The Kimpton Art Fair and is Art Fair?

The art fair had some notable local and regional artists and some of the pieces were very obviously professional artists and their reputation well deserved. Other art pieces were by keen and enthusiastic amateurs and it's good to see that they supported the local community and weren't put off by thinking their art was not deserving enough to be there.


One thing I have learnt is that whatever art critics think is deserving as being called 'art' isn't likely what the majority of us would agree upon! I have only started to paint/draw again over the last year, before that I spent 20 plus years as a corporate graphic designer. Why did I stop drawing and in essence, allow the creative side of me to stop? This is because of negative comments made when I was interviewed for my design degree that my style was 'not art', and of course 'you wouldn't fit into the fine art category', I let my drawing fall away feeling that it was worthless and artless, and concentrated on becoming a designer. I only now realise how much of a mistake it was to listen those who thought they knew. But I was young and impressionable then, but even more so these so called 'teachers/critics' should be far more aware of what they are saying and to whom.

All art is valuable - I agree some is technically better than others, but there is no better or best - art just is and should just be. As long as what you do comes from the heart - I have seen people with no previous artistic experience or much skill, create works that speak volumes that has touched the hearts of many.

Half Dressed

I digress, so what was my favorite piece of art from the fair? It wasn't one of the hundreds of paintings, though a few caught my eye, it was this piece of wood called 'Half Dressed' by a sculptor called Hazel Godfrey (apologies if I have this wrong, but I didn't make a note of the sculptor at the time). I have always loved the natural texture and feel of anything woody, and this sculptural piece was amusing and ironic. If you look at the piece, the artist has 'dressed' it in a piece of bark which I believe has been added to main log, and then secured it with some knots. Now we all know wood has knots, but these aren't the same! This gets my vote for skill, originality and rye amusement.

In my next post, I'll share with you my newest picture that I'm drawing.