Art Fair

 Friday, I received a text from Sam, "I told my niece not to come tomorrow because of flooding on the freeways. Do you want to go to the art fair?"

Yes, yes, I did. So we made plans to meet at noon and drive out to the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Ann Arbor is about an hour away from our location by the freeway. Luckily, the flooding the night before was not as bad as before. We didn't run into any standing water.

We parked at the Briarwood Mall. They were shuttling people from there to the downtown for $5. I dropped Sam off so she could get in line while I found a parking space. That saved us some time. Then we realized we were in the bus line and that there was a separate line for buying tickets. So I told Sam to stay in the bus line while I stood in the ticket line. We meet back up just in time to enter the bus. The process was quick and efficient. It was less hassle than trying to find a parking space downtown.

The fair stretched out over several streets. It was a lot of walking. Sam suggested that the exhibit was not as large as past fairs. I don't know. This is the first time I have been to the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Billie and I always talked about going, but somehow plans never worked out.

The fair was crowded, but not as bad as I have seen at similar smaller events. The temperature started in the low seventies but climbed into the high seventies by mid-afternoon. The sky was clear, and the sun beat down on the crowd. Fairs are great people-watching events. Upwards of 400,000 people visit the fair over a three-day period. Friday was a bust because of the rain, but Saturday's crowd look large. 

I scanned the crowd as much as the artwork-- looking for needles in a needle stack. The vendors ranged from high-end paintings to glass and metalwork. Some tents housed low-end displays hustling, gutter guards, and God. Get your free plastic rosary, "Jesus, loves you."

I saw a few pieces I liked but nothing I wanted to purchase. I did get a couple of ideas for projects of my own. That is usually how it works; art fairs inspire me to get off my butt and create something. Two bins are full of thirty years of lego literature, model directions, catalogs, and magazines. I would like to use them to create some pieces. What else am I going to do with them. Once upon a time, I thought I would be saving it for my grandchildren. Now, I am not so sure.

I am glad Sam decided to change her plans. Like I stated in my last post. I think she needs time to relax and decompress. It was an all-day event for us. We spend three hours at the fair then stopped to eat on the way home. I was exhausted by the time I got home.