No Fur or Foam for Me!

Art festival weekend -- it should be my favorite time of year. It wears thin! Or did this past weekend! I really shouldn't complain -- it was gorgeous weather -- in fact, really warm weather! Good for some, not-so-good for a reason you'll see in a minute!

This past weekend WKAR had a booth at the festival. This meant more or less being tied down! (I did get away for our Cork Poppers wine tasting -- more on that in the next post.)

It also meant -- especially because I got to leave early for that -- I didn't get out to much of the cool art, except for what I passed by!

But the booth was a hit. We had Word Girl, PBS' newest powerhouse series (vocabulary for kids).

We had lots of calls about Word Girl before the event. Some of the kids waited for a long while to get a hug!

Our other featured guest was "Cat in the Hat" who attracted a lot of adults who remembered the wonderful stories, including MSU University President Lou Anna Simon!

The kids loved "Cat," too, who got right down on the ground to meet them eye to eye!

It was beastly hot, no pun intended for that cat with a huge hat and furry costume and a superhero dressed in padded fleece and a big head. It is almost impossible to explain how hard the young women who portrayed these characters worked and how hot and exhausted they were.

But they were indeed a hit! Especially with me!

My view of the festival -- I saw some crowds...especially at the Main Music Stage.

Got to see wonderful Root Doctor lead Freddie Cunningham sing the blues on my way to lunch...

...and did end up with a very quick stop at one of my favorite pottery booths, colorful glazes by Alice Ham.

My favorite site of the day? This "invention" -- the doggie stroller. It's a bit of a "pet" peeve of mine that so many people bring their dogs on such warm days when water isn't easily available and the cement is so terribly hot. This woman got it right!

And then it was off to wine. But that's the story for another day!

(NOTE: Over at my book blog, Chopsticks and String, my take on the novel "Sarah's Key" is still up. Coming soon -- a more arty look at Paris, setting for that novel!)

It's a Festival!

Every May, usually on a partly-rainy or blowy weekend, all the art lovers in our community put on their comfy shoes (unless they wear their show-off sandals or have no feet problems at all!), raid their ATM, and head off to the East Lansing Art Festival.

WKAR is no exception and this year we were there with Super WHY!, ace public television super hero for the pre-school set!

Well, this year, apart from a bit of drizzly rain, fortunately while we were on break, Super WHY! had it HOT!

And yes, none of us dared complain about the heat, at least not too much in front of our Super WHY actor Bry, because we weren't wearing a foam-and-felt suit...With a VERY big (and heavy) head...

And very large shoes!

But the kids loved it, mobbing us as we walked between the changing room and our booth!

So did the adults! Root Doctor lead vocalist Freddie Cunningham and the wonderful Ms. Marge Mooney were pleased to pose.

Even other hairy costume characters wanted a photo!

All that costume-shepherding didn't give much time for shopping so on Sunday I was back. These are a few of my favorite finds! (Though I took out a few of the upcoming presents!)

One of the booths I love most is Detroit Class Company. Their colorful painted glasswear just makes me smile. I shopped there last year, and was hoping they were back. It might have been better if they hadn't!

I met -- after two decades -- a photographer whose work I published twenty years ago! Steve Gettle said I gave him his first published piece. He gave me one of his current ones -- this snowflake, which he makes using a microscope! You can see his amazing technique for this image here.

The woman who made these creatures from roving, Theresa, had me captivated as I watched her work. I wish she'd included her card and website.

Amazing how an armiture of pipe cleaners or styrofoam can evolve into charming critters. (And her sense of humor was wonderful.)

Of course, the festival is never complete without Crazy Richard, the Mad Juggler.

With an arsenal of old hippie jokes, a breezy routine and some downright good skill, he's always a crowd pleaser.

And not a half-bad fire juggler, either. As he said, with his hair, he has to be very good!

Needless to say, home to chill seemed like a very good idea.

Art Fairs and Art Space!

We survived the art festival. It was windy, but no rain! We managed to tell people about the digital television conversion, help them out with questions, and basically have a station presence at the show, all good thing.

Also had a bit of time to shop about, too! Here are a few of my finds…

These frames were hot – several folks had them. They are sheet metal covered with decorative paper with four coordinating magnets. I’m going to try my hand at them.

An amazing woman with beautiful dichroic glass. I bought a lot from here, much of which I’m not posting because I was shopping for Christmas!

I’m into small bowls lately. I found this lovely one with glass…

And these two by my favorite potter Alice Ham, who uses unbelievably colorful glazes.

These plant stakes were pretty cool, too. I bought a couple; the fish photographs best, as it’s flat.

I took Monday off, and ended up buying some tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. Couldn’t find any good herbs, but will have better luck next weekend. It was good to get those in!

And – Art Space!

Walk in and the computer table is straight ahead with the new book case beside it.

(Above is the bookcase. That's reasonably neat and in control...)

The side wall has my table, and I’m finally able to spend time in the room, actually working (which I did on Monday!)

To the right of the table is my inspiration wall... this includes some of the ATCs, tags, and "smalls" I've received!

To the left of the table is my PBS “Wall of Fame” or “Scenes from Meet-and-Greets.” Included are Mister Rogers, Bill Moyers, Van Cliburn, Shari Lewis, Michael Buble, Ken Burns, Negro Baseball League great Buck O’Neill, Garrison Keillor, the Keno Brothers of “Antiques Roadshow” and others! (Do fleeting greetings put me a degree of separation closer?)

The wall opposite the computer is all shelves and filing cabinets. My other bulletin board is there, partly to cover up the clutter on the shelf.

I was feeling badly about all the clutter. Then when I was going through CPS Studios, I realized LOTS of people have clutter. Collage elements. Paints. Ribbons. Mediums. Brushes, pens and pencils. I still am hoping to harness it better, but at least it’s at hand!

I could use a taller shelf!

Here's the other wall -- the closet. A good spot for hanging scarves -- my inventory is getting low and I feel a serious silk painting spree (and some knitting) coming on soon!

(Should have cleaned off the top of the filing cabinet before I took this!) Inside the closet are vertical sweater bags and drawer units, but there's also a lot that's less organized! That could be my next project!

I found these letters at Joann’s, that I later strung together and made some colorful yarn tassles for the door. I was going to collage them, but they were pretty cute as it was, and figured my time was best spent elsewhere!

So, no great shakes. Definitely lacking in design style, but it’s working for me! And, I’m actually working in there! Happy camper!

I leave you with my idea of the day (actually, I think this MAY have come from "Real Simple," a few years ago...

A toothbrush holder from the dollar section at Target holds lemon balm, sage blooms and chive flowers. Works like a charm!