Monday, July 16, 2012

Madison's Art on the Square

I took a break from Chicago this weekend and went back to Madison for their annual art fair, Art on the Square. I find it easy to stay away from my hometown during the school year, but during the summer there's just too much going in Madison on that I don't want to miss!


Once a year hundreds of art vendors set up stands all around the capitol building of Madison, pictured here.



Many of the vendors don't allow photography, so I didn't get that many great pictures. Usually I get really bored at these fairs, but this year was different. If it wasn't for the heat, I could've gone around the square two or three times, planning the type of artwork I want to have in my house someday. I think people start gaining appreciation for art the older they get--it was like that in my case, at least.




My two favorite booths?

1. Paintings by David Oleski (website not working at the moment)


His paintings are so simple, but that's what I love about them. I can see this painting in my living room. I love the different colors he uses to portray a simple, everyday object--different shades of yellow, orange, green, and I even see a peach in there. The shadows are brilliant in a simple way as well.

2. Nicario Jimenez: "Artist of the Andes"


What Mr. Jimenez makes are traditionally called retablos--"portable boxes filled with brightly colored figurines arranged into intricate narrative scenes", according to his website. To me, they seem like slightly twisted dollhouses! I love the story being told here: "day of the dead" skeletons, I think, are celebrating at a local watering hole. The whole piece is so bright and fun!

Have you gone to an art fair recently? What kind of artwork do you enjoy?

10 comments:

  1. thank you for the comment today love! i really appreciate you taking the time to leave one! loving this post too btw! great photos!

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  2. Love tha painting of the apples!

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    1. I know, isn't it cute? It's simple, but I love it.

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  3. Um, hello?!?! Why did I not know we share a hometown?!

    I LOVE Farmer's Markets on the Square. Love them so much that I try to head back to Madison every summer just for a danish, some honey sticks, fresh cheese curds, and gorgeo flowers.

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    1. Haha that's so funny! I had no idea I was blogger friends with another Madisonite!

      I miss the Farmer's Markets. I love everything about them that you do! We always go get a danish first, then go walking around to buy the flowers and produce. The cheese curds are always last, to eat on the trip home :)

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  4. I think we have one art fair here every year. Lame, I know. I wish we had more.

    http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

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    1. Yeah this is our "big" art fair. We have a bunch of smaller art fairs I think, but this is the main one.

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  5. Its true! My appreciation of art has grown as I've gotten older too. Looks like a lot of fun. My aunt runs craft fairs so I've grown up around them. I love the whole feel and celebration of art that's there.

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    1. You're so lucky you got to grow up around them! That must've been so cool, running around the art fairs when you were a little kid :) I agree, I love the feel of art fairs in general.

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