The 41st Cottonwood Arts Festival was held this weekend in Richardson, TX–close enough to Dallas city line to be confused as Dallas–at the beautiful Cottonwood Park.  Art folk from all over the country come to this event, and this year was another spectacular year with amazing art on display.  There were something like 241 artists, and three caught my eye above all else.  The first one was Gabe Leonard, www.GabeLeonard.com, with his Wild West paintings.  His card says, “oil paintings of outlaws, musicians, & drunken poets.”  Awesome.  This guy is not painting your typical yellow rain slicker or your running horses.  Go to his website–he paints what you’d recognize as “western,” but in a style that…hmmm…I just don’t know.  Fabulous.  You’ll have to go to his website. He also paints historical figures such as Lincoln, Hood, and Robert Johnson, but in a way you’ve never seen before!

The second artist, Hanan Ingel of Silver Mind had created the most stunning jewelry–rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces that each featured an ancient coin–Greek, Roman, Byzantine, even a “widow’s mite” coin all from very early AD.  Amazing!!  You could be walking around right now with a ring with an inset bronze coin imprinted with the image of Constantine.  Maybe a spinner in 324 parted with this hard-earned coin to purchase more wool!

The third artist, Tres Taylor, was my favorite of all three.  His website says, “His subjects are usually monks, couples, and houses, but always the subjects are symbols of love.”  His art is the best of folk art–using materials at hand (tar paper and house paint)–and creating images that make you stop and stare, truly invoking a sense of wonder and feel-good-ness.

Hats off to artists who are pursuing their art and creating beauty for us!