#7 - Magic Wand

This photo was taken at Art in the Park, and annual art fair that takes place in City Park in Appleton (the park that features Dallas Anderson's "Ring Dance" sculpture). It featured more than 200 artists, in tents arranged all over the part, so there was quite a bit to see.

This is another surreptitious cell phone photo, because usually the art at these fairs is copyright by the artists and photos are not allowed. I pretended to be texting someone and hoped the people beside me didn't hear the camera-shutter "click" sound my phone made when I snapped the picture.

This stand featured lots of whimsical brass sorts of objects that you could stake in your garden. The magic wands were stuck in big black flower pots, and each one had a glass ball at the top and colorful ribbons of metal all around them. Because I took the photo so hastily and sneakily you can actually only see one wand in the photo, above the dog in the flower pot. Here's a detail where it's a bit more clear:



I didn't buy one, because they are, er, not exactly to my taste, but I did buy two other things:

- A beautiful plate by Simon Levin (see woodfire.com), which was fired with another pot sitting on top of it, so as the hot ash blew by it created a shadow of the original pot on the surface of the plate. I went back three times before I decided on it, so we had chatted a bit about his technique, and he said, "Yes, it's the narrative, once you learn about the narrative of the design you can read it in the object." Since I have been working, off and on, on a project all about narrative and art and the meaning of life, is it any wonder this appealed to me? Simon is local, so I hope to see more of his stuff at other shows.

I brought the plate home and set it beside another piece I bought two weeks ago up in Door County, which was fired in a similar way, made by Diane McNeil of Ellison Bay Pottery Studios.

- Two cards by Milwaukee illustrator Nedobeck, who does lovely little whimsical pieces (I think they're watercolor and drawing) that are cute but not too childish. Mom and sister, don't peek, because these are for you!