Haddonfield Arts Festival

This post is couple weeks later than I thought it would be, but it is worth mentioning.  Every year, the town of Haddonfield, NJ hosts an Arts & Crafts Festival.  I try to go there every year, if only to browse the artwork, but it is even better when you can chat with some artists.  The show features fine artists as well as crafters and miscellaneous vendors, so for every painter or photographer, there was ten people selling country cottage decor featuring lambs and chickens, but I digress.  I spent every red cent I had in my pockets that day, and you could easily drop thousands of dollars on the works of art displayed there.  In Part 1 of this post, I will introduce you to two artists I met.

The first booth that drew me was one featuring oil paintings.  Jack Nie displayed a wide variety of oil paintings.  One side of the booth was hung with seascapes, but more interesting were his city scenes, especially from New York City.

www.niebrothers.com

From Jack Nie's website:

The painter, Jack Nie, left China for Europe in 1989 to travel through Belgium, Germany, France and Holland. He studied the works of the European masters, particularly Renaissance painters, and learned the techniques and skills of artists in the Western hemisphere. His works and that of his brother Leon were awarded 4 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze Medal. In the 1990s he emigrated to New York, the major center for art in the USA, where he now lives and paints. Jack Nie creates vibrant paintings which, like those of his brother Leon, are skillful blends of modern, classic and traditional Chinese art. (See more information at  http://www.niebrothers.com/English/Home.html)

The print I bought that day

Next up was Andrew Cherashore (andrewcherashorephotography.com).  He had a great selection of color landscape photography.  It was nice seeing landscape photography that wasn't black and white prints posing as Ansel Adams rip-offs.  He had some great variations on the same subject, too, such as the same mountain during sunrise versus sunset.

Click on the image to visit his website

I was immediately thinking that if I had the money, it would interesting to assemble multiple photographs, contrasting how the light significantly changes the tone and feel of the exact same subject.  We talked a bit about his trips, his method, and the film he uses.  It is always nice speaking with someone who is passionate about his work.  And he was nice enough to pose for a photograph.

andrewcherashorephotography.com

From Andrew's website:

I have always had a passion for the outdoors and discovered my talent with the camera twenty years ago. I have an interest in creating images that show true expression of the actual scene and show how magical and sometimes mysterious nature can be. I focus on dramatic landscape images throughout the United States and Canada. 

I met two other interesting artists that day that I will cover in Part 2 of this post.