My daughter and I have attended a couple of Arts and Crafts fairs lately. I have a love/hate relationship with these events. I love the open air shopping, the excited anticipation I get on a quest for a unique find, and the unusually good homemade food and baked goods. What I don’t like is that the people pleaser in me gets triggered like a lightning rod, at these fairs. I usually come home with at least one or two items that I don’t particularly like or want, only because I got trapped by “the puppy dog eyes” of a vendor who looked at me pleadingly, the eyes begging me to like his or her art, and to show my approval with a purchase.
At the last fair we attended, I purchased two teeny, tiny, clay succulent planters. They have little elfin faces painted on them, with pointed ears and dangling dragonfly earrings. I have no idea where to put them yet. I had to purchase separate shepherd hooks from Amazon to hang them on, but I absolutely adore these little pots! At this same fair, I also purchased a ring that is semi-tarnished, a little snug and looks like about 26 other rings that I have at home, all because I made the mistake of trying it on and engaging with the enthusiastic artist who crafted it.
I try not to make eye contact when I peruse Arts and Crafts fairs. It is too similar to walking through an animal shelter. So many of the artists sit at the top of their booths, with eager eyes and tails wagging. Occasionally, you walk past a booth where the artist is sitting in the very back corner, reading a book or working on a miscellaneous craft and absolutely shows no interest in shoppers, whatsoever. These are the booths that I get particularly suckered into buying things. When a crafter acts like a damaged dog, who seems to have given up on life and people, I want to prove that people aren’t all bad, and I find myself acting extremely enthusiastic about something I don’t want at all, like colored sand art bottles or my name written on a mustard seed.
Like so many things in life, Arts and Crafts fairs teach you more about yourself than anything else. I guess sometimes, I am projecting my own need for approval on to people who are selling their wares at Arts and Crafts fairs. While the artists are happy to publicly share their items with their community, and aren’t sad to make a few bucks in the process, most of them will probably continue to create their masterpieces for the pure love of the process of creating, regardless of the outcome of the fair. Maybe the artists at the back corner of their booths, truthfully don’t even like being at the fairs. Maybe they consider the selling of their goods, a necessary evil, in order to purchase more raw materials to continue doing what they truly love to do – bringing the innovations percolating in their minds, to physical life and form.
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” – Pablo Picasso