Mae Workman, who lives on Mount Hanley, near Middleton, is one of the women carvers and this year she has been chosen as the the poster artist for the 23rd annual Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival.

Workman will be one of more than 60 folk artists coming to the festival Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. in the War Memorial Arena, Lunenburg.

They will be bringing their colourful carvings, paintings, whirligigs and hooked rugs to the arena between Green and Victoria streets. More than 1,000 visitors are expected also.

Workman was an accomplished painter before she began carving.

While few women carve, Workman does 3-D figures as well as shallow relief. She is inspired by the birds that come to her feeders and live in the nearby wood. Owls are a favourite. Other animal favourites are teams of horses and oxen. She makes all the harnesses from leather, making sure the bits and yokes are accurate.

Among the pieces she is bringing to the festival is one called Noah’s Ark with 142 pairs of animals, carved out of catalpa wood.

Workman’s piece Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox, was selected for the 2012 Folk Art Festival poster and will be the last piece to be auctioned on Sunday afternoon.

Another woman artist, exhibiting for her fourth year at the festival, is Truro folk artist Laura Kenney, a rug hooker.

She creates her own designs, much like women originally did before companies in the mid-19th century started producing stamped patterns.

Kenney uses second-hand clothing and hand-dyed wool and also uses recycled sari ribbon, which she gets from a women’s co-op in Nepal.

Returning artists include Peter Blais, Sam Amiro, Barry Colpitts, Ian and Marilyn Fancey, Kyle Jackson, Fabienne Leydecker, Bradford Naugler, Peter Rafuse, William Roach, David Stephens and Carla Zwicker.

Tickets are $5 and will go on sale at 11 a.m. Children enter for free.