Doggie Art Festival 2013

This past Sunday was the 10th Annual Doggie Art Festival. I had my art and booth there, as I normally do for almost all 10 years of events! I'm getting old and time flies by! Thanks to Brian and Jeff, owners of the Doggie Door in Winter Park, FL. this has turned into a must attend dog and art event attracting art and animals lovers from all over the state and beyond. Profits go to help the non-profit http://sebastianhaulfund.org/.

It is always such a fun festival to do and attend. There are so many different types of dogs. definitely like a dog party. My GSD Sasha was in attendance, enjoying a perfect weather day outside with her family and the squirrels.

I learned about a new breed of dog the "Tundra Shepherd." The biggest German Shepherd Dog I have ever seen casually walked into my booth standing as tall a Great Dane and with a slightly wild look of a wolf. I was so taken a back that I didn't get a photo of him. The owner said the Tundra Shepherd is a rare breed, first bred by the military in the 1960's. He was gorgeous and created a crowd of dog lovers around him. The owner called him his "Rock star". For more information and photos check out this rescue group in Arizona; http://2001.homestead.com/tundrashepherd.html

Clients, relatives and friends stopped by. Here are a few photos to share. Click on the image for a larger view and slideshow. Enjoy and make sure to catch you're next dog event in your town! Such fun!

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Maitland Art Festival

[slideshow] This art show is basically in "my neighborhood" and I have done it off and on many times through the years. It is a gorgeous setting around a lake with a big fountain in the middle (Lake Lilly). A few years ago they changed it from a 2 day 10-6 show to a 3 day night show, 10-10. It is beautiful at night and the art in the booths are just wonderfully illuminated. The orchestra plays in the evening and people watch them peacefully from a grassy nole. The 3 days show is hard on the artists however, long hours, 90 degree temps and sometimes iffy weather and sales. My advice to artists thinking of applying to the show; request a booth space on a main path. I was in a new area this year. It was nice and grassy but off the main path. It was, seemingly, for the dozen or so artists in that area, our own private cul-de-sac.

The highlight of this show and all outdoor art shows (if you do a lot of them) are my neighbors and friends.

Doug Delind. My neighbor to the left. A great craftsman who loves Raku, the process and drawing.

http://www.brianjonesart.com/gallerymain.asp?GalleryID=88161&AKey=9b782dlq

Kevin Kichar. My neighbor to the right. His work looks like painting from far away but when you get close, you will see that it is filled with texture and dimension. He uses papermaking techniques and paint to make his colorful, stylish artwork.

www.kevenkichar.com

Cindy Anderson. Friend and president of McRae Art Studios, a local art co-op that I was part of for over 10 year. She created brand new work for this show and completely redesigned her booth.

http://www.cindyanderson.com/

John and Lynn Whipple. truly free spirits, greatly talented, with open hearts. They are always cutting edge and pushing themselves towards new work and processes. You will always see new work in their booths and gallery shows.

http://whippleart.wordpress.com/

http://www.lynnwhipple.com/

Bele Chere

[slideshow] So every summer it gets very hot in Florida and I always try to book an art show out of state to escape the heat. This year I did the Bele Chere show in Asheville, NC.

Asheville is a very cool town with a wonderful art scene and beautiful mountain surroundings. I would move there in a heartbeat! I knew that they would have an event there called "Air Dogs" where dogs jump into a large pool of water chasing after a ball and compete to see which one can jump the farthest! It is very fun to watch and you can tell that the dogs love it so much! Anyway, I thought by being near this event I would catch a lot of dog lovers into my booth. Unfortunately, if they did come to my booth, they did not have any money to buy art.

Bele Chere is quite a spectacle, with music, art, special street performances, lots of resturants and galleries. There are even holy rollers that come out with signs and loud speakers, preaching what they believe to be the "correct" word of God. If you look at the video below and go to 2:31 you will see the guy that stood about 3 booths down from my booth preaching on Sat. for almost an hour. The man in red is Daniel, a preacher from Myrtle Beach, SC, who was so irrate about what the holy roller man was saying that he stayed and counter preached and prayed to him almost the whole time. I am now a fan of  Daniel. If I were more religious and lived in Myrtle Beach, I would attend his church. This was the strangest part of the show. In addition to this we had winds and rain, college guys running/hopping down the street in blue dresses, a toppless woman,  and a man in a gorilla suit. Whew!

Well, we took Monday and went into the mountains. Hopefully in the future we can return to view the spectacle wtihout being in the middle of it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeApSW1skZ8]