Shadow Art Fair

We love the Shadow Art Fair. Started in July 2006 as a prequel-- and tongue-in-cheek competitor-- to Ann Arbor's over-hyped, overcrowded, and overpriced art fairs, the SAF in Ypsilanti-- the town next to us (some call it Ann Arbor's poorer cousin)-- is now pulling its own weight and drawing a loyal group of followers to the Corner Brewery twice a year. An eclectic mix of local and regional artists and designers doing their own wonderfully whimsical thing, I love the SAF for its unpretentious indie vibe and the awesome coziness of just a bunch of people happily cramped into a pub rather than the sprawling monstrosity that is the Ann Arbor art fair which not only disrupts the whole town every summer, but doesn't even really sell much art (no one can convince me that sunglasses or toaster ovens constitute art).

And so today, Jude, Jenn, and I braved the gnarly snow and spent the afternoon at the SAF. It was like being at an etsy sale- handknit winter hats and mittens, $1 haikus, quilted shopping bags, handpainted "art cakes", handprinted tees- I thoroughly enjoyed everything :) It helped that I got to sip some delicious hand-roasted coffee (and made a couple of new acquaintances in the process while waiting for my latte- some guy told me how much he loves my name and how he might just name his future daughter "Serene" now, plus I got a crash course in how to make those lovely milk foam patterns...), fell in love with what has to be the world's cleverest and most adorable "foodie" greeting cards, and bought some hand-appliquéd tea towels from Handmade Detroit for Christmas presents. But my favorite purchase today has to be Jude's choice of this illustrated print from Kill Taupe:

It's just so sweet and delightfully strange (especially in the context of the rest of his work) that I can't wait to frame it up so that we can put it up on our wall with the rest of the prints we've been collecting :)

Some photos of our haul here.