North Park, Festival of Arts, San Diego, CA

How ironic!!!  I was needing a little inspiration for my next artistic undertaking, when last night my husband came home with a flier for the North Park Festival of Arts!  Perfect!!!

After working in the garden for a few hours this morning, I headed off to the Festival for some inspiration; supportive husband in tow (although I imagine he was at least slightly interested in the plethora of fried and candy coated food).

We made it to our destination in a short 20 minutes.  However, we spent an additional 25 searching for a place to park.

Ok... Now for the good stuff...  There were TONS of artists there to draw inspiration from!  Well, duh... It is an ART festival.  Anyhoo, paintings, photography, glass, sculptures, glass-sculptures (Ha Ha!), jewelry, and funnel cake.  I had reached my motivational Mecca!!!

From all of the paintings I saw, it seems I'm more drawn to the abstract variety.  To be honest, I'm not sure if this is the right term, but this is a brief description:

• No actual person, place or thing (hope that was the artists' intention, and I'm not offending).
• Shapes, lines, smears, and splotches of various color in no particular pattern.

Ok, so I know what your thinking, "You say you like this because its probably the least intimidating to try doing yourself!  All you're going to do is throw a bunch of paint on a canvas and call it art."  Well, nope!  That's not it at all!!!  The one original painting I own is the same type.  What draws me to it, I guess, is the fact that I like the chaos of it all!  The colors that run together, that overlap, that blend to create a, sort of, peaceful harmony on canvas.  Maybe this genre of painting (my phrasing for discussing art is most likely way off... Note to self: learn the language) reminds me of my life somehow; wonderfully, beautifully chaotic.

So, when I scrape up the extra dough (must find a job first) I will commence my first abstract painting (if that's what its called).

Because painting was not an option today, and because I was now bursting with inspiration, I decided to take some photos.  I had seen many photographers' work at the festival, and thought, "Jeez!  Some pictures I've taken are just as good as this!!!"  So when we got back to the house, I pulled out my camera and began taking some pics in  my grandfather's garden.

Ok, so these are a bit amateur, but I'm a little rusty!  It's been two years since my one semester in a photography class.  The point is, it was soooo fun!  It's amazing what unassuming, everyday things can be transformed into art!!!

After dinner, we decided to head to the beach for a sunset shoot!  Plus, I thought it might be a romantic way to end the day with my husband.

Well, the sunset was, as expected, beautiful!  What the pictures don't show was the million mile per hour wind gusts and 58 degree weather. So the romance was sucked out of the equation (it's hard to kiss when your lips are chattering), but the photos turned out pretty well, if I do say so!

It was a day full of destinations, inspirations, and creations, and I loved every moment of it!