August 22, 2011
Several weeks ago Wayne and I had the fantastic opportunity to attend Bele Chere in Asheville. This was by far the largest festival we've participated in to date and we didn't have any idea what to expect. It turned out to be three full days of art, craft, people, yummy food, and (bonus!) dogs. Let me start by saying Bele Chere definitely draws a crowd! For most of the event, there were people as far as you could see.(The Big Nasty is pictured above. They play jazz and were pretty amazing.)
(thanks to the kind mom who let me take a picture of her adorable daughter sporting her hat)
And there was an endless supply of food. All the typical festival style food and a whole section at Pack Square called the Taste of Asheville.
We had some pretty amazing bruchetta from Ristorante Vincenzo, ate a meal at the Green Light Cafe, and wandered up to the French Broad Chocolate Shop a few times for goodies. Yum!
I, of course, spent a good bit of the first day wandering around. The booth wasn't busy yet, so I had some time and used it quite wisely taking pictures of a selection of my favorite artists.
Rocky Green makes amazing hand hewn bowls. He was braving the heat and working on one outside the booth while people wandered by.
How gorgeous are these?
Gnarled Tree crafts Didjeridoos which he kindly played for me. I want one. No clue why and I would have absolutely no use for one, but I think they are a fun instrument. The booth stayed quite busy as he was teaching people how to play.
The juried art section was full of talented folk. I was drawn to Cindy Anderson's booth specifically. What an amazing imagination she has. On her web site, she refers to these as "oddities" and I think they are aptly named. I loved looking at her work - beautiful and fun, but slightly dark (forgive the shadows...I wandered over at the wrong time of day).
Randomly, there was someone selling Bonsai.
And, for the favorite pooch in your life, there was a bone bar.
I loved the rustic quality of Sols Creek Natural Crafts. Through the course of the weekend I saw several people carrying around their distinctive baskets.
Tops for Shoes had a huge TOMS display and a fun give board that they were encouraging people to draw on. On Saturday they even had an artist who would hand paint on your purchased shoes.
Karen Smith has gorgeous jewelry. I have to lay off my earring collection (it's getting a bit out of control), or I would have probably brought something home.
My favorite booth by far belonged to Michelle Mardis. The painting below is what first attracted me and (believe it or not) it was on the BACK of her booth. She accepts commissioned work (there may be a waiting list) and will paint your pet from a photo. She sells originals and small prints as well.
I saw a tweet at some point through the weekend that Michelle had won first place for her booth. Well deserved! Here are a few paintings from inside:
I treated myself to two purchases. The first was a bag from the talented Nikita Lynn. From what I understand, she travels to India periodically and has the bags made while paying fair wages to women. Aside from that, they are beautiful!
I also bought another instrument. We own a few ukes and have been slowly learning to play. I saw a few people carrying an instrument that caught my eye and managed to finally track down them down (thanks for Evelyn and LaChristian for the help!). Below is Aaron. He and his father handcraft the Woodrow - a string instrument that is a cross between a banjo and a dulcimer. It is very easy to play and I've had fun with it already.Comments will be approved before showing up.
April 04, 2021
March 22, 2020