We ventured first to Bellevue's Festival of the Arts this weekend (I prefer the festival's original title, "Arts and Crafts Fair", but Bellevue probably decided it was too much a throwback to the hippie 70s and might encourage an infestation of macramé and tie-dye exhibitors). I'd only reintroduced myself to the fair 3 years ago after a 20+ year hiatus, and I was blown away by some of the artists' work.
My former college professor and mentor, Arunas Ošlapas, showed incredible new concepts in his "remade": fully recycled artwork. In addition to his amazing scrap-metal sculpture, he has introduced "quilts" - metal-and-scavenged-object framed artwork that I found so compelling that I just had to take a piece home with me.
There were many other pieces that affected me which I might have to revisit at a later date, among them the Mercer Mayer-meets-Tim Burton flavored work of Justin Hillgrove http://www.impsandmonsters.com. We also enjoyed the sounds and dancing of the above barefoot violinist and the timeless, never-disappointing indulgence of Fisher Fair Scones.
The following day we visited Renton's "River Days", of which the less said the better. Despite my growing affection for Renton, their so-called arts festival was akin to being the retarded cousin of the Bellevue show.
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