I said you shouldn't...

The title is a partial quote from Marge Simpson. It seems I remember already using Homer's "less artsy, more fartsy" for a past post, so I thought I would start this one with my other favorite line from Marge and Homer's visit to the art fair: I said you shouldn't fry your shirt, not you couldn't fry your shirt. Said to Homer, as he walks around munching on his fried shirt.

So, what's my point you ask? This weekend (when we probably should have been organizing Twosey's nursery) we took in one of our favorite annual events- The Bayou City Arts Festival. The morning started cool- and unfortunately we dressed for that- but by the time we left, it had turned in to one of those days that makes you glad to live in the South.

There is limited to no parking at the festival, so the 1st step is catching the bus over there. They have dedicated busses that pick up in several parts of town. We always start downtown. Since we were on the early side, we had no problem finding free parking on the same block at the bus stop. Awesome. Truitt was very excited about the prospect of riding on the bus.

Waiting patiently. Have snack bar, will travel.

The 1st booth we stopped at when we entered was the featured artist, Larry Stephenson. His "Day At The Airport" was the artwork used for this year's posters and t-shirts. We were immediately in love with his paintings of vintage toys. As parents of (soon to be) 2 boys, this subject matter was very appealing. We always like to buy something at the festival and this was on the top of our list straight away.

Larry Stephenson's featured art for the festival.

Truitt was not quite as interested in the vintage toy are as we were. His interest wasn't truly piqued until we got to a funky metal work booth. I liked this booth as well b/c the artist had these little monsters carrying off garden gnomes. I have seen these before in the Uncommon Goods catalog. and thought they were funny, especially since my mother seems to have developed a love for garden gnomes in the past decade. I didn't go for the real deal, but I couldn't help myself and bought a mini-version that will nestle nicely in to the potted rubber tree on our front porch.

Truitt checks out the booth. You can see the gnome being spirited away in the middle. Fascinated by a helmet made in to a turtle and metal work spider.

The excitement really becomes too much for Tru when he finds a bulldozer! Notice he is still holding that snack bar...

The festival has all genres of art available to experience. Truitt loves music and dancing, so we took a seat at the Houston Arts Alliance stage to see who was performing. We ended up with a modern dance company. It was interesting but we were hoping for something more dynamic. Truitt watched, though, apparently not as bored as his Mama.

There was also a dedicated section for the little ones where they could have some hands on art experiences. Truitt made a felt collage bird and colored an elephant. The elephant could have been made in to a crown, but he was more content to use the glue stick than worry about wearing something on his head. I was disappointed we didn't get to make a mini art car, but that booth was pretty packed with older kids. Still, T enjoyed what he got to do and we enjoyed watching and helping.

The best felt bird collage magnet EVER!

Fun with markers and a glue stick.

This was another booth that Truitt loved: paintings of guitars and drums. He loooves musical instruments lately. In fact, he has blown our minds with his ability to identify instruments by sound. There was music on the bus to the art fest. A part came on that was a guitar solo and T turns to me and says "guitar!" I have no idea how he learned to identify a guitar by its sound alone! At the festival, a man was playing keyboards and long before you could even see him, Truitt heard the music and told Ray "Piano." Again, no idea where or when he learned this. He impresses me pretty much daily.

After a couple of hours of walking and stopping and looking, we decided we really wanted to head back to Larry Stephenson's booth on the way out. There was one print that really stuck with us as we walked the festival and we decided to take it home for Truitt's big boy room. Sure, I would have liked to have bought an original, but... We love the piece we got. So fun and boyish. It was framed by the artist (you should have seen us with it on the bus and, even better, downtown trying to get it in to our sedan) and is something Truitt will have for years and years. I hope he eventually loves and appreciates it like we do!

Larry Stephenson, the artist. I really only like to buy from artists who are representing themselves at the festival. If you're too good to show up yourself, you don't need me to buy your art. Larry and his wife were so wonderful and accommodating. It makes buying a print from him even better.

This is the print we bought. Isn't it wonderful?!?! I can't wait until Truitt's new dresser arrives to hang this above it.

Also, you should check out Larry's website and peek at some of his other cool art:

http://www.lstephenson.com/

Overall, a great day. Lots of good family time and fun. We got home 2 hours late for Turtle's nap. but he didn't seem to mind. He was just happy to be on the bus again: