Art Festival and La Fete Marquette

We joined Michelle and Bill and Sophie and Gryphon for brunch this morning. Bill prepared french toast with strawberry delight and maple syrup, with cantaloupe and soy sausage. Yum!

Then we headed to the downtown art festival, right outside the lovely capitol building that dominates the city of Madison. The kids had fun in the children's area, playing in the bouncy house, making silk screen prints of a green duck, making potato prints. Sophie got her arms painted with a green snake and a purple butterfly.




We saw a great variety of impressive art work. Some really dazzling quilts caught my eye, with brilliant colors. Some garden kaleidoscopes used live flowers as the source for their amazing changing designs. One exhibit was most surprising--very lifelike resin sculptures of people and busts of people, with prosthetic eyes, hair wigs, and clothing. At a quick glance you would think they were alive. As Michelle said, rather creepy! Ken commented on the incongruity of seeing the busts of living people hanging on the wall--as if they were bursting through it! Michelle noticed all the fiber arts, especially the felting display in one booth. An astrophotographer displayed impressive photos, including one of Hale Bopp that appeared on a Time Magazine cover.

The festival was in the streets around the capitol, so we got lots of interesting views of it.

We went back to Michelle and Bill's for lunch. Michelle made quesadillas with FRESH Wisconsin cheese (she said it should squeak when you bit into it), and avacado with spinach wraps. Again yum!

Lee spent a few hours at St. Vinny's (St. Vincent de Paul), emerging with a khaki skort, khaki shorts, a blue print top, and a striped short sleeved top. And of course a book--The Panda's Thumb by Gould. Sophie and Gryphon showed off their sidewalk art, a "royal bird" show. Sophie explained that the birds were royal because they were so fancy and colorful. Gryphon earnestly explained that some of the creatures were male and others female, and that all of them would clobber you over the head with their sharp beaks and leave a round hole in your head.

At supper time we went to La Fete Marquette, a neighborhood music festival, where we ate pineapple mango curry with chicken and drank local Wisconsin beer while listening to live music.

There were hundreds of bikes parked at the festival, and more bikes than cars on the street, an impressive sight.