Artisans at the Harbor, ArtsFalmouth’s weekly summer art market, takes place Thursday, August 27, from 11 AM to 4 PM at the Lin Whitehead bandshell at Falmouth Marine Park, 180 Scranton Avenue. The jazz duo Epistrophy will perform jazz, Latin and popular songs on August 27 from 1:30 to 3:30 PM.
In case of rain on Thursday, the market will be held on Friday, weather permitting. This is the final Artisans at the Harbor event of the season.
Gretchen Schramm, owner of Secret Garden Naturals, is one of the artisans who has been at Artisans at the Harbor every week this summer. She sells candles, wax melts, room/linen sprays, body sprays and perfumes, toilet sprays, lotions and body butters, and soaps. Her products are made with natural soy wax and carefully selected fragrance oils that are free from phthalates, carcinogens, and mutagens.
“We believe scent should be both beautiful and clean,” Schramm said. “Our products are carefully blended to promote relaxation, uplift your mood, and bring a sense of calm into your space.”
Schramm got into the business of making naturally scented products by way of Yankee Candles—“I always had one burning in the house,” she said—and her son, who was concerned that commercial candles made with paraffin wax and certain fragrances may reduce home air quality.
In response to his research, she started making her own candles and now offers soy wax candles in 24 different phthalate- and carcinogen-free fragrances with intriguing names like Seaside Citrus, French Toast, Coastal Cliffs, and Gentleman’s Study.
Encouraged by her family, especially her son, who does all the research on products and ingredients, she soon branched out into an array of other items, including cold-process soaps, her latest endeavor. “Soaps that you buy in the store are actually detergents,” she said.
Formerly a physical therapist, Schramm had to wash her hands multiple times a day and was always looking for a good soap. “Cold-process soaps made with lye can leave your skin feeling and smelling better than traditional soaps,” she said.
As stay-at-home mom, though her two sons are now adults, Schramm said she was always looking for creative outlets and ways to earn a little extra money. Secret Garden Naturals turned out to meet both those needs.
She named her business in honor of her late mother, who loved the book, The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett,and chose the dragonfly as her logo for her mother’s love of dragonflies.
Schramm aims to have her products do more than smell good. Her goal is to bring a sense of calm and positivity into everyday life. Her scents are inspired by gardens, memories, traditions, and life’s quieter moments. “We want to help people slow down and enjoy the simple comforts of home,” she said.
Schramm is enjoying being at Artisans at the Harbor every week. “I love that it is a weekly market,” she said. “That helps me respond to customers’ preferences, and it is fun meeting new people, including the other vendors, and enjoying a Cape Cod day outside.”
The featured band is Epistrophy, a duo that combines the soulful voice of Olivia Yingling with the masterful guitar-playing of Greg Polanik. Their repertoire is a carefully chosen selection of jazz, Latin, and popular songs, designed to convey a full emotional range. Polanik and Yingling have performed together in several other bands, including Cognitive Dissonance and Bongogenesis, and they play frequently with each other and with other bands throughout the Cape.
Epistrophy is named after a famous 1941 bebop tune written by jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and drummer Kenny Clarke. One of Monk’s most famous tunes, it appears on almost every live album he recorded, as it was the closing tune of each set. The word “epistrophe” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect.”
Bring beach chairs or beach blankets to sit and listen to the music.
For more information, visit artisansattheharbor.com
Notes on The Arts 