How To Get To Priddis?

The Priddis day trip is legend now.  It was that kind of day: not a cloud in the sky, hot, Billy Joel on the radio and a couple of girls off to an arts fair.  But as usually is the case, the map gets twisted and the protagonists end up in a land far removed from their destination.  I was that bumbling navigator, trusting the authority of Google instead of using my head, leading us furthur down through the twists and turns of Highway 22X.  We laughed when we found ourselves in Longview.

After an hour of backtraking we pulled into the full parking lot at the Priddis community hall.  There were vendors of all kinds lining the inner wall of the community centre and the outer line of the yard: antiques, jewelry, pastel-painted furniture with crystal handles, handcrafted decorations made of recycled materials and black and white photos.  Walking past a two-tiered silver serving dish, my Mom was distracted by the round pink and black nuggets poured into colourful cupcake shells.  "What, are they magnets?" she asked.  Turned out they were liquorice samples.  You never knew what you were going to run across there.

With pincushion flowers in arm, we stopped in Bragg Creek for a bite and a run through of some shops, before hitting the road, homebound this time.  Luckily, we had a better idea of how to get there. 

Highlands Art Festival

Despite freezing winds and driving rain, the Friends Making Art collective arrived at the Highlands Art Festival last Saturday with high hopes.  The night before had been spent in celebration and last minute detailing, and though they were fatigued, coffee soon burgeoned thier spirits for the long vigil ahead. 

Bagpipes echoed through the tents crowding the grey parking lot as vendors set up their wares.  Under a protective awning the FMA members organized their art: a suitcase of Shakespeare-inspired paintings, a box of record bowls, key pendants and domino magnets and ATCs.  As the morning wore on, prospects became grim as the storm continued to cry over thier sad little stand.  Uninspired by the lack of customer traffic, some members wandered through the vendors, sometimes pausing to appreciate the works of the artists walking back and forth to keep warm.  One FMA member was pleasantly surprised to find out that Sandra McDougall was also showing her art at the festival (which can be viewed at http://thefairyfactory.wordpress.com/).

At about 11 'o clock am, the FMA collective paked up: choosing not to test their immune systems any longer, they left that parking lot, never to return again.

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Not to say the event was a disappointment: I mean, it built character and to speak truth, I had a good time, even though my socks were wet.  It may be because I got to visit Catfish Coffee, hang out with awesome people, be part of something creative, and it appealed to my love of things anti-climactic.  I also was hyper on coffee, which may have helped.  Thanks to everyone who braved the weather to attend the festival!

This is a picture of some of Dawn's jewelery and art that she made for the Highlands Art Festival.

This painting came about as a direct result of the Festival: the Shakespeare paintings we displayed were made by mixing colours on canvas with credit cards.  Dawn's sister asked if we could make some more paintings that were similar for a silent auction supporting Animal Rescue.  This is one I made called The Watch.