The 32
nd annual
Woodland Art Fair (
WAF) was held last weekend 8/18- 8/19/07. This is one of the
premiere art events each year for Lexington. The new booth layout is a great improvement and really seems so obvious now that you wonder why we had to be crowded together in all those years previous.
Bravo to
Joe Artz,
program director with the
Lexington Art League (
LAL), organizer of the show, for this much needed change!
I met several local and regional artists and wanted to say hello and thank you to them here:

Saturday I talked with a wonderful watercolor painter named
Bruce Allan Neville from
Cincinnati. His watercolors were breath of fresh air - very spontaneous without the ubiquitous masking fluid technique that so many watercolorists now use.
His paintings remind me of the work of my great aunt, Anne Gieswein Dunn, a life-long artist now in her 80's. She grew up in Covington, Kentucky but has lived most of her life in Connecticut. Mr. Neville, a retired architect had many lovely painting of old
Victorian homes that bespoke of his
familiarity with their lines. He teaches at the
Baker-Hunt Art & Cultural Center in
Covington as well as having a studio space in the
Pendleton Art Center artist Coop in
Cincinnati.
Also on Saturday I met and spoke with
Marianna McDonald a pastel and oil artist with

vibrant paintings of landscapes that seemed more colorful than real life! She is a long time exhibitor at the
WAF and the product of a state school, Murray. Her website has a class link - if she can teach only half of what she knows and does she would be a brilliant teacher. Maybe sometime I will have the pleasure!

Sunday I enjoyed talking to
Beau Stahl's wife, oddly he was one of the few figurative artists displaying at the show (
come on Lexington, are we
really that prudish?). She (I did not get Mrs.
Stahl's first name) said the
LAL had asked Beau to submit for the
Nude 2008 Show (hand delivered
entry deadline October 10th 2007) - I hope he does, as I would enjoy seeing his work again and hope to have an
opportunity to meet him in person.
Also on Sunday I spoke with one of

Lexington's most talented photographers,
John Snell, who explained he has worked exclusively in the digital format for the last few years. I hope I didn't bore him with my computer peripheral and hardware advise - turns out he is a former Computing Manager for
Transylvania University and doesn't probably need any help in that area. It was kind of hot Sunday and my mouth and brain weren't working in
conjunction! He certainly produces some
striking landscape work (z falls being one of my favorites) and if you're lucky you can catch him teaching his craft at
LAL (hint, hint, education director).
Maybe next year some of us Lexington cartoonists and graphic designers can have a booth; if not at the
FAS (a
juried event), maybe across the street in the Woodland Church parking lot? Watch for the
CCG banner!
PS: If you like outdoor arts and crafts shows check out the
Berea Crafts Fair, October 13
th & 14
th, and the huge
Saint James Art Fair in Louisville October 5, 6 and 7. Enjoy!
Nice write-up.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I missed this year's show having visited and enjoyed it in years past. If you organize a booth in 2008, count me in to help man it.
My wife and I attended last year's Berea Crafts Fair (we had a friend who set up for it) and had a good time. It is a bit smaller than the Woodland Arts Fair, but has more of a small town festival flavor which I particularly enjoyed.