Park Avenue Arts Festival

The Park Avenue Arts Festival is held every summer in Rochester, NY. Rochester is the fortunate home to several arts festivals throughout the summer months (Cornhill, Clothesline). I grew up in Rochester, NY. For several years, I did the majority of my Christmas shopping at these festivals.

I was in town this past weekend for my mom's birthday and the graduation party for the son of a dear friend. Luckily I was able to catch the Park Avenue Festival. This Rochester arts festival has a particular soft spot in my heart. Why? Because I lived in this area of town for almost 10 years. It is known as the "artsy" part of town with beautiful old houses carefully preserved or cut up into apartments with 'character.' I lived in the latter. Almost every year my friends and I would host a party for the festival. They were great times!

I have said previously on my blog that arts festivals are wonderful places to see and purchase quality art at reasonable prices. Artists that are working to make a name for themselves find their way to these festivals. I purchased photography from an artist at a similar fesitval and now he is in the big league. I should have my images appraised!

I was only able to see half of the festival as my daughter was with me. She enjoyed the art but she also had an eye for other things....





I was able to find a few artists that I will use in my work or support for heart felt reasons.


Ms. Thompson of Sheri's Crystal Designs has the loveliest small chandeliers. I can see using them in a little girl's room, a funky powder room, over a small table, as task lighting flanking a bed, or in a cozy reading nook. The possibilities are many....

That's my Lauren. She liked the pink one the best.

Here is Sheri's website again.



Mr. Kumkowski stole my heart. Not only does he have a fabulous name, he was very kind to my daughter. I love his metal art. I want this piece below in my home! Music ~ love it!

Wonderful words. Great detail. I know what I am getting Kristin for Christmas. Red martini ~ c'mon! No, no website :(

Drayton Glass Works ~ Jonathan Poirier. Yes, he has a website! The movie on the site is fun to watch. I heard him speaking with a gentleman about his education ~ he apprenticed for four years in Sweden. From his website ~ "Jonathan Poirier's creative style is indicative of the work of Transjo Hytta Glass, and is no longer taught outside of this factory in Southern Sweden." I really like his work....

Then there was Gary Caccamise...

How fun and bright for a child's room, a play room, or any really happy room...

And rounding out the group, Katie Shirley's Closet.....


My pictures of their jewelry did not turn out well. They have lovely hand made bracelets. Here are some photos from their website (the price shown does not reflect the price of all the pieces).





Katie Shirley's Closet is a philanthropist organization in the memory of Katie Ciardi. They select different agencies to donate the proceeds from their sales. They are currently project is Daystar....

Daystar ~ Where Love Shines:
Daystar is a daycare in Pittsford, NY for infants from up to three years old who live with serious illnesses and helps them reach their full potential.

Wow! That is that I call beautiful.

One never knows what treasures will be found at arts festivals.

All Things Glass III - Part Two - Artist Series III

A funny thing happened - I received an email from Terry Nelson, VP of Marketing for The Artful Home thanking me for the blog mention. No, please Thank You! Mr. Nelson said, "We are currently running at 15% off promotion in case you wanted to mention that for people looking to buy one of those beautiful glass pieces you included." How wonderful! Now all those beautiful pieces are even more affordable. So what do I do, I immedaitely go back to their site and start looking. Guess what I found?? More beautiful AND functional art glass. Everyone knows about vessel sinks. They can be lovely and add so much. I just put a copper vessel in my client's powder room. It is beautiful. I cannot wait to show you the before and after pictures of that entire project - maybe I'll take some with my little Canon to at least show you the powder room. But I digress. What about a glass sink vessel ot perhaps a faucet. I found these fabulous ones at The Artful Home.

Too much of a commitment? Well, how about this one.....
This one reminds me of the glass pieces I showed you on top of my media cabinet. It is neutral so it will go with almost any decor. The red one above reminds me of another glass piece in my home that I forgot to show you. It is on my mantel.

I bought this one from a young artist at The Sugarloaf Craft Fesitval in Virgnia. I tried to get the link for Sugarloaf but it isn't working. I hope the Festival lives on! Art festivals are the perfect place to find amazing art in just about any material. At that same festival, I purchased beautiful Raku pieces from a brilliant young artist who literally had a fire pit in his parents backyard - Nikko Yngente. When I Googled him, he came up in Linkedin, Facebook, and Business Exchange. Raku is defined per About.com as: "Definition: Raku (noun) generally refers to a type of low-firing process that was inspired by traditional Japanese raku firing. Western-style raku usually involves removing pottery from the kiln while at bright red heat and placing it into containers with combustible materials. Once the materials ignite, the containers are closed. This produces an intense reduction atmosphere which effects the colors in glazes and clay bodies. The drastic thermal shock also produces cracking (known as crackling since it is deliberate)." Ok, I'll buy that - but I bet Nikko knows better. Here he is per his Facebook page and here are my pieces...
Ok, that looks pretty intense! I am not sure if that is part of the Raku process. Maybe Nikko will email me and let me know. I bought these pieces years ago and I still love them today. They are also on my media cabinet - on the other end (that is my daughter's picture when she was three years old peaking into the shot - adorable). Unfortunately, I don't have the card of the red vase glass artist. I must have misplaced it. His work was wonderful too. I have disgressed again into Raku. In my defense - the message I am trying to deliver is ART - art is a must in all my designs. We will talk frequently about art - almost all mediums. I was actually going to blog on the art of music as an inspiration today - again..... I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow. Happy Tuesday!