Casa Grande Art Fair

mosaic artwork at the Casa Grande Art Fair

There seems to be a lot of art fairs or festivals in Casa Grande...I've seen "Art in the Alley" advertised in town...I think that's the first Tuesday of every month. This past weekend was an art fair in Peart Park in Casa Grande. It was very nice and very interesting...I think they are still growing, as there was plenty of room in the park for more exhibitors. There were some very high end artists selling their creations, and some very reasonably priced artwork as well....the artwork was heavily southwestern influence, which is to be expected!

I thought this artist was very interesting with what he was doing, so I asked about his work...he goes out and finds big stones. These rocks or monoliths were huge and beautifully polished. The rocks served as the sculpture body. The artist, and I'm sorry, I don't remember his name, looks at the stone, and figures out a "theme" which he then works a head in wax for a future bronze casting.....the heads were those of native Americans in different poses and moods...his work sold for thousands of dollars there at the fair. Here is he working in wax on the hair. You can see some of the finished work in the background. The statues were on average about two feet tall and very beautiful.

Another artist that caught my eye was a gentleman who had a booth full of flutes like the kind that is played in those beautiful native American or Chilean groups of several men who play the flutes at fairs and festivals...he was selling the flutes and he was also a musician who plays and has recorded flute music. These flutes were five and six holed flutes. I was trying to be so careful about not taking photos without asking and intent on getting some information, that I neglected to get the names of these artists. The flutes were absolutely beautiful and ranged in price from 39.00 for a small one, to intricately carved and inlaid ones for about two hundred dollars. I almost bought one, as I used to play flute in elementary school and high school for many years. I love the South American music and musicians you see at fairs who play these beautiful flutes...but I ended up thinking about being practical instead of impulsive, and didn't buy one....

The last booth that caught my eye was a lady who did watercolors with candy wrappers interpersed among each painting. She does the watercolor painting first, then works other media into the painting.....You'd have to see this painting very close up to see the metallic wrappers or other paper candy wrappers, pieces of ribbon, metal, etc.....

I like going to see these art fairs...Eldy decided to work on his golf putting so I was on my own here.  Seeing the different types of artwork gets me thinking about taking some classes. I can be pretty creative, but I would love to explore some more kinds of artwork, just in case I have hidden talent I am not aware of! (Uh-oh! more craft supplies? says E.)  Maybe, honey...but not oils....maybe pottery...maybe stained glass...got lots of stained glass in storage back in Indiana...maybe I could learn how to use it! Looking forward to taking some classes down at the workshops at Palm Creek....we'll see what is available...bye for now.....