Artsplosure, or Adventures in Wearable Art

One of the cool things about working downtown is that I get to wander into some pretty cool local cultural events.  This weekend was the annual artist festival Artsplosure.  Being the broke girl crafter that I am I of course had to venture forth, but only for an hour or so after work.

The scope of Artsplosure is extremely wide.  All of the booths feature a placard listing the artist name, where they are from, and the type of medium in which they work -- a wide variety that included 2D images, metalworking, and my favorite, 3D textural objects. This seemed to include anything to do with the fiber arts, stuffed toys, clothing, and some of the jewelry.  I met a woman who crochets and who likes to teach children how to make their own stuffed animals.  I stopped in another booth featuring skirts made out of old blouses that were turned upside down and then rubber stamped with botanical images.  A happy pottery duo told me that their eclectic mug collection make the perfect wine cups for entertaining.  And of course there was a representative of the felted fiber arts.

This gorgeous dress drew quite the audience as it hung in the corner of TrendeFemme's booth.  She came in as I was dragging myself away from her felted soaps (I already have one from another festival stand, I need to use it up before I get another but hers were gorgeous) and very graciously gave me permission to take a photo of it.  I will definitely be shopping her Etsy shop and making her booth a must-stop if I ever see her at another area festival.

Of course the only place I spent money was the final booth I saw just as I was walking to my car.  I had just left another jewelry booth.  I've developed a fondness for gorgeous stone worked into metal.  As I left to head home I turned around and saw a set up that looked so light and airy I thought it was floating.  The wearable art of Lisa Toland Collection is right on trend for current 1920s fashion.  All of her pieces are made of crochet wire with beads and fabrics.  Somehow I managed to keep myself to just one small clip -- perfect for that outfit for my cousin's wedding that I keep working on.  I put her card on the fridge so that my husband will know for the next gift giving occasion.

And of course no trip to Artsplosure will be complete without a stop by the sand sculpture.  It's for the kids, after all.