Houston ArtFest

I splurged. I felt the draw to the artfest and when Mike and Pam called a lunching Tim and I to see if we wanted to go to the ArtFest, I bit. And don't worry, reader, I'd already eaten at home when I met Tim at Freebirds so he could eat his burrito bowl. Perhaps that will be the subject of another blog; eating alone at home over your stove and then leaving to go sit with others while you talk and watch them eat. But I digress. The ArtFest is a big deal in Houston and thousands upon thousands of people show up for it. Fortunately for me it always takes place in the park right next to my apartment, though that still winds up being a walk of about a mile or so.

That's RockMan, or something like that. He's part of a "performance art" troupe, The Living Garden, that also was comprised of Fountain Girl, Ivy Woman, Tree Man and Tree Woman. Pictured here, RockMan moves really slowly... much to the fascination of little kids. Sorry for the brightness of some of the following pictures. I had forgotten the exposure setting on my cameraphone had been set too high.

This colorful sculpture twisted and spun in the slight breeze we had; kinetic art. Thank God for even that little breeze, though! It was 90 degrees and humid here today. Summer is here in March!

The first booth that pulled me in ended up becoming my favorite of the Fest: Signe Grushovenko. I just loved her style and the apparent era of the 30's and 40's it was set in. Below are some individual pieces from her website:

This was my sad attempt to hold up my phone and get a pic of how dense the crowd was. Everyone seemed to be on their best behavior, and thanks to the extreme cold (for Houston) this past winter, there were no mosquitos.

This is a piece from what became my second favorite artist, Stephen Dickerson. I would have loved to have this piece for my office. Have I mentioned I love trees??

And that's Tree Man suiting up there in the center of this washedout/burnedout photo. He's standing on stilts and then wears the neoprene tree trunk like overalls. After that he puts on the vest that holds that branches coming out of his chest and back before putting on the head piece. On a day like today, he had to be sweating to death in there.

Didn't notice who did this, but loved the colors and the concept of these book arches in the middle of some common space.

This, in actuality, is a boring shot. However, I really, really like these old concrete picnic tables that litter the park.

And here's the gang sitting on top of one after make the mile or so loop of the exhibits. It was an enjoyable way to pass the afternoon. If only it could have been 15 degrees cooler :-)

On the walk back to my apartment, I spotted this splash of red in this neighbors front yard. Nothing spectacular, just noticing the "art" in everyday life after spending $12 to look at "real art" I can't afford to buy at this point in my life anyway ;-)