art festivals

Rained out street fair

Our last art show of the season was a washout. Literally.

We haven’t had rain for a long time, we are in a drought situation, but it really came down during our yearly village street party on Sunday, which is a mini art show as well.

It’s a place where everybody knows your name. The whole village seems to come out and it’s very special. There were a lot of people in the village because it was a Sunday, but they were not part of the street fair. They don’t really know about it.

Usually this art stroll/street fair is sunny and seems to be the hottest day of the year each year. The cucumber punch stand is the most popular. But this past Sunday, the weather was ok for a bit, and then the skies opened.

I hung out with some friends for a bit, which was nice, but I see them all the time. I look forward to seeing people that I don’t see so often, but that was not to be.

One friend and I separated and we went to a local restaurant, where there were a lot of people who ran over to get out of the rain. There was a 30 minute wait, and not many people we knew. But the food was great and the waiter remembered me from last time and brought me my favorite dish, so that was nice.

When I returned home, the street out front was flooded. The city has been working on adding new drainage pipes for a few months now. But in the process, they closed up the current drainage pipes, so that causes quite a lake when it pours, which luckily hasn’t been often. I think the last time was on Thanksgiving day.

Anyway, it’s the end of art season and the beginning of Spring and Summer. New seasons to enjoy.

Till next time . . .

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We almost made it to the chalk festival

This time of year there are a lot of arts festivals. I went to a couple last weekend and this weekend, a friend and I were going to hit the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival, but we never made it.

It’s just too far for some of us who never seem to leave our own village these days, so I do regret not going, but there’s always next year.

Here are a few images from years past.

Years ago I used to drive 100 miles a day – going back and forth with my friends- from home to the beach, then back home again, then going out clubbing all night, bar hopping all night, then back home again, then to work and back. Now I don’t like driving from home to the grocery store and back.

In my village, there’s a three-day arts festival. I only made it one day, where in the past I was there all three days from opening to closing. A couple of years ago, I never made it at all, which is sacrilege in these parts.

When I was writing the local news, I was everywhere. I used to sometimes feel self conscious about it. I felt like people would just expect me to show up and say to themselves, “There’s Tom again.” But I needed to cover the news.

I was at every city council meeting, village council meeting, committee meeting, planning meeting, store opening, restaurant opening, art installation, etc. I was getting tired of seeing myself everywhere. I covered the daily news, and I also wrote for the Huffington Post, so that was a lot me being spread out all over. Now I don’t want to go anywhere.

A friend and I have been selling hats on Etsy. I don’t know how it started, but it’s been going well.

Some that are really selling well are these “great” hats. What I mean is that they say things like, “Italy has always been great!” or “Ireland has always been great!”

They are a play on “Make American Great Again” hats. We have Great Britain Canada and Mexico, too. The Italy ones seem to sell the most. Interestingly enough, we don’t ship outside the U.S., yet these foreign hats sell a lot here in the U.S.

One lady had a hat sent to a friend with the name on the address going to: “Capo di Tutti Capi,” which means “Boss of All Bosses,” we found that funny so we made a hat that says that.

We also have Port Wenn, in honor of my favorite show, Doc Martin. The real show, not the knock-off. And we have “Quints” hats, from the Jaws movie.

Another hat that is popular is the Hamptauk hat, which stands for Hamptons and Montauk, which are interchangeable in the summer. I like the Port Wenn one, I wear it often.

Till next time . . .

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Arts festival weekend

We had a couple of arts festivals in town this past weekend. They are here in town every year at this time.

I went with a few friends, which is maddening, when you try to all stay together and can’t. There’s so much art and so much food and the best part is seeing people I don’t see all year – people I’ve worked with, been on committees with, friends, people from the village, etc. Everyone pops up during art season.

We’ve had a cold winter, by Florida standards, but this weekend was quite hot.

I even saw one of our crocodiles out on a rock, in the bay. When I say everyone is out, I mean everyone. There were egrets and peacocks around, too.

Till next time . . .

Subscribe via email to my blog and cartoons here – the cartoons will arrive each Friday plus occasional short blog posts are sent during the week.

Another arts festival weekend

Spent the weekend at the 61st annual Coconut Grove Arts Festival. Went with friends on Saturday and another group on Sunday.

Ran into so many people I hadn’t seen for awhile. Was really a great time.

For the locals, it’s more about the comradery than the art, although we all love seeing and buying art. But it sort of reminds me of NYC, where the locals spot and see each other in the crowds of tourists and the tourists sort of blur into the background and the locals have the city for themselves.

The fun part is that we know some of the artists exhibiting and we visit with them as we all mix and mingle around the festival. We eat, drink (love the old fashioned English tea cafe where I had scones and tea, as I do every year) and enjoy the art. We always end up at the cafe and sit around and talk and laugh for an hour or so, in the midst of the show.

Since I had not seen some people for some time, I may have talked some ears off. I was talking to one guy who works for the festival, he was in a golf cart. He was attempting to drive away as I was talking. I said to him, “Did you hear what I said?” He said, “Yes.” I responded, “I don’t think you did, because you almost ran over my foot.”

Good times.

Today is the final day. I may or may not attend, I’m sort of worn out from non-stop action on Saturday and Sunday.

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Beaux Arts Festival: Art and Food

Went with friends to the Beaux Arts Festival this past weekend, held on the University of Miami campus. It’s the beginning of the arts festival season in Miami, if you don’t count Art Basel, which is at the beginning of December. I missed Basel this year, I was in New York.

The Miami Beach Art Deco Festival was this past weekend, too, which I usually never miss, but I didn’t attend that this year, either.

I’m just a tire kicker – a friend called me that yesterday at Beaux Arts, when I approached his art booth. He sells beautiful photographs he takes.

I’m not sure why I don’t buy a lot of art. I guess it started when I covered the news, which was for 15 years – I was too busy trying to “get the story,” that I didn’t shop around for art. But I don’t really have much wall space where I live, it’s mostly windows.

I do buy sculptures and things like that at times, but not much wall art.

Since I stopped editing the daily news, people think I left town. When I was doing the news, I was at everything every day. It was too much really, but it was my job – morning, noon and night, I was there getting the story and photos. Now I don’t do much in town.

Now when people see me, they say, “You’re back!” And I have to tell them I never left. So, there was a lot of that this weekend. I end up talking to some people and my friends who I arrive with scatter, and they end up talking to people they run into, and it goes like that.

A couple of weeks ago there was a parade in town. We all started out together and by the end, we were in different parts of the village hanging out with others watching the parade from our usual/favorite spots.

We mostly eat our way through these festivals, it’s almost like a food festival with art for many of us.

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