Cherry Creek Art Festival

This weekend...there was so much stuff going on. My mother came down and we went wedding dress shopping in CO, but then decided that we were going to have the dress made anyways and ended up buying the fabric. I'm much happier with the pattern and the things that we can do with it than anything that I tried on. Well, strike that, there was one dress...tightly sequined bodice, huge floor length tulle skirt. This is the dress at David's Bridal that literally stands on it's own. (click here to see it) And when I refer to it as such, every attendant knows what I'm talking about. I saw it when we were dress shopping for my sister-in-law and I drooled. Wearing it was even better. O, the swooshing. But it wasn't meant to be, being that it cost over a thousand dollars.

Then there were fireworks...

But the most exciting event this weekend - that's art related, being as how this is my art blog - was going down to the Cherry Creek Art Festival Monday. It was great! There was so much art, so many good ideas, lots of food/product samples. The Art Institute had a cooking demo tent - pretty tasty. My favorite part was that there were actually two embroiderers at the show. I actually got to talk to Rob Watt. He does these beautifully dense little embroideries that is all couching. I really made me want to explore couching more. I've been reading a lot about it and metallic threads in Chinese, European and Ottoman Embroidery. I've never used it because I have never thought of it as a way to fill space. I'm going to try it out, Rob's embroideries have changed my mind. They have such great texture and design. So, I was drooling. The other embroidery artists are Karen and Eric Shi. Their work was like Asian silk paintings, though their imagery was much more contemporary. I enjoyed their scenes of aspens with all the intersecting branches. It was like untangling a puzzle. Both of these artists made me want to try something new in embroidery.

The pieces that really caught my attention at the show weren't necessarily embroidery though - but they did have craft elements. I was fascinated with a quilt made from jeans and cloth book covers from old books by Joe Decamillis. It's not on his website, but I've seen his work before when I was in college. I think that I ran across it in New American Paintings because he was painting this beautiful miniatures on tin inside mounted books. His works are fabulous and intricate. I'm in love.

The other artist that really took my breathe away was Betsy Youngquist. Her work is little beaded sculptures with ceramic doll faces coming out of them. She had a sculpture there that was of a rabbit and since I'm obsessed with rabbits nowadays it drew me immediately to her booth. Her sculptures are surreal, beautiful, shiny, and a little creepy. It's probably the beading and the way it covers the faces. They are really lovely. I wish that I knew how to bead - or really had the patience and the skill too.

Well, that was my weekend. So many great ideas, so little time.