Chica and I attended the local art fair last weekend and handed out some of our recycled crayons to the kids. After we finished “working” we looked around the fair. As I did after last year’s fair, I would like to share with you some pictures of the artists that inspired me the most.

Whimsical Gardens

The day was hot.  That seems to be an understatement when I write it that way so maybe I should say the day was EXTREMELY HOT!  So when we passed by a booth that had refreshing, gurgling fountains in it, we just had to stop and gaze.  Look at how whimsical these fountains are!  I love the bright colors and shapes of the leaves and flower petals.  Gayle Herrli is the artist of behind all of the colorful ceramics you will find at Whimsical Gardens.  Her birdbaths were my favorite but she also has foodware and other garden accents.

Insectworks

Ah, look at the pretty butterflies.   Hmmm… was this a butterfly bloodbath?  That’s a lot of butterflies to kill in the name of art.  Why would someone do such a thing?  Look closer though, they must be cut-out photographs.  That must be it.  Actually, no, that isn’t it either.  Jennifer Ivory explains to us that she hand draws each of these.  Excuse me?  You hand draw each of these beautiful insects?  That just floors me and Chica.  We can’t believe the detail and precision and just overall beauty of each of these bugs.  I would have felt lucky to have been able to take just one of these beautiful winged insects home with me. Alas, her original creations are a bit out of my budget at this time but I was thrilled to see that she has an eBay store that sells prints. What luck!  Please go check out her Web site as well as her eBay store to marvel at the beauty of her insect world.

Yukon knives and more

I needed a wedding gift to send to a friend in the Netherlands and thought the art fair would be the perfect place to find something for her and her new husband.  Then I remembered that two of my friends had a great bread knife they bought at the fair last year.  In the Netherlands, like most of Europe, they buy fresh bread pretty much daily.  The kind of bread that is all pretty on the shelves and that doesn’t come already sliced so a bread knife would be the perfect gift for them.  Plus, unlike all the pretty ceramics and glass everywhere, it wouldn’t be so fragile to ship across the ocean.  I found the booth selling the Yukon bread knives and selected a darker stained knife with a coordinating cutting board.  But not until I had played with the knife myself!  It does cut great and if I ever made it to the store to buy some real bread or even, gasp, made my own at home, I would totally want one of these.  Apparently, they are also great for cutting tomatoes as well but I find tomatoes rather repulsive.  Maybe I should get one for Chica, though. She seems to have a bit of a fresh tomato obsession going on.

Woody Woodill copper art

The art work by Woody Woodill stopped us in our tracks. His combination of copper and acrylics makes for a piece of work that seems to glow from within. We loved the contrasting colors and the ripple effect of the copper.  It also resembled a tree to us or at least something that had once been alive.  I like the large pieces that are in the picture on the left.  They would be beautiful hanging against my house catching the rays of the sun.  It’s also art that begs to be touched.  You want to take your finger and trace along the lines of the melted copper, almost like following the path of water.  Hmmm… path of water.  These large panels would be beautiful as the back to a waterfall.  I must write to Woody and ask his opinion on this.

I couldn’t possibly share all of the beautiful objects we saw that day, but I did want to give you a sampling. I hope you are as inspired as we were by what these individuals managed to create! Can’t wait to go back again next year and hopefully, it won’t be as hot!