Bear Epp & Bay Woodyard

With the 2nd annual Get Cozy: A Gather in the County Pop-Up taking place this month, we wanted to take a moment to check in with Gather in the County co-founders and organizers Bay Woodyard and Bear Epp. As artists with a shared passion for community building and creative exchange, they work to showcase the cultural value of craft and the rich tradition of textile arts through their annual Gather in the County market, curated exhibitions, workshops, and pop-up events.

Bay works with natural dyes, spins wool and knits large landscape art pieces inspired by the natural environment around her. Coming from an art background, she began her farm-based business, Honey Pie Hives and Herbals, over 20 years ago. What started as performance art – a traveling medicine show – became a way of life, and the intersection of art and agriculture continues to inspire her.

Bear has worked in the creative industry for over three decades as an artist, arts programmer, teacher and creative director. Using traditional rug hooking, she designs her own rugs inspired by nature. Influenced by the craftsmanship of her grandmother and her Mennonite heritage, each piece is crafted using traditional techniques.

From Textile Takeovers and Community Hook-Ins at Prince Edward County museums to teaching workshops, including a recent textiles course for youth aged 12-16 for Youth Craft Academy at the County Arts Lab, these are just some of the ways Bay and Bear share their love of textiles with people of all ages and skill levels.

For the second year in a row, the Get Cozy pop-up will be taking place at the County Arts Lab on Friday, October 24th, 2025 from 4-7 PM, and Saturday the 25th from 10 AM-4 PM. This pop-up, free to enter, features a carefully-curated selection of textile artists, makers and collectors from the region with cozy handmade wares available ranging from fall decor, toasty knits, vintage woollens, and much more. This pop-up is a smaller-scale version of the Gather in the County annual modern textile market which has taken place in June at the Crystal Palace since 2024.

Read on below to learn a bit more about what they have going on this month, how they stay inspired, and more!

Tell us about any projects you have going on this month:

We’re teaching a textile course together for Youth Craft Academy in the County Arts Lab. The project is called Your Inner Animal. The students will learn to take a concept from sketch to sewing pattern to finished soft sculpture. Skills learned include sewing machine, embroidery, appliqué, natural dyes and more.

What have you worked on recently that has you excited?

We organize textile events including art shows, workshops and markets. Our second annual Gather in the County took place in June at the Crystal Palace in Picton. We had over 80 booths with local textile guilds, makers, fibre farmers, art installations, and textile demos. It was a celebration of all things textile!

Where in the County do you find the most creative inspiration?

We’re both fans of meeting with other textile artists and makers to socialize while we work. The nature of textile art is that it’s very slow. This gives us lots of time to think but sometimes we like to have a visit and chat while we work. It’s a great way to get inspired and learn new skills. We actually met at the Society of Stitchers, an embroidery art group run by the Department of Illumination in the winter. We also love the South County Stitchers who meet in Milford on Monday evenings and Bay is a member of the County Spinners who meet in Bloomfield once a month.