Home Is Where You Park It: Broad Ripple Art Fair

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Broad Ripple Art Fair

There's a lot that goes on around Indianapolis (Indy to those who know it) year round. However, the art fairs are generally in the spring and fall. These pictures are of the Broad Ripple Art Fair, put on by the Indianapolis Art Center. The other two biggies in Indy are The Talbot Street Art Fair and Penrod. Talbot Street is in the area around the Herron Art School (a rather artsy neighborhood) and Penrod is put on by the Indianapolis Museum of Art. These three shows are all nationally recognized.

Here we go, into the art fair at one of the entry points.

There were about 225 artist featured, all scattered about the grounds or in the art center itself.

There is always a good crowd for the two day event, good weather or not.

Hand crafted wooden toys are always a favorite of mine.

But let me introduce you to a couple of friends. This is Pat, she does a variety of hand crafting, and includes jewelry, many forms of glass art, and whatever else catches her imagination (which seems to be very active). I met her in Mesa, Arizona, only to find out she is an Indy resident and member of the Indianapolis Art Center.

This is Chris, who is a master with a hammer. He makes some amazing pieces, most of which are hammered into the shape he has pictured in his mind. It is not just a trick with the hammer, he must heat the pieces many times between hammerings in order to soften the metal. You see, the hammering hardens the metal to the point it will crack if not heated (annealed). Some of his pieces go through this cycle 30, 40, even 50 times in order for him to reach the shape he wants. I've watched him take a gold coin and turn it into a cuff bracelet or a 3by3 square of silver and turn it into a bowl. I met Chris at the Art Center last winter. He and I were the only males in an otherwise all female class.