Week-end Activities

My friend Sylvia is staying with us this week-end. We met when we were about 6 years old, attended the same church, elementary and secondary schools, camp and college (Manchester). Also she has relatives, the DeWalls, who are from Forreston, where I used to live. So nice to have a friend who shares your own history! Despite the time zone difference, she was up early to go out for coffee with me. I made a lame attempt at showing her the campus of Ohio State University, but everything was so torn up and there were so many new buildings (and it had been awhile since I was on the Oval), I don't think I did it justice. Taking the "short cut" to get home, we ended up in traffic thick and deep at what appeared to be a high school track and field event being held on campus and a graduation ceremony.

Also she was game to go to the art festival, an annual June event here in Columbus. I started to wilt after about two hours in the almost 90 degree heat. This event draws artists from all over the country. Sylvia is a musician so we stopped at a booth where the artist made small wooden stringed instruments played with a bow and he provided a demonstration. To my untrained ear they sounded a bit like a harpsicord. Another booth had hand made harps with beautiful inlaid celtic designs, but it also provided lovely CDs by the co-artist.

We visited the booth of Stephen Sebastian a North Carolina artist whose work we had purchased about 16 years ago, although his technique and style had changed so much I wasn't sure it was the same guy and was about to move on. He hollared out, yes it's me and said you have to keep changing to stay fresh. After 15 minutes in the shade and a lemonade, we were making the last lap back to the car and we stopped at the booth of Gary Curtis. We were so charmed by his watercolors of light reflecting on simple objects of glass, ceramic, metal, and fabric, that we purchased a print of one titled, "Communion." We recognized his work immediately because he has appeared in American Artist and Artist's Magazine.

There are three things you shouldn't bring to art festivals: 1) babies, who are miserable in the heat and frying their delicate skin in the sun; 2) dogs of any breed no matter how well behaved--I've yet to meet a dog who appreciated art shows and crowds; 3) your credit card. Just kidding about that last one.

After a brief nap, we went out for dinner at The Rusty Bucket, then headed to Sylvia's Columbus relatives who were celebrating the graduation of a daughter from Dublin Scioto High School. Tomorrow we'll attend church at both the Mill Run and Lytham Road campuses of UALC and see two more art shows.