Fair Finds

Gorgeous weather, dazzling art and enthusiastic crowds merged this weekend at the fiftieth Art Fair on the Square. A truly eclectic mix of art—paintings, sculpture, mosaics, prints, photography, furniture, clothing and much more—was represented in the more than four hundred artists who showcased work at the annual event.

The following are just a few of the artists and work that caught my eye as I made my way around the Capitol Square.

Prairies and fields become dramatic settings when they’re rendered by Kansas City watercolorist Susan Lynn. Her saturated colors—from sunny golds and rich reds to cool greens and deep blues—make her landscapes simultaneously realistic and better-than-real-life.

Bay Area-based photographer Chris Honeysett travels near and far capturing striking scenes of Yosemite and San Francisco—his image of the Golden Gate nearly obscured by fog is not to be missed—as well as European cityscapes and Asian landscapes. He also offers poetic photographic studies of plants, architecture and other unique forms.

Pop art meets the landscape painting tradition in the eye-catching oils by Susan Hodgin. The Indianapolis artist uses pattern—mostly dots—and vibrant color to describe the world around us.

To say Cali Hobgood-Lemme photographs everyday items misses the startling beauty the Urbana, Illinois, artist finds in a made bed, stack of folded button-down shirts, bathroom sink or a pair of men’s shoes. If only my furniture and laundry could look this exquisite.

Johnson Creek artists Wendy and Marvin Hill hand-paint block prints. The images have a literary quality—each seems to tell its own story.

Quiet, delicate, mystical, beautiful. Any of these words could be used to describe the photography of Ashland, Oregon’s Raquel Edwards.

Subdued colors and an almost hazy quality seem to make viewers slow down and appreciate the oil paintings of Todd Voss of Hovland, Minnesota.

Photographs by Todd Lundeen, a former UW–Madison art student, show people, landscapes and architecture of the Far East through vivid color and almost hyper-realistic clarity. I’m not sure an Art Fair-goer was able to pass by his booth without picking up a serious case of wanderlust.


Photos courtesy of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.