but said the market is by far the most fun, and most lucrative of her ventures.“It’s so much fun to be outside and talk with people,” she said. Ohika’s art in its various forms can also be purchased online at www.itsybitsyspill.etsy.com.For the latest on the farm market, visit the new website and blog at www.cornwallfarmarket.org. The market is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.