Sacramento Art Fiesta is Around the Corner

     The first weekend in June is the yearly Sacramento Kiwanis Art Fiesta. This show had existed, well, forever, at the Town and Country Shopping Center at Marconi and Fulton. Now I hear  a Traders Joes is still there, but almost all the rest has been converted to Big Box stores. I don't think I will drive by to look.
     Art and craft shows are really the antithesis of Big Box stores. Big Box is synomous with "brand" names, and competitive ( cheapest) price on items desired by us all. Art and crafts are the direct opposite of this mindset. One of a kind, or limited production, handmade items seek out the "collector" ( I hate to say consumer) who has a unique appreciation of that item.  Mass appeal is not what the artist or crafts person seeks, but rather a unique expression, or communication in a visual form, from one human to another. Is this the appeal of handmade?
     It is true however that Big Box stores now exist with very arty stuff that gives the illusion of handmade, with a price that is kind to Americans. Often this merchandise has been designed by American artisans, and made overseas. Well what isn't made overseas these days? I saw some mushrooms, cello-packed and very American looking that were shipped from China. I wouldn't eat them.
     I have probably blogged about this in the past. I don't have a lot of time, regardless of what the marketing experts tell me to do, to write a variety of content for this blog. I do make my own work, and that is pretty all-consuming.  But this is a theme that is like a splinter under my nail. I am trying to dig it out,  get a good look at it, and get rid of it so I can move on.
   Oh by the way, the show this year is at the Pavillions in Sacramento. No big box stores, but lots of big names...Williams Sonoma, Talbots, Coldwater Creek.  I am in front of Talbots.