If you are in the Phoenix East Valley area this weekend, head down to Old Town Tempe for the Festival of the Arts. I had the pleasure of spending three hours there today. I took lots of pictures and bought some stuff. I’ll share a little with you, but you should go see for yourself. It opened today, and it runs through Sunday, 10 am to 5:30 pm.

The first thing I saw was this blue grass band. They also brought along extra instruments so people could jump in and jam.

After Leah Kiser (below, right) illustrated her brother Seth Ode’s children’s book, Morgan the Ox, she looked for a new project. Her little daughter dressed a toy dinosaur in a doll tutu, and that became the inspiration for the painting Black Swan (second photo below, right).

Dana Robbins makes amazing art glass. I especially love the knobs in the second picture below.

Bob Reynolds uses different kinds of woods to make beautiful inlaid cutting boards.

Elizabeth Jenkins weaves cloth. Some of it she then further designs by removing some of the pigment. She makes unique scarves and shawls and throws–and coats!

Art below by Deborah Haeffele.

Joshua Seraphin reverse paints on glass.

Darryl Cohen and Kevin Frosch make decorative items out of glass. I fell in love with the mirror on the left.

James Floyd builds, sells, and plays hybrid instruments. Here he is playing some sort of guitar/Dobro/tambourine. In the second picture, an instrument has a mechanical arm for holding a harmonica while you strum.

Brian Smith spent five years driving around the country in an RV, taking photographs of things that suggested letters to him. He will help you put images together to spell words that hold special significance for you.

John McDonald’s glass art reminds me of Chihuly. I especially like his “Yard Sticks” below.

Tom Deitenbeck makes beautiful pottery. I love the knitting yarn bowl in the second picture below. I bought one of his napkin holders.

Rick Murphy welds together found objects to create curious creatures.

Bob Cuthbertson plays a Chapman stick. I got to hear him play the Bach Toccata and Fugue. Awesome!

And, finally, Jocelyn Obermeyer on Irish harp and Nathan Tsosie on Native American flute.

I hope what you’ve seen, a small sample of the more than 350 booths, will entice you to attend, too. And if you’re there on Sunday, you might even see me. I saw a gorgeous jasper necklace by Jean and Maya Montanaro that my husband said he’d like me to have for Christmas. Best Husband Ever.