It was a beautiful Fall day in the 70’s with a blue sky and puffy clouds. A perfect day for a trip to an arts festival. This was the last one of the season at Chastain Park in Atlanta. I had a hell of a week and started not to come, but my son talked me into it and I’m so glad I went. This is one of my favorite Fall Festivals and it never disappoints. It’s in a wooded area surrounded by trees and with over 100+ vendors, it gives you plenty of variety.

I love talking to the artists and asking questions. They love when people are genuinely interested in their process and they’re always so generous with their time. There were also candlemakers, local honey, soaps, clothing and jewelry artisans, etc.. Just about anything you could possibly want, but I’m usually there for the art and photography.

As we strolled into the park, we were stopped by a photographer who had gone to Cuba and taken pictures. They were so striking and really captured the spirit of the country.

These old 1950’s cars in Cuba are iconic and he captured them perfectly.

He also printed the photos on blocks which you could arrange however you’d like. So clever.

This lady with the cigar is fantastic.

This landscape spoke to me and I love anything that has green in it.

Okay, this artist was fabulous. She painted obsolete objects onto wood canvases. Starting with these. Can you name them?

These are perfect for the nerd in you.

I loved these, as you can tell, so I took multiple pictures. So cool.

We were hungry already so we stopped at the Food Court which had a few food trucks, bakery stalls, a bar, snow cones and more.

The Food Court was jam packed and we finally found a table and had some wonderful food and drink.

So stunning will all of the colors. Abstract at its best.

I loved this artist’s stall. She told us she did not use a paint brush. Just her fingers with acrylic paint and then pencil lines.

More from this artist.

Iconic oil portraits. The artist will paint anyone you’d like. So cool.

I love the way these colors popped against the black background.

I kept coming back to this one again and again. The artist offered to bring it to my car, but the way my bank account has been lately, I couldn’t do it.

These wooden vessels were stunning.

Men climbing on walls. What could be more perfect? It would be so cute in a boy’s room.

This gorgeous oil painting of flowers was so beautiful in person.

This was one of my favorites. The artist had stepped away from the stall, but up close it looked like circuit boards. So cool.

These moss landscapes were stunning. No need to water and they are eco-friendly.

I loved these artisanal pepper grinders. I would make it a big production asking people if they wanted pepper.

The sun was setting and there was a lot of glare, but I wanted to show this mixed media stall. I love when artists use different materials to make art.

I loved this artist for the way he manipulated his canvases. He stacked them, made some of them concave, notched out pieces of them. Very original and he’s also a great artist.

I could go on and on about this Festival and it seems like I took 50,000 pictures so it was hard to narrow them down to the best of the best. I think I gave you a broad range of what I saw and I hope you fell in love with this festival. Makers are some of my favorite people. It’s always amazing to see how creative and talented people are and to learn about how they got started.

Let me know if you go to arts festivals and what’s your favorite part. The art, the food or just getting out on a beautiful day.

See ya next time.