This year, the Bellevue Arts Festival was at it's best yet! I have traditionally been going for several years now, and find it amazing how creative some people really are.
There are so many good pieces this year. A great number of them have humour in them, which I appreciate. Especially on a very hot day, with over 200 artists to see! I came home exhausted, with pained feet, today, but it was totally worth it.
Several of the artist's booths are set up on the bottom floor of the parking garage at the back of the mall, so that is where I often choose to start. The festival is clear around the Bellevue Square area, and about a block beyond. It has definitely grown over the years. I noticed that the jewelery was more creative this year. It actually sparked my interest a little. Here is just one sample of the many. This one is by Alex Horst:
Alex Horst Jewelry
Christina Goodman also has a jewelry series, as done in the style below. The artwork is painted on with a very tiny-tipped brush. The booth has display of one of one of Christina's pieces, under a magnifying glass. The detail in the work is incredible. This, I believe is a picture of one of her miniatures, or possibly a decorative pin:
Christina Goodman, hand painted miniatures & jewelry
Besides jewelry, there are all other sorts of artwork, in various mediums. Eileen F. Song is one of the artists that has a touch of humour in her paintings, mostly with birds as the subject:
Eileen F. Song
One of my favorite artists, Justin Hillgrove, is at the festival again, with his IMPS and MONSTERS collection. I have a couple of pieces of his work. One of a cat, called "Familiar," and one from his Alice In Wonderland series, called "Down the Rabbit Hole." I would like to eventually get "Mad Tea Party" from that series, and maybe some of his new Harry Potter series. They look really fun. This is the image that he has on his business card this year:
Justin Hillgrove
There are some pretty awesome sculptures at the festival this year. Carol Braden's work really caught my eye, as well as several other patrons. Most of her display is a variety of sculpted guitars, made from various license plates, as shown on the right on this image:
Carol Braden
Obviously, sculptures are much more impressive in person, because you can see the 3-dimensionality of them, but this gives you an idea. Her website shows a few more of her guitar sculptures. I would have liked to have seen the pizza slice too! It looks cool!
Finally, a piece I could not resist, even though I tried. This piece was done by an artist named Lynne Farren from Tacoma. Her artwork is made from cut paper and mixed media on stretched canvas. Because of that, I believe each piece may be one of a kind. I was told there are 7 coats of varnish on the artwork I purchased, (which is not obvious at all - in a good way), so I could wipe it if needed. I absolutely love this piece:
Lynne Farren
Lynne does not appear to have a website, but here is her card:
Pretty impressive card, too. Isn't it? This booth itself looks very impressive, the floor has some artsy mats to cover the ugliness of the parking lot - and a desk sits at the front edge of the booth with her business cards and whatnot. It also appears to be done with her cut-paper/mixed media style of work. The whole display is really quite incredible.
So many artists I have not mentioned - but so many more with great pieces of work. The event still runs tomorrow, July 31st, at the Bellevue Square Mall in Bellevue, WA from 9:30am-6pm. There is no entrance or parking fee. There are food vendors there for a price if you get hungry. Have a good time!
Brian Major, chalk artist, replicates Andy Warhol's "Marilyn Monro" on the sidewalk outside of the BAM.
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