A New Location for Art at the Kansas State Fair

(c) Lyn Fenwick,  Title:  Fresh Yellow Squash

This week the 2019 Kansas State Fair opens, and once again I have an entry in the Professional Artists display and competition.  Last year was my first year to participate in that category, and the pastel at the top of this page was my entry.  I didn't bring home a prize but I had fun entering.

In the meantime, my six portraits of characters from Willa Cather's My Antonia were selected for publication in the Willa Cather Review, Vol. 61, No. 2, Spring 2019, together with my essay describing how I searched Cather's novel for descriptions of each character to be sure that my imagined portraits were consistent with Cather's descriptions of each of the six characters.  I have a dislike of illustrations done for books that do not honor the descriptions of the author whose book is being illustrated, and I did not want to commit the same disrespect by straying from Cather's descriptions.  I gifted a copy of the Spring Willa Cather Review titled "After Antonia" to the Filley Art Museum in Pratt, Kansas, and I have been delighted when visitors to the museum have told me they enjoyed my portraits and essay.  I am particularly pleased when they tell me it has encouraged them to read My Antonia, either for the first time or to reread it after several years.  I was especially delighted to learn that Mrs. Filley is a long-time Cather fan and had received her copy of the Spring Cather Review with my portraits inside!

Lyn's "models" at the 2017 Plein Aire

The success of my acceptance for publication in the Cather Review encouraged me to enter the Kansas State Fair Professional Artists Show again.  Many of you who follow this blog are also fans and collectors of  a water color artist with ties to Pratt, and Darren Parker has shared with me his intention to enter the State Fair Professional Artists Show with one, or possibly two, of his watercolors.

I am writing this blog before the judging for the particular purpose of letting readers know that the Professional Artists' works have been moved to a different building.  You will not  find the Professional Artists work nor the Plein Aire art displayed in the Oz Building as it has been in the past.  (This change also moves the photography display.)  

Lyn drawing at the 2018 Plein Aire at the Fair

To view the art, go to Lake Talbot East/West located on 23rd Avenue, between Fort Hays Blvd. and Fort Leavenworth Blvd.  For some of you with 4-Hers,  you may identify the two buildings as being across from the 4-H Centennial Hall, the two buildings formerly the Boy and Girl Scout Buildings.  The Professional Art will be in the former Boy Scout building and the Plein Aire (and photography) will be in the former Girl Scout building.  The announcement of prizes for the Plein Aire will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, and will remain on display through the remainder of the fair.

The Plein Aire competition requires artists to create their work on the fairgrounds, inspired by subjects they can view at the Fair.  They must do the work only at the Fair and within the hours specified--on Friday noon to 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Visitors to the Fair are encouraged to watch for artists at work and to pause for a visit if they wish.  Children in particular seem to enjoy watching and asking questions.  Artists work in a variety of media, from acrylics and watercolor to pencils and pastels to paper mosaics or any other creative medium they wish.  No more than two entries can be submitted for judging by any one artist, although an artist my wish to complete additional work from which to select their two entries.  

Maybe I will see some of you at the Fair, and I hope you visit the new location in the former Boys and Girls Scout buildings to view the art on display.

Remember, the images can be enlarged by clicking on them.  Look closely for the cat and mouse in my "Fresh Yellow Squash" pastel painting.

Fun at the Kansas State Fair

For the second year I went to the Kansas State Fair to participate for two days in the Plein Aire event.  No, I didn't place, but I had a great time!  The weather threatened rain both days, so my selection of where I wanted to set my easel was influenced by that threat.

The second day I found a cozy spot as out-of-the-way as possible for a crowded Saturday.  However, I arrived early to sketch the butter cow near the front door, because I knew that once the crowds arrived it would be impossible to see what I was trying to draw.

The fun is visiting with people curious about what I am drawing.  People kept peeking around to see how I was drawing the scene in front of me.  Instead, I was working from my sketch of the butter cow scene and some children I added, and they were confused or disappointed by what they saw.  So, with a little time left before entries had to be submitted, I quickly drew the scarecrow with his head made from a gourd so people could see what they expected to see.  Look closely and you can see that scarecrow in the back corner of the photograph above left.

When I sketched the butter cow, the sculpting was in the early stage, and the legs and head were not really shaped.  The tail was skinny, and the human figure was just a 'stick man.'  My sketch looked like what I had seen that morning before the sculptor arrived but nothing like a finished sculpture.  I worried that people might not understand that I had depicted a work in progress. At the last minute I added the butter bucket to indicate that the sculpture was unfinished, but the bucket just looked like a big black square in the center of the picture.  Oh well, I still had fun, but I wish now that I had cropped the picture like I did at left.  I might have even added the sculptor's feet near the bucket to show that the work wasn't finished.

The first day, I took shelter in the gazebo near the train station for a little protection if I needed to pack up quickly in case of rain.  That was a really fun place, since lots of children passed through the gazebo on their way to and from the train, and they loved seeing my train take shape.

I definitely need to improve my plein aire skills, and I need to select subjects more like a still life setup.  With limited time and subjects that don't stand still, I need less ambitious subjects!  The details of the train, drawn in colored pencil, were too time consuming.

However, the primary objective for having plein aire artists working at numerous locations around the fair grounds is not really about creating your best work.  It is about enjoying being interrupted to talk with people who stop by to watch and ask questions.  It is also about encouraging children to never be afraid to draw, even if they think they can't draw well enough to try.  And, the same thing goes for adults.

I wish I could show you the outstanding work of those plein aire artists that did receive awards for their depictions of the fair, but photographs are not permitted.  When you go to the fair next year, be sure to visit the Oz Building to see all the plein aire entries.  And, if you are a 'Saturday Painter,' consider joining the fun.  You don't have to be a professional to produce your own fair masterpiece and have fun participating.

