Art

Our biggest juried art fair was this past weekend.

A juried art fair means that the artist has to be ‘approved’. An artist who wants to have a booth must submit a picture portfolio of their work to the jury. The jury decides who will be able to participate. there were 225 artists booths this year.

This year, I went by myself. I was not unusual. Turns out that there are many people who go alone. I thought that was kind of interesting. Going by myself gave me a whole new perspective about how I view art.

First, let me say that I enjoy having company. It’s always more fun to do things with someone. But when you’re by yourself, you don’t have to look at things you don’t want to. That made me wonder why I don’t like to look at as many things/booths/art/artists as say, my Mom would. I think I figured it out! To someone who isn’t artistic in ANY way, everything is pretty amazing. Makes sense right? If you can’t paint, anybody who can, is awesome. So…for somebody who IS artsy, it’s harder to wow them. Now, I didn’t take art appreciation in school and I’m far from being any kind of technical expert on art. I don’t get the whole thing about how and what colors go together. I don’t have a good sense of ‘flow’ or direction. But anyone will tell you, good art only has to appeal to YOU, not the masses. So while I can appreciate the talent of an artist, what really strikes me is that these people put themselves out there. They’ve taken a risk. They’ve pursued their dream. But for me to walk by and be struck by your talent? You have to be amazing! Or, you have to be different, or clever and unique.

Take photography. I imagine that it’s difficult at best to make a living at that. Anybody can take a picture. And lots of people do! But you have to have an amazing view of the world to be a really great photographer. If your booth is full of landscapes – ho hum.

Then there’s watercolor. I love watercolor paintings. I tried watercolor a couple times – I stink at it. But again, you have to be amazing or different to make me want to stop and look. If you can’t do more than a basket of flowers or a meadow, you aren’t amazing.

Then there’s jewelry. Love you jewelry crafters! It requires skill and talent and a truly great sense of design. Yep. But I can’t afford most of your stuff so I usually pass you too.

Painters. Yeah, they fit into that category as well. Be creative people…everyone is sick to death of beach scenes!

How about pottery? I know a lot of people really love pottery. But again, while I appreciate your skill, I’m not a big fan of pottery.

So what floats my boat you ask? Well, this year there was this really neat metal crafter. I stopped at their booth twice. Their creations really made me smile.

Also, there was an artist who was using old pallet boards to create pictures by wood burning! Pretty cool! And this lady – she had a booth filled with these little dolls that just cracked me up. Not just the sayings either. But the wacky hair and fabric was too much fun to pass up!