Sidewalk Fine Arts and Crafts Fall Fest in downtown Menlo Park

The 15th annual Menlo Park Sidewalk Fine Arts and Crafts Fall Fest kicks off today downtown along Santa Cruz Ave. It continues tomorrow and Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Over 90 artists and craft makers will be on hand to answer visitors questions. On display are paintings, jewelry, photography, woodwork, clothing, home accessories and toys. We stopped in to visit with a couple of the artists showing this weekend, including Frances Casey, Brian Madden, and Chris Honeysett.

Belmont-based Brian Madden (photo above) works primarily in abstract photography – creating some beautiful images that really grab your eye. In addition to his signature abstract work, he’s also exploring what he calls “tapestries” of cities – views of neighborhoods from unusual perspectives that really capture your eye as you explore all of the details in them. In the photo above, Brian stands next to Vertical Sunset, perhaps his most iconic abstract. He prints this image on aluminum bringing out its beautiful range and depth of color. Brian currently has an exhibition underway, titled “Tapestry“, at Kohler Jones in San Francisco.

Mendocino-based Frances Casey is a “button artist”. She works with collectible antique buttons to turn them into beautiful necklaces, bracelets, etc. When asked how she got into this “Button Jewels” craft, she described a friend telling her about a big box of antique buttons that she had come across – and which Frances ended up buying for what she thought, at the time, was a bit too much money. As it turned out, the box was a treasure trove for her and really launched her success in transforming buttons into unusual jewelry. Frances says that what sets her work apart from other button jewelry is that she “keeps the buttons intact – by using the shanks of the buttons as part of the mechanics of the design – preserving the integrity of these historical art pieces.”

Photographer Chris Honeysett is a regular at the Fine Arts shows in Menlo Park. He’s back this year with several new color images that extend his earlier black and white portfolio in many new directions. Chris finds that his recent explorations of color images has been especially rewarding – and it certainly shows in these new images!