Common Ground Fair 2018

The Common Ground Fair: 

Delights every year as if for the 1st time!

Put on by Maine Organic Farmers & Growers Association.

Waiting to get in at the gate when you arrive early!

The Fiddler's Showcase, put on by Maine Fiddle Camp,

included various traditional instruments & even a clogger.

Different ages & levels perform. They must wait their turn.

Storytellers Showcase. And a tent across the way.

The Veggie Parade!

 You can bring your own, 

but there is a tent full of costumes made

by a woman who lives on the coast.

 The Farmer's Market, a variety of stands!

Lots of vegetables, dried flowers...

Natural soaps, tonics, honey... 

The scents, the sights!!

The tastes!

Unlike most places, 

here I have healthy, delicious choices!

 The handmade crafts to buy! Pottery, clothes, bags, 

caps, jewelry, wooden furniture...

Anne Brooks woven woolen scarves, my favorites!

Not your traditional horse show.

Riders were putting large workhorses 

through their paces.

Bareback!

The animals!

The Fair celebrates bicycle power, wind power,

& human hula power.

 One of the pleasures, walking over a half mile through 

cultivated woods to get to & from the Fair.

(Though hay wagons are there for those who need a ride.)

It's pretty & artistic, yes, but it is also a place 

where people of good health, good will, of cooperative spirit

and kindness come together to celebrate

traditional arts & local enterprises. 

Upcountry Fairs

In "big city" Portland, 

my predominant means of viewing art work 

was in privately owned galleries. 

Here, I prefer outdoor Fairs & Farmers' Markets, 

where local artists & artisans

set up their booths alongside 

harbors, rivers, or in town squares. 

Part of the fun is strolling outdoors, 

 chatting with vendors & other folks. 

Great places for sketchbook journaling!

Above, a summer Art Fair in Bucksport, 

along the Penobscot River.

Taking Sketch Notes at the Common Ground Fair

In 2014 & 2015 I did photo blog posts of the Common Ground Fair, one of my all time favorite events.

 But this year I quick sketched, & truly Sketchbook Wandered. 

It's probably what I love doing best, even though it is, well, sketchy.

We arrived early. Even waiting in the line outside the gate was enjoyable.

 The book is small, the lines are fast. I quickly add color later,

but I write/jot down some color names while sketching.

Recently, while seeing seeing some very refined & illustrative sketchbook journaling, 

I'd started to question & wonder about my process. 

But Saturday I came back to myself, doing what is most natural to me. 

This note-taking is my best way to put me in touch with my experience.

Seasonal still lifes are everywhere, 

especially at the Farmer's Market stalls.

One of the highpoints was The Gawler Family Band (Google them!). Oh, the JOY that they radiate!

There were 6 of them this year, the Mama & the Papa, the 3 musical daughters & the musical son in law.

 And we got to join them in sing alongs, musical folk tradition at it's best. 

Later on some of the family would be leading a work song workshop 

while shucking garlic.

For the first time I got to see the Vegetable Parade, a tradition since 1990!! 

People of all ages wearing exquisite hand sewn vegetable costumes! 

It's the best parade I've ever seen!! 

Sometimes just a quick second is all it takes to capture some of the magic, in this case "garlic braids". 

There is so much more to show & tell, but for now I'll say,

What a way to celebrate together & to greet Harvest Time & Autumn!!

Sweet Home Belfast Farmer's Market

At the Belfast Farmer's Market, as summer begins greeting autumn.

I arrived early & while watching vendors set up 

a woman near me said she arrives early each week

 in order to get in line to buy her elderly dad 

his favorite loaf of bread, before it runs out,

from Plymouth Pond Farm & Bakery. 

Eventually I also joined the line & while waiting

I started the above sketch.

I hung out at the market for about 4 hours. 

In between sketches I chatted 

with various friends & acquaintances 

at "my" centrally located picnic table.

Toward noon there were very few baked goods left 

at Plymouth Pond Bakery (sketch above).

Belfast Farmer's Market:

Less 

movement,

less quantity, 

less variety, 

less stimulation,
less noise 

fewer crowds

than at my old 

Portland Farmer's Market.

More 

conversations, 

more greetings,
more space,

more tranquility.

Same 

colorful, homegrown

produce & products
& vendors who smile as they
talk about their process & products
& as they exchange money
with people like me who also smile
& fill straw & cloth bags.

There was a time when I lived here 

but longed to be there.

But recently I have come Home 

to my small Belfast town,

including its Farmer's Market.

To market, to market, 

(not buying a pig)

Home again, home again

Jiggedy Jig.

Umbrella Personalities

My town's Arts in the Park Fair, down by the Harbor, got a rainy Sunday morning. I donned my new yellow raincoat & blue umbrella & went down to take photos. Of people with umbrellas.  I have loved umbrellas since I was a wee little girl. My colorful umbrella gave me fancy dancing powers. Singin' in the Rain. 

I looked forward to rainy days ~ still do!

Diane Horton, (with her Monet Poppy Field umbrella) is a popular local artist.  

How cheerful people were even though the rain was washing things out.

 Ooooh, colorful umbrellas, reminding me of my first one. 

Umbrella Personalities!

Blog Post, October, 2012. Boston Rainy Day. 

I was sketching  through a café window that faced a busy intersection. 

Umbrella. Parapluie. ParAsol. (Polish with accent on the 2nd "a") 

Even its names are fun to say!

And you, do you like rainy days?