Put the Medal to the Metal

Each year, the Edina Art Fair (their website is down, so even though I've given you a link for it, you may want to check out their Facebook Page instead) attracts thousands of visitors to view the various works of hundreds of artists. Perhaps that's why this fair ranks as the top art fair in Minnesota.

In the 20+ years I've lived in Minnesota, this fair ranks as one of my favorites, too. This year, there were over 320 artists with an estimated 150,000 people attending. I know for sure that at least one person from France attended, because even though I missed seeing my friend, I knew he and his girlfriend were there. I did run into other friends, so sometimes this fair is like a mini-reunion of sorts.

There's all kinds of art at the fair: paintings, pottery and ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, and of course food. Yes, that may not be art, but hey, it's important to have food at any event!

See those dark clouds? It never fails with the Edina Art Fair. You get rain at least one of those days. Happens every year. In fact one year, it was sad because strong winds broke several pieces of artists' works. So you'd think I'd learn to carry an umbrella with me just in case. Nope. I refuse to do that, which is why the heavens opened up on me just after I took this picture on the way home. Since you can ride the bus for free to/from the fair, I waited, and got soaked, by the rain. Yes, the rain stopped as soon as I was on the bus, but that didn't matter.

Okay, I jumped ahead a bit. Back to the fair. It's fun just to stroll around and look at all the goodies. And it's nice to see many artists come back year after year. There are so many outstanding pieces, but there's only so much room in the condo. Having said that, eyes are always open for the next treasure. I really wish I could have taken home this prize, but it certainly wouldn't fit on the balcony. In fact, the bottom half would be the property of the lady who lives down on first floor!

Some years, I don't buy anything, but this year was a splurge on me kind of a fair. (Okay, it's always about splurging on me!) You know how sometimes something strikes you, and when you walk away to look at other things, your mind keeps going back to what you saw? Well, that happened to me this year.

There is an artist by the name of Aaron Sault, whose jewelry just caught my eye. Normally I'm not a big jewelry kind of a person, but sometimes I just have to have something. I think the last time that happened was when I was in Cancun and wanted a ring. They made me haggle for it, even though I said I was willing to pay full price for the ring because I had to have it.

 After walking the entire fair, I went back to Aaron's booth and asked him to show me the ring and the cufflinks again. While I do wear cufflinks often, I told him I'd probably get more use out of the ring. Ring me up! I should expect to see the ring in about three weeks. I love that this is custom work instead of something that is factory made.  Probably explains why Aaron won the Edina Art Fair's 2012 Best of Show Award. (Shopper not included)

Well, you're probably wondering what the ring looks like. I thought maybe it was on one of Aaron's websites, but it's not. You, like me, will have to wait until I receive it and then I can take some pictures of it and post an update.

In the meantime, there are three places to check out Aaron's work. Two are his personal websites (he's moving one over into another) and the final place is on Etsy.

Aaron Sault Jewelry (former website)

Aaron Sault Jewelry (new website)

He will be back the first week of August for the Uptown Art Fair, so I may have to brave going to that one to ask him about the other ring I saw in person as well as a cuff I saw on his website. I don't know if I can pull of that cuff look, but it intrigues me.

I have to admit that I went back to the Edina Art Fair on Sunday after church, and while it was cool and breezy, it didn't rain. No matter rain or shine, I'll be back next year as always.