Halifax Arts Festival—Great Show!

Whitney and I traveled down to the 45th Annual Halifax Arts Festival in historic downtown Daytona Beach this weekend and had a fabulous show! The weather was perfect, the crowds were wonderful and full of happy shoppers, and the hospitality was top-notch. Of all the shows I do, this one is by far the best run. This was my second year and I hope to be back for many more. Set up is incredibly easy, volunteers are plentiful and stop by your booth four to five times a day, the mix of work is just right, they do a great job jurying, and the advertising is extensive. They also do a very nice artists' reception Saturday evening with wine and heavy appetizers. It’s organized by the Guild of the Museum of Arts and Sciences and run totally by volunteers of the organization.

And as with many of the shows I do, I always meet incredibly talented artists whose work I love to marvel over. Let’s just say there were way too many I truly loved this time, so I’ll force myself to narrow this down to just two! First, Augusto Sanchez. Oh…my…gosh. I absolutely fell over backwards when I saw his work. He paints the most ethereal and colorful angels I’ve ever seen, and then adds mixed media elements into the paintings. Oh how I would love to have an original, but I was quite certain DH would limit me to a strict prison work release program if I came home with a $3,000 painting so I had to settle for two prints and cards. The green themed angel above is the original I would have walked away with, though the blue themed was a close second. One of his paintings included the words “While we are sleeping, angels have conversations with our souls.” These truly did speak to me. Visit Augusto’s website here to view all his angels and read more about him. And if I have a very wealthy benefactor out there who's in a generous mood, the "Green Dreams" angel would be a great addition to my home.... :-)

I also met Chrissie Grace and loved her work as well. This was one of my favorite pieces in her booth and since we don’t have any “brothers” in our brood, she’s doing a custom piece for me. Can’t wait to get it! I love the idea of the “Family Rules” in such a colorful, playful presentation. Chrissie is a mixed media mosaic artist who also works some in collage. Visit her website here. She’s also on Etsy here, but for now, just look in the SOLD works to see some samples as she currently doesn’t have anything listed, but mark her as one your favorites to check back later! Chrissie is nationally recognized and is now working on her second book teaching mosiac tile art! You go, girl! You can order the first on her website.

All in all, a great weekend! Whitney and I enjoyed having time to catch up here and there, we had great sales, met some wonderful new friends, enjoyed fabulous weather, ate great pizza and some amazingly decadent fresh chocolates. What more can you ask? See you next year Halifax friends!

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