art on the range

_{booth wall of IA artist Chris Vance at the arts festival}

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Yesterday I went on a day trip with fellow steemian @sunravelme so i could escape my abode, in order to remember how other people (and plants and animals) lived.

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_{a neighborhood fence painted with graffiti near to the Stanley Center}

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We settled on a plan of visiting the Stanley Center, an abandoned airplane manufacturing facility in Aurora that was converted into a multi use community center and mini mall. The market is in a mixed residential and light industrial area outside of Denver.

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_{Zero Market, a store that sells reusable containers, personal items, and bulk herbal products such as body wash, soap and body spray}

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The grounds are big enough to host small events, such as the arts festival we attended, as well as a venue for weddings, receptions and fundraisers. The building itself holds over fifty food, retail, fitness, educational and other small businesses and offices, as well as a large open area for indoor events.

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_{paintings by CO artist Brian Billow, who employs wood panel, acid oxidized paint, metallic paint (seen as trees and mountain tops), epoxy, river rock tar antique in his mixed media artwork}

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The festival was just as you might imagine..rows of outside booths, featuring (imho mostly overpriced) mediocre to fascinating artwork and photography, interspersed with handcrafts and booths to advertise local businesses.

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_{stone and slate mixed media wall hangings by CO artist erika bushee sell for around $7500}

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I was actually amazed at how far some artists had traveled to show their wares in the event. there were a few from Colorado, but plenty had traveled to the show from California, Iowa, New Mexico and even Canada.

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_{CO artist arabella tattershall created a steampunk guitar listed at $2800 and a dress made from wire and metal leaves ($12,000) that i admired... but not enough to consider buying them}

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I was exceedingly impressed with local photographers Tom Heywood and David Mayhew, whose works were at least reasonably priced. I did not photograph their photos, but you may follow the links. It's worth a gander.

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_{the booth of TX artist jennifer ashbrook, specialized in art created with colorized tiles and upcycled paint chips to mimic real life photos}

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My favorite artist was jennifer cavan, whose use of strong contrasting colors, exaggerated aspects and distorted views lend an appealing fantasy-like aspect to her work.

_{"I'll Lend You My Dreams", by Jennifer Cavan}

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My other favorite artistic works were a steem punky guitar and dress, some mixed media made with corroded acid paint and soldered metal effects, and the slate and stone art. There were a lot of niche artists who did things I admired, but not enough that I would consider buying their art, even if i was rich. Which is maybe why poor starving artists are poor and starving.

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_{touch lamps made from old metal gears, brass and wood from LukeHobbsDesign}

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Both sun and i agreed that the samples of garlic spiced salmon from the Honey Smoked Fish Company were absolutely amazing!

After a bite of empanadas at one of the many food booths, we drove a little north to our second destination, which will be continued in the next post... (queue cliffhanger effect..) Hope you enjoyed this post!

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_{sneak peak at the next coming attraction..}