I love the Pageant of the Masters. I've been going every year since my first visit in 2001. This year, for the first time, my husband and I spent the whole weekend in Laguna Beach, giving us ample opportunity to leisurely visit all the different shows and various galleries.
We got to visit all 3 of the big art shows this year -- Art-A Fair, Sawdust Art Festival and Festival of Arts. We did a lot of browsing and bought a few small pieces here and there. Buying art is starting to get easier, and I think it's because I'm learning that it's really just about what personally appeals to you. The "market value" or price tag is not a good basis for judging what you will enjoy seeing in your home every day.
For example, I love dancing, and I was entranced by the tango paintings of Fabian Perez. If I had the wall space, I would love to have one of these huge paintings hanging somewhere. I settled for an 8x10 print by George McGhee of a pirate ship by moonlight. I like pirates, and that's good enough reason for me.
I also picked up some jewelry; a barette from Earl Reid and dangly earrings. I decided to abstain from buying too much at the fair and instead took note of all the artists I liked, to browse their websites when I got home. Big mistake! Most of their websites were out of date, and almost none had their merchandise for sale online. I will actually have to wait till I visit the fair again next year! That's a valuable lesson, in this day and age of the I'll-buy-it-online-later mentality.
As a hobbyist photographer, I found myself particularly examining the photography booths. There were a lot of photographs I liked, but I realized that I wasn't drawn to them by a desire to keep the image, but by a desire to create those images myself. I also learned how lucky I am to have access to an abundance of amazing photography on Google+ to be inspired by and learn from. The quantity of great work on Google+ far eclipses what there was at the art show by far. I stopped by the booth of Gary Zuercher and was fascinated by his image of The Valley of Fire.
I started asking him questions about how he made it, and to my pleasant surprise, he was very forthcoming about various techniques that I had no inkling of. He explained about his choice of lens length, diffraction phenomena, the use of color temperature, and multiple exposures. I think I learned more about photography from him in 10 minutes than I have in the last year.
Can't wait to go back again in 2013!
