St. Armands craft fest combines fine art, artisanal foods, crafts and botanicals

Tents lined the circle and festivalgoers darted in and out of the shade to beat the heat, but there was a colorful feast of sights at the 2023 St. Armands Circle Craft Festival, Saturday and Sunday.

The work of regional artists and artisans was on display with a wide variety for perusal, including oil and acrylic paintings, starfish candles, artisanal cheeses, jewelry and woodworking crafts. There were also orchids and other botanicals for sale.

Lakewood Ranch High student Lorenzo Liberti and his mother Martha were among the craft sellers. Lorenzo started his company Heroic Flags when he was 14 years old. Lorenzo soon found that with the right tools and materials he could create rustic American flags from wood. He carves wooden flags and has made donations to local nonprofits supporting military veterans.

He explained that each flag takes about 20 hours to make. 

“The idea of giving back first occurred to me in January (2019) when I went to feed the homeless with my church and met a veteran in need,” he said.

Another vendor, Zsuzsanna Luciano, had an eye-catching display. The photographer merges as many as 80 different photos of landscapes and outdoor scenes to form huge pictures that contain 2,700 megapixels, making for crystal clear images. The incredible clarity creates the effect of looking through a window or standing in the scene itself.