Last week was quite an artsy week for me. I went to the Denver Art Museum with some other newcomers from Estes Park to take a tour of the Western Art exhibit. I’ve always liked artists like Thomas Moran, Frederick Remington, Charles Russell, and Albert Bierstadt, but I discovered some new artists that I like. The museum had some artwork by much younger painters, and although I didn’t remember the names, I found some that I liked. I was surprised, however, by how overwhelming the influence of men was. Not even one work by Georgia O’Keefe. That a woman had to point out this inequality to me was quite embarrassing.
On the way back north to Estes Park, my car decided to make a detour to the Asian Pacific Market in Broomfield on 120th Street where I could stock up on supplies for my art studio. I have never liked my artwork to be sculptures, drawings or paintings. My artwork hangs in the kitchen.
I bought a bunch of special groceries and cooked some Thai dishes for some friends on Sunday. I gave them a soup with udon noodles, bean sprouts, baby bok choy, chicken, mushrooms, shallots, spring onions and a few other ingredients. They also had papaya salad, rice and rambutans. Very successful. As I said, my creativity lies in the kitchen.
The weekend was the occasion for the Artist Studio Tour of Estes Park. I visited the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of paintings and artwork at the DAM and the studios in people’s homes throughout town. The materials ranged from turned wooden bowls, watercolors, oil paintings, Buddhist prayer wheels from East Asia, horse and buffalo statues made from tied sticks, jewelry, modern art paintings, boxes of string and other materials forming a collage, and a variety of art materials made from fabric and wool.
There are many more arts festivals happening across the state over the coming weekends. A quick Google search shows one in Evergreen next weekend as well as one in Estes Park, Denver and Lakewood. There are many over Labor Day weekend including one in Estes Park, Breckenridge, Manitou Springs, Boulder, Denver and I’m sure there are more. If you know of any upcoming festivals and want to support your local artists, please mention them in the comments.
I know the DNC starts tonight in Chicago. I know Leftcandid is there with the Adams County Democrats. Do you know any other Colorado Cossacks who might enjoy the fun and quiet of a convention in Chicago?
I have to go to dinner now. Have fun playing in the comments. I’ll come back tonight to respond. Until then, you have the floor.
