Naples

We went to an art festival today. It was HUGE (I would say a good mile of street vendors) and really cool. Naples is a really rich fancy town that is south? of Fort Myers, and as I said rich. Seriously. Subway looks really out of place there. But it's a tradition to go, and the art is amazing. Kristin and I were wandering down the booths, and we went into this one display by a bronze artist name Bob Wilfong. Normally, when Kristin and I go into the booths we are ignored. I find this really annoying. I know that by looking at us one can tell we aren't going to pay 200-3,000 dollars for their piece of art, but that doesn't mean we don't admire the craft and might be interested in learning more so that when we do go out and graduate and make money we might want to come back and buy their stuff seeing as we would know something about it. Usually we get snubbed and they don't say hello. Then again, that is better than an alternative. Glen and I went to a pottery festival over the summer in Lubbock, and one lady was trying to force us to buy her cheap stuff.
ANYWAY this guy, Bob Wilfong, was REALLY nice. He started explaining all of his bronze sculptures to us, and it was really cool! At first, I didn't know how I felt about having the art explained to me. I've been told that it's better to let the art stand for itself and leave it open for interpretation than tell why you did what you did. BUT i would have NEVER understood his art without his explanation, and it made the pieces so much more interesting and beautiful when I understood why he created what he did. Maybe the best solution is somewhere in between.
Anyway, he did this really pretty piece called "Where Flowers bloom" that dealt with how we need to be okay with who we are before we can be in relationships. He writes poems that accompany the pieces I guess to offer some sort of a guide as well.
But, to copy from his artist statement, he said that he creates his work because of his love for his wife (Awww!) and it is his belief that art in all forms should move people to a higher level of consciousness and give them pride in who and what they wish to become.

and here are some pictures from naples: