The Ann Arbor Art Fair was better than ever this year, despite the nuisance rain that kept...well...raining on everything. But it gave a great excuse to duck into an artist's booth and hang out for a few minutes until it let up enough to move onto the next one. At some points it really poured but then it got sunny yet again. Until the very end of the day when it REALLY poured and the tornado sirens went off. We were stuck on one side of Ann Arbor while our car was on the other side, causing me to miss most of the art opening for the art show I had a piece in. Bleah. But this still was one of the best art fair experiences for me because my best friend, Justy was here from Colorado and we didn't have our kids with us so we had total freedom!
I have tried my best to put links for all the art I took photos of. If you want to see more just click on the image.This year there seemed to be a lot of doll type mixed media which I really loved. There's always just a bit of dark and demented mixed in.
This jewelry designer totally rocked! Her designs were mixes of hard metal with soft materials and very unusual earthy materials.
This necklace looked like very soft, papery material but was actually very hard coral. I loved the ring she made using the material. She also had rings made from ivory piano keys-super cool.
Last year we brought our kids with us and I just happened to bring a notebook and pencil with me. My (then)4 year old son wasn't really into drawing until he saw this artist's work. All of a sudden he got totally inspired and started drawing what he saw. He would not let us leave this booth until he was done. And he kept his business card for weeks until it was all weathered and wrinkled looking.
I thought these paintings were unusual with their shadowy figures.
I loved this photographer!! His prints were stunningly gorgeous. He uses a Hasselblad film camera with long exposures, sometimes up to 30 minutes, and carefully placed lights. He then scans the film into his computer and prints them. Did I mention they were stunning?!
There was a tent in the Street Art Fair full of emerging artists. This artist had this great leather cuff that laces up. WANT.
I loved these sculptures. They had stories written on them about the artist's father.
Another of my favorite jewelers. Her use of graphite in the metal enameling was super cool. And her display showed her creative process from sketch to completed piece.
Crazy cool ceramics.
Another slightly creepy doll mixed media piece. I mean that in a good way.
I look forward to this booth every year to see how he grows and changes as an artist. He builds his own Polaroid cameras so that he can print HUGE prints. He also has a background in theater and builds these incredible scenes which he then photographs. I bought one of his prints a couple years ago when he was into his fruit and vegetable stage.
Love, love, love this work!
More crazy rain!
These were gorgeous abstracts.
My husband spinning the wheel for the local news station. He won a fan. Then they broadcast their weather report and we were in the background!
Of course there's always one of these guys to be found...
Another favorite artist of mine. Someday I will buy one of her pieces! I love to see how her work changes year to year as well.
We stopped in the WORK Gallery, which had a part of the art show I was in. The other part was at Slusser gallery inside the School of Art and Design at U of M. It was the Fourth Annual Alumni Show.
These little dudes were hilarious and people were pointing and laughing all day.
After lots of art, great sidewalk sales, rain, 2 stops at Starbucks, one stop for margaritas (that lasted a while!), rain, one cool robot shop, and a visit to the graffiti covered alleyways, and high speed winds with tornado sirens, we FINALLY made it to the art show.
There's my swings piece!
This jewelry designer totally rocked! Her designs were mixes of hard metal with soft materials and very unusual earthy materials.
This necklace looked like very soft, papery material but was actually very hard coral. I loved the ring she made using the material. She also had rings made from ivory piano keys-super cool.
Last year we brought our kids with us and I just happened to bring a notebook and pencil with me. My (then)4 year old son wasn't really into drawing until he saw this artist's work. All of a sudden he got totally inspired and started drawing what he saw. He would not let us leave this booth until he was done. And he kept his business card for weeks until it was all weathered and wrinkled looking. I thought these paintings were unusual with their shadowy figures. I loved this photographer!! His prints were stunningly gorgeous. He uses a Hasselblad film camera with long exposures, sometimes up to 30 minutes, and carefully placed lights. He then scans the film into his computer and prints them. Did I mention they were stunning?! There was a tent in the Street Art Fair full of emerging artists. This artist had this great leather cuff that laces up. WANT.This jewelry artist really made an impression. His use of materials like bone and unusual stones mixed with delicate metals were very interesting. One of my favorite booths of the whole fair.
I loved these sculptures. They had stories written on them about the artist's father. Another of my favorite jewelers. Her use of graphite in the metal enameling was super cool. And her display showed her creative process from sketch to completed piece. Crazy cool ceramics. Another slightly creepy doll mixed media piece. I mean that in a good way.I look forward to this booth every year to see how he grows and changes as an artist. He builds his own Polaroid cameras so that he can print HUGE prints. He also has a background in theater and builds these incredible scenes which he then photographs. I bought one of his prints a couple years ago when he was into his fruit and vegetable stage. Love, love, love this work!
More crazy rain! These were gorgeous abstracts.
My husband spinning the wheel for the local news station. He won a fan. Then they broadcast their weather report and we were in the background!
Of course there's always one of these guys to be found... Another favorite artist of mine. Someday I will buy one of her pieces! I love to see how her work changes year to year as well.
We stopped in the WORK Gallery, which had a part of the art show I was in. The other part was at Slusser gallery inside the School of Art and Design at U of M. It was the Fourth Annual Alumni Show. These little dudes were hilarious and people were pointing and laughing all day. After lots of art, great sidewalk sales, rain, 2 stops at Starbucks, one stop for margaritas (that lasted a while!), rain, one cool robot shop, and a visit to the graffiti covered alleyways, and high speed winds with tornado sirens, we FINALLY made it to the art show.
There's my swings piece!