Remember, you can click on the images to enlarge them.

  

Kansas State Fair 2017

Bottle washing machine

Prior blogs have mentioned my connection with Isaac Werner through our mutual love of books.  This week's blog shares our mutual enjoyment of drawing.  Many pages of Isaac's journal contain drawings in the margins, including his invention at right.

At the 2017 Kansas State Fair I participated in the Plein Air at the Fair event, during which artists produce art depicting exhibits and events.  Both Friday and Saturday artists working with oils, acrylics, paper, water colors, and pastels set up working sites throughout the fair grounds.  Canvases and papers had to be marked each day, with that day's work turned in at the close of the day, to prove that the art had been created entirely during the day's event.

Lyn with "Brownie"

Each artist was limited to two entries, which were judged by a former university art professor who is currently the head of a college art department in Kansas.  Four entries were selected for ribbons--three paintings and one paper mosaic.  Photographs of the displayed art are not permitted, so I cannot show you the four pieces that were selected.  Instead, I will share my adventures and efforts.  Although neither of my two pieces was chosen, I had a wonderful time and hope to participate again.

Having seen entries from past Plein Air events, I decided to participate, along with more than twenty other artists.  Signing up gave me the perfect excuse for purchasing a portable easel.  Having never done Plein Air, I set up my easel on our porch when it arrived to experience the sunlight and breezes of working outside.  It also gave me a chance to see if I had assembled all of the supplies I needed.

I still have a carrier I used to transport files to the courthouse for trials, and I put it to work carrying my new easel and other supplies, assembled in a plastic tub which served as my table when I worked. Many of the artists made do with less to transport, using a simple clip board and sitting on the ground or a park bench.  If artists reading this blog are tempted to participate next year, your supplies need not be elaborate--just whatever works for you!  I do encourage more artist to join the fun.

State Fair Friends

I am normally a portrait artist, so the first day I chose to do portraits--of chickens, ducks, and geese.  After all, a portrait is a portrait.  My first subject, whom I named "Brownie" because he was a Chinese Brown Goose, was great fun.  I was fascinated with his long neck, and while he did not always extend his neck, he was very obliging whenever I asked.  Brownie was a bit vain and seemed to enjoy posing.

My next subject I called "Pilgrim," since his breed was identified as Pilgrim-Sex Linked.  After getting set up, I waited for Pilgrim to become calm, but he was an active duck, back and forth from feeder to water and round and round the cage.  Since it seemed he was unlikely to ever be stationary for long, I decided to only draw his head, which was usually visible above the water and feed tubs.

My last subjects Friday were two colorful bantam roosters caged side by side.  The one named "Henry" (according to his owner) was also active, but because he was small I could keep all of him in sight as he moved about.  He apparently had an artistic nature, as he seemed to enjoy adding his own water splashes to his portrait.    His neighbor was more of a sleepy head, napping often despite the constant noise of the poultry barn.

Lyn with Pilgrim

In the cages behind were two beautiful black and white chickens, the Rooster named Bud and the hen named Rose.  Their pretty young owner obviously loved them like pets, and shyly pointed out that their clever, combined names were Rosebud.  I was tempted to try drawing their complicated black and white feathers, but I had been working about 6 hours at that point and was too tired for another 2-hour portrait.  

Saturday entries had to be turned in by 3 p.m., so I arrived early to get started.  Unfortunately, the exhibits  where I intended to work were not open that early.  I headed to the dairy cattle barn to start my day until my intended subjects were available, but after sketching a particular cow, her owner took her for a bath and I had to stop.  I moved on, intending to return later but in search of a subject to do in the meantime.  I never returned to the cow nor made it to the things I had planned to draw. 

Photo credit Gauman, Hutch News

I chose one of those souvenir photo stands with an oval cut out for children to put their faces through for a photograph to take home from the fair.    With the fair ground pavilion as a background and a tree to balance the triangular composition, I thought it would be a nice, not too complicated image.  I was wrong.  All of the angles and details of the pavilion took most of the morning, and by then the Saturday crowds had arrived.  The photo stand was popular, and families would line up between me and my subject to watch their children pose.  In addition, the miniature train tracks were between me and my subject and passed by regularly.  In fact, they were so busy there were two trains running.  

Since I was working in the park, many people stopped by to watch and to visit, which I loved.  Even Lindsey Gauman with the Hutchinson News took my photo for the Sunday Paper and stopped by to get my name.  What wasn't so nice was that  as the breeze came up I realized that my position blew fairground grit right into my eyes.  I was having a true Plein Air painting experience!

Lyn's turn to pose in the souvenir photo board

On Friday I had finished 3 drawings in six hours, but on Saturday I struggled to finish 1 drawing in 6 1/2 hours, rushing to finish the tree before time ran out.  I wasn't satisfied with Saturday's work, but I chose to enter it as one of my 2 entries, along with the double chicken portraits.

I did not win any prize, but I was pleased when the judge took the time to comment specifically on my entry from Saturday when he finished speaking about the 4 winners.  He said how much he appreciated my theme of contrasting the permanence of the pavilion and the tree against the bright colors and temporary excitement of the fair, represented by the souvenir photo display.  I had been so disappointed with that work, but he had seen what I set out to depict, and I was both embarrassed by being singled out and pleased by his comments.  

The 2017 Kansas State Fair continues through Sunday, September 17, so if you have not attended this year and you are curious to see the Plein Air exhibit, it can be found in the OZ Building.  I hope some of you who may have considered participating will be encouraged to enter next year.  I had a blast!

Remember, you can click on the images to enlarge.