Weekend at Allentown

Every summer I look forward to Allentown Art Festival and this summer was no different. As usual, it didn't disappoint; I got my fried dough, I spent quality time with my family, I got some exercise and time out of the house, and I was able to purchase new art!

This year I went pretty early on Saturday so it didn't seem as crowded when I was there, always better to see the art, and it wasn't too hot. My friend, Alison, said that she sold a lot that day, which has been unusual in the recent years due to the stressful economy. I noticed that she, as well as many other artists, have been focusing on Buffalo a lot more lately. Wherever you turned there were Buffalos on t-shirts, hand-embroidered, painted, sculpted, drawn, and carved. There was Buffalo scenery (usually at the Buffalography booth) along with the actual Buffalo animals and a cool new booth full of shirts with such phrases as : "My city smells like Cheerios," "McKinley's Last Stop," and "Born in Buffalo." Website here: http://borninbuffalo.net/shop/

The other big seller was garden accessories (I would know because my mother bought two custom-designed signs since she is obsessed with her garden this summer):

On Sunday I spent the whole day there. It was harder to find something healthy to eat when all you smell is the sizzling philly cheesesteaks, the sweet sugar-topped fried dough, and the savory Sahlen's hot dogs. I was surrounded by pastries, cookies, onion rings, fries and pretty much every other caloriefied junk food. But the pedometer on my phone kept me in check, needless to say, I went way over the daily 10,000 miles that day.

There was also a marching band! I didn't get to hear them play, but

when we stopped to rest in the nearby park the band also came to take a breather.

I liked the work at this booth: http://www.cehullphotography.com/vegetables2.html

Mainly because I want to decorate my kitchen with canvases like these of vegetables.

I think the best part about Allentown is that it lets Buffalonians get together to appreciate the finer things in life: music, art, crafts, food, and the company of others. Despite the high heat everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were even partying on the rooftops.

There was some pretty glassware that was painted with flowers:

And Alison's booth was full of a mix of paintings and 3-D media. I liked the painting with the martinis and the olives were 3-D with their own little attitudes. I bought the smaller Buffalo print with the three different Buffalos for my sister for Christmas. Here is a look at her booth:

Haha, the other highlight of my Allentown adventure was mentioning www.artvoice.com in my normal conversations with my sister:

"Hey, I was online looking at something ..." -me

"On artvoice.com?" -my sister

"Yes, artvoice.com has a lot of interesting things!" -me.

Next up, my review of Pano's, since it was my first time there after Allentown.