Arts and Crafts and Rainbows - Part 1
This weekend was pretty fun. Saturday I popped down to Ballston to check out the "Ballston Arts and Crafts Market" and hung out with Jen and her friend Stacy. Sunday I went to the DC Pride Festival downtown to catch a live performance from Sarah Bettens. Both days were hot as can be, but much merriment was had.
Saturday afternoon the rain thankfully held off and the day was pretty hot, but not unbearable. I talked to Jen earlier in the day and she said it wasn't so bad, but she is a fibber. Actually, she said it had just gotten hotter when I arrived (like I don't get that all the time, right?). I think some of the tents were just soaking up the sun like little greenhouses.
There were a number of cool artists and crafters selling their wares. I picked up a few notecards:
- One from a photographer that specialized in animal pics
- One of a Mexican wrestler with a heart of gold
- And one from the Hsu sisters (of Exit Clov) based on their dad's collage art. Sadly, their dad Ming died recently due to cancer that he had been fighting for a few years. But thanks to their efforts his art lives on and is being shared with the world.
It's funny, I was going to link their Etsy page here and then this picture from Saturday:
Well the picture I took is actually of one of the girls taking pictures that are now showcasing items on the Etsy page above. :)
I also picked up a cute piece of monster art from Phil Barbato. He does really cool paintings and drawings, plus plushes and prints of little monster characters:
I even ran into Erica and Vanessa who were set up next to us at Counter Culture Festival. They were selling their jewelry and crocheted items. There were awesome puppets and pins and all types of the usual cool fare to be found at an art/craft show.
Jen was sharing a tent with her friend Stacy. Stacy was selling prints of her photos and had some really beautiful work available. I was ballin' on a budget Saturday, so I only picked up one print. But suffice to say I plan on picking up a few more from her in the future. This was my purchase from Saturday:
I got a pretty awesome frame for it last night at Michael's, too. Just gotta get that hung now.
Here are Jen and Stacy rocking their halves of the tent:
Jen
Stacy
And my favorite acquisition of the day, a handmade pencil case that was a gift from Jen. You don't realize how useful something like this until you start to use it. So awesome:
We had fun hanging out for a couple hours with awesome stories like the crazy harmonica man, the lady that had scars like she had been captured by pirates and the mysterious "police activity". It was really cool to meet Stacy too, what with her being a fellow photog and really nice and all. Eventually the day wound down and everybody started packing up. Stacy had the advantage over many folks at this point because her apartment building was about 50 feet from the tent. Craziness! I need to hold art shows in front of my apartment building...
I left the girls at Ballston and went to meet Joe in Bethesda. Due to some BS we had to cancel our plans to see The Brothers Bloom Saturday night, so I just ended up back home to chill.
Right now I'm recovering from a cookout at work and slowly lapsing into a food coma, so I don't feel like typing up any more at the moment. Stay tuned for part 2 of the weekend adventure later today.