ArtFest part two: {the visual feast}

Inspiration Abound...... Before even getting to ArtFest, Cassondra and I headed to Maxine's on the outskirts of Seattle. Teesha had mentioned it on her blog and raved about it. It certainly was full of eye candy and inspiration! We had a great time:)

It was absolutely wonderland inside, full of color and texture and spring jubilation!


Cassondra and I loved these nests so much (below) that we went to the craft store and bought an empty nest and made our own versions during ArtFest. I will post a picture when I get mine back. Cassondra has to send it home to me, since I eventually ran out of room in my luggage:)

Here I am outside Maxine's with my head filled with fun ideas to create at ArtFest!!!!

The trading at ArtFest was a lot of fun. As you can see, my trunk went home as full of trades as it left. Only this time they were of every shape and variety. What wonderful goodies everyone made! I made a charm bracelet for some of the wonderful pieces I received. Others will go on necklaces or be displayed. I *heart* trading!!
Beyond all the classes (see last post) inspiration was all around throughout ArtFest in so many ways. The walls of 8x8" pieces by ArtFest artists were just stunning!

The "show and tell" displays of everyone's work on the last night was awe inspiring! So much fun to see all that was created over the three day event. The pieces below were created in Anahata Katkin's class Symbolic Icons, by the **wonderful** artist Karen O'Brien. Her amazing art can be seen here.

The *huge* pieces below were created in another of Anahata's classes, Funky Wall Paper People. The piece of the woman in the forefront is by Kelly Rae. She sold on vendor night and her work is just spectacular!

The artist tag on these say they were created by Kate Lyon, also in Anahata's class, Sumbolic Icons.

There was some amazingly creative pieces!! Not sure who created this one.

This metal beautiful metal concoction was created by Jeanie Pride.

After leaving ArtFest, Cassondra and I headed to the Fremont Market and Ballard area of Seattle. There we found some wonderful storefronts. This was from a store called Souvenir.

Here's the other side of the storefront.

Of course I found Anthropologie in downtown Seattle. It is a HUGE store filled with wonderful vingnettes of their clothing and accessories paired with "found" items. All of their display artists are local.

Even on the street, Seattle has so much visual interest. This public sculpture was in the Ballard neighborhood.
There is so much to process after leaving ArtFest. I love to come home from traveling with a new way of looking at the world and a fresh set of creative ideas. I hope these photos have sparked your creative imagination. For even more of my ArtFest photos, visit my Flickr ArtFest folder.