Folkfest 2011, by Creative Clay

Folkfest 2011, early in the day.

Saturday, October 1st, was the first day of the Fifth Folkfest. It's put on by Creative Clay (CC), whose "... mission is to make the arts accessible for every interested member of the Tampa Bay community regardless of age, gender, ability and/or race. Since 1995, Creative Clay has been providing local artists with developmental, physical and/or emotional disabilities an opportunity to pursue their passion for art making." [Link]. 

It was a beautiful, mercifully cool and windy day for a festival. 

Stephanie Schorr from Craftsman House

 This is Stephanie in her Craftsman House booth, and the goodies the cafe at the Gallery is known for.  Craftsmen Gallery is at 2955 Central Avenue. It is a combination Gallery, Cafe and Studio set in a large, beautiful Arts & Crafts era bungalow. They always have extraordinarily beautiful pottery and art on hand. [Link]

Priya Thorenson making pottery

Craftsmen House also had a pottery demonstration going on just to the right of the picture above. Potter Priya Thorenson was at work, and explaining the process.

 Creative Clay had their booths, in which work was shown and sold. Their artists did some live painting and demonstrations as seen on the left. I  had the pleasure of talking with Marcy Davidson of Creative Clay, and was given a tour of the gallery and studios. 

 On the left, Joe and Kelly Shull from Jellykoe, their Art Studio, which makes paintings, plushies and more they are a multi-talented creative couple. You can see more of their work here: [Link]

I'm not sure who these two beautiful smiling artists I photographed in their booth are, but I suspect the one on the left is Claire Vohman [Link] and on the right is Mavis Stevens [Link]. A delightful, lighthearted pair of artists.  

Katherine Michael is a folk painter from St. Augustine, FL. Some her work deals with media personalities and shows. [Link]  

That's Matt Deterior giving me his "artist's look". He rejects the "opiates" of current culture and his art is a way to reconnect with people at a different more real, primal and humane level. In spite of the studied scowl, he's a funny and gentle guy and a rising star in the area as an artist. He has a work at C. Emerson Fine Arts at the moment (which was reviewed here). [Link].

Anna Rocco and her Mural

On the right is a photo of Anna Rocco Hamilton and her "Mutt Mural". She and Dan Carney (Managing Director of Murals for Mutts) raise money for animal welfare by painting pet murals and portraits. [Link]

Zen Glass Studio Booth

 The Zen Glass booth, complete with artist flashing a peace sign. Later that evening I saw more Zen glass hanging at Cafe Kahwa. [Link]

The one and only Bean Spence and his 3D art.

Bean Spence does fantastic, out there art, then he hands you the 3D glasses...and it gets wilder. He's a work of art himself, performance art. Here he's posing while holding out one of his cards.   










Congratulations to all the Folkfest artists and to Creative Clay for putting on an excellent festival, which is also on for today on Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, at about 12th street and runs for blocks. If you go, be sure to walk into Creative Clay and have a look. A special note of thanks to Marcy Davidson.

--- Luis