By ADAM WILSON, staff reporter

Members of the community gathered last weekend to open the annual Kittitas County Farmers Market, a traditional event which takes place every weekend from May until October.

The farmers market is located on Fourth Avenue in downtown Ellensburg, between Pearl Street and Ruby Street.  Farmers and business owners from all over Kittitas County come to sell food, artwork, jewelry, and soaps.  Farmers market board member Barbara Ansley-Vensas also sees it as a large social event.

“I think the farmers market is fun,” Ansley-Vensas said. “It’s almost like a big long church social.”

In addition to serving as a board member for the market, Ansley-Vensas sells her artwork.  She has participated in the farmers market since 2008, when she moved to Ellensburg.

“We wanted to live in a funnier, less stressed environment,” Ansley-Vensas said. “We no longer wanted to live on the West Side because it was so crowded.”

Ansley-Vensas began selling photos in the 1980s when she was noticed by a national catalog, who started selling her work for her.  When she moved to Ellensburg, she tried to promote her work at the art walk unsuccessfully, and decided to give the farmers market a try.  She found most of her success in edited pictures she made.

“People liked the edits a lot better than my photos,” Ansley-Vensas said.  “Ninety percent of what I sell is that.”

Ansley-Vensas gets the inspiration for her art from nature.  Many of her pieces are flowers or birds, as well as other animals.

“Anything that has not been influenced by humanity has an inherent beauty,” Ansley-Vensas said.  “I make my images really large because I’m trying to shout, ‘Look how cool this is. And we didn’t touch it.’”

Ansley-Vensas also grows aquatic plants, including water lilies and sultans, which she sells as part of her business Endless Song Water Gardens.

Local photographer Phil Klucking also sells his photography at the farmers market, but uses it as a networking tool as well.

“It’s a really good way to get involved with the community,” Klucking said.  “It’s a very great way to get to know Ellensburg.”

Klucking, who recently moved back to Ellensburg to do professional photography, has participated in the farmers market for three years.  Prior to his photography, he worked as a professional chef for Tom Douglas Restaurants for 13 years.  His career took him to several cities, including Portland and Dallas.  While he always had a passion for film, photography wasn’t a viable career path until now.

“It’s kinda hard to rent a house because they knew you were going to paint the bathroom black,” Klucking said.

Klucking offers a wide variety of pictures for sale, from animals to scenery.  He hopes his photography will inspire Central students to make their own art.

Lynda Larson, who owns Purity Soapworks in Ellensburg, promotes her business through the farmers market.  After working as a journalist for over 30 years, including at the Daily Record for four, she decided she needed a change of pace.

“After you do it for that many years, it’s time to do something different,” Larson said.  “I wanted to be my own boss.”

Larson started making soap in 1995, when she lived in Wyoming.  She wanted something that would help with the arid climate in the state, which caused her skin to dry out.  When she moved to Ellensburg to work at the Daily Record, she was given an offer to buy Purity Soapworks from its former owner.  She decided to promote her products at the farmers market to keep the business going.

“The business needed to be built up,” Larson said.  “I needed to get in front of people to sell it, so the farmer’s market was perfect.”

The majority of Larson’s customers came from the farmers market, which she has been involved with for over 10 years. Her customer demographic is varied, so she offers products for everyone she can.

“Everyone has their own thing that they like,” Larson said.  “I have enough of a variety where whatever everybody likes, I can have for them.”

Larson hopes Central students come to the farmers market, which she describes as a social event.

“I’m amazed at what people do with the market,” Larson said.  “It’s amazing the work that goes into it for four hours on a Saturday.”