Parade day is always good exercise. If you don’t get up at five to stake your claim (which we don’t), you do a whole lot of walking (which we do). Sometimes through parts of town you’ve never seen before. I figure we did about twelve blocks round trip to find Cam and Lorri.
So after the parade, shoot – we did a little more parking and walking to hit the farmer’s market. I love shooting in the market – the colors are so vivid, and the wares so real. I am a sucker for things that real people have made with their own hands. The market has deteriorated lately a bit – some booths have become slightly jumble sale, but worse, others are hawking cheap imported junk and greasy food. But there are still actual farmers, many of them really, and people who work in leather or glass – like the glassblower who made Char’s necklace birds.
So I am mixing here pictures I took on the 4th with some I took a few weeks before, when Chaz and her buddy started their jewelry making biz and sat a booth themselves, in kimonos. I’d have taken pictures of the actual Freedom Fair market, but it’s really gone down hill as far as welcoming actual artists and making it possible for them to afford to participate. Instead you get insurance companies and spas and really greasy food and imports. Except for Jean Clay, who makes whimsical animals and Ed Ham who is a GREAT potter. And really, that festival air? I get that feeling every Saturday, 4th of July or no, down here.
These guys live in Quint and Gigi’s stake, up on the hill. I want them to live near me. I bought a skirt, but I have to fix it a little before I can were mine to church. Rachel and I will be TWINS. (Don’t I wish?)
The lovely Noah and her hunky hubby. She works at the university, but makes felt sushi on the side.
Real farmers. Real food.
Okay – he looks like a real farmer, but this is DEFINITELY not food.
The book-binder. Her books are SO DANG COOL. If you want one, email me. They cost from about $25 on up – wonderful papers on the cover, all kinds of bindings.
The Great Goms. Fabulous work. Wonderful people. Custom work or great stuff like this. They’ll even teach you to do it yourself, then hound you till you do more –
And just down from the Goms: CHAZ. She and her bead buddy set up shop a couple of weeks ago and ended up in a lovely but quiet side path.
Preeze to buy our jewwry.
Cute, huh? Wanna see Chaz’ stuff? Huh? Huh?
Here are my favorites. These little birds were lampworked by a local artist. WE designed the birds, he made them live in these fabulous colors. I love their perky shape.
See? I LOVE them. Each charm has a good-life word on it. Rachel is wearing the red love. I can’t remember who has the yellow happiness. Wait, wait. Was it you, Misty? Speak up, you! But more such can be made. Not exactly the same, but close.
See? I really REALLY love them. This is the picture she uses for them on Etsy.
She is hungry for beads and color and shape. All of these on black are on Etsy. This is just a sampling.
Rachel, getting her pre-show family first shopping done.
Hot-cha. If you want to see the rest, her shop is http://chajiko.etsy.com. You won’t find her by searching her name. Their sellers’ find is kind of lame, actually. But if you do go, and you enjoy, drop a comment and I’ll pass it along. She’d LOVE that.
A really, really nice lady from whom Chaz and I bought a gift for Gin. But don’t tell Gin. It’s a cool thing, if Chaz actually unbent enough to buy it from somebody else . . .
These strawberries just killed me. They were glowing – beckoning. But they were also a touch pricy, and I still hadn’t finished the ones I had at home .
And, best for last – the BROOM GUYS. This couple makes GE-OR-GEOUS brooms in the traditional way. Each one is a bit of art, really. Craft because of the workmanship, art because of the whimsy and history, which raises what they do from tool to concept and design element. These are truly beautiful. I finally bought one after trying out about a dozen over the last month. I had to find the right size and shape – because I’m going to use this sucker, but I’m also going to hang it right out on the wall. The husband is also a cooper.
Some of the brooms are so darned artsy, you really couldn’t use them easily. And I wouldn’t use them for Quiddich (sp), either, because you’d have balance problems. But they are unquestionably speedy. We carried ours all over the fair and stopped several times to give lectures on its charms.
So that’s it. People making things, turning time and loose materials into something beautiful or yummy (dirt, air and a seed into an ONION!! MAGIC!!). It’s not easy to sit the booths. I baby-sat the girls’ for a while to let them have a break, and even though I’m a great hawker, I didn’t sell much. Tell you what, though – here is a picture of how EVERY ONE of them feels when you buy something they’ve slaved over and beaten themselves silly till they could let it go:
to be continued:
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