VILLAGE FETE
On Saturday we attended the annual fete in the village where we used to live. It’s always a fun day out, and I usually find plenty of bargains on Annie’s white elephant stall. This year she celebrated 40 years of manning this stall, selling all kinds of things people don’t want any more to people who find exactly what they want! I’m always on the look-out for potential art materials and this year certainly didn’t disappoint.
There was a whole set of border stencils from the National Trust which I am quite sure will be a useful addition in the studio! A couple of papier mache pencil boxes ready for embellishment and a nice wooden Turkish Delight box to store things in. A roll of really nice brown gift wrap paper with gold stars and a roll of cellophane, and a couple of packs of playing cards for altering. Finally, a kids’ art activity book with plenty of things to cut out and add to my stash. There was no junk jewellery this time. I usually carry most of that away as I can take it apart and use it in projects, but I’ve now got such a huge stash of it that it was probably a good thing there wasn’t any more to tempt me!
The dissection of the book
A bit of everything! First of all there were plenty of little pictures to cut out which I can incorporate into collage projects and albums, and some stickers. There was a small cyanotype kit and various frames to cut out. There was a square of thin copper metal and a plastic embossing plate, and a few sheets of tracing paper. Finally some powder paints and a brush – I’m not sure these will be much use but worth trying.
Not a bad haul and quite a bargain for the lot!
Artists
I met a couple of delightful artists displaying their work, and had some lovely conversations with them. One of them was a potter, Clare Woodhall, and I fell in love with her gorgeous earth-coloured and organic looking stoneware.
I succumbed to temptation and bought a beautiful bowl with an asymmetrical design.
It is now sitting on my kitchen counter alongside the stoneware fruit bowl which I bought decades ago in Dartington.
A lovely day out and a fruitful one! I love village fetes and the County Show because you never know what you are going to find.
