Arts Festival '08

The Utah Arts Festival was about two weeks ago and the main reason I went was to see Alison Armstrong's booth. I have known Alison for about 8 years, she used to be my neighbor.I used to spend a lot of time in her photo studios and in her train car at The Heber Valley Railroad, where customers would dress up in old time clothes and have old fashioned photos taken. Even then I loved her ideas and creativity. I modeled for her several times, and I think somewhere along the way I was inspired to do what she does.
Since Alison moved away, I haven't seen her in about 3 years. So when I found out that her art would be displayed at the Arts Festival, I was there.
I really love her art ... a huge inspiration to me. I hope to have a job like hers one day.

Her art is so unique and it was amazing to see in real life.
She says,
"I begin by scanning old family images and other photographs, paintings, old paper, letters, and objects on a flatbed scanner; I then combine and manipulate the images with computer software. The final image is printed with archival pigment inks onto watercolor paper."


Some of her art is made with a technique called silver transfer printing and she describes it as,
"After photographing or scanning elements and collaging the images in a computer, I prepare a sheet metal tile by distressing the metal and carefully applying silver leaf. Then I coat a carrier sheet with several layers of a special transparent liquid substrate, on which the image is printed. The resulting printed image is then transferred to the metal and surrounding frame using a unique multi-step process."

Alot of the art I saw displayed at the Arts Festival, she made with encaustic paints and mixed media collages - truly amazing.

Check out Alison's website at:
www.alisonarmstrongart.com

Also, check out the gallery where Alison's art is for sale/on display:
www.twosistersfineartgallery.com









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So another really cool part about the Arts Festival was the music. When we first got there, we listened to this band called The Mollies. We instantly fell in love with their music. The sound was so beautiful. The band has two extremely talented female vocalists that play acoustic guitar,mandolin, and cello. They harmonized in a way that just makes your ears tingle. The two males in the band played acoustic bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and the saw - yes the saw - it makes extremely eerie, crazy noises when played with a violin bow. Their style was mellow, very folkie, indie-pop-ish. We ended up buying their demo CD. I highly recommend a listen. Do so at:
www.myspace.com/themolliesmusic

And you know, it really inspired me to want to play guitar and sing. Every time I pick up the guitar I become frustrated, mainly because my boyfriend and all of our friends are such good musicians that I feel that I will never catch up. But I realized that is a horrible attitude and I'm going to learn it and stick with it. I already sing, and it would be wonderful to have my own accompaniment. I really am going to do this.

So my long term goal: to learn the guitar, so I can sing and play and enjoy the happiness that comes from making music. I can't wait.