I had the painter here until 1:00 PM yesterday and then dashed out of the house to go to the touted Craftland down in Providence RI. That is 1 hour away, but I had a good book on tape to listen to (can't remember the name) and it is presented by Alan Bates and he is so lovely to listen to. God, I remember him in Georgy Girl - my first "grown up" movie. I was SOOO in love.
I digress.
Craftland was not what I expected it to be. Perhaps they were all sold out by this time, but I really didn't see 150 artists' work - at least I don't think I did. I'd say more like 30 artists. And it was mostly kitch-craft. And I don't mean kitchen. I tried to analyze what was disappointing about it and finally realized that there appeared to be little design thought. Mostly low end fridge magnets and kitchy address books. I am exaggerating of course, and I could tell that there were some pieces that were thoughtful and took alot of work. I guess I was expecting a higher caliber of work since I was in Rhode Island School of Design land. I did buy a nice little fused glass pendant and a hand made sketch book - but that was it.
Across the street was a bookstore, a magnet for me. loved it the minute I walked in. I have spend so many years buying books at Borders, and at an airport and this was more of an independent store with very interesting stuff. This is the first time in years that I have seen "Howl" by Alan Ginsberg on a shelf in plain view. I picked up a few things that should fill the snowy day today with some good relaxing hours.
Don't forget to read the post below this one about an art swap.
3 comments:
Hey there, Georgy Girl, there's another Georgy deep inside....what a hopeful song. Don't remember the movie but the song-was it Lynn Redgrave? Vanessa maybe? Or Babs? I can't quite recall.
Crafting is suffering from people realizing they can turn a buck-suddenly it's about volume and the art suffers. It's all about instructions copied and handed out, rather than true creation.
From this I do excuse the elderly-like my Mom. She never used to follow a pattern, but now she needs something to help guide her to the finish. I'm probably in big trouble, cause I have trouble following a set of guidelines. Is my future foretold in my crafting style? Oh wait, I can make up my own future.
My girlfriends and I saw Georgy Girl together and all we saw was the romance. We took our folks to see if and all they saw was the unmarried sex - to this day they still talk about how shocked they were that we little kids liked it. Hey grownups - little kids see innocence more than indecency - at least I did!
Crafting - I at least expected some originality and actual talent. There was some there, but yes, it was about making the nut for the week. I can't really talk because I don't sell my crafts - but gee...I expected pottery and wooden bowls not refridgerator magnets. (snob that I am)
I'm so sorry the craft fair didn't turn out to be what you'd hoped. It can be hit or miss with those things. But I'm glad you at least found a great bookstore to redeem the trip.
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