Visiting the Cherry Creek Arts Festival has been a long-standing Waterhouse 4th of July tradition.  When we lived here before, we would bike along the actual Cherry Creek to wander among the art stalls.  This time around, when I’m in town at this time of year, we still like to go check out the latest art offerings.

My parents, Andy, and Jenn were all in town for the holiday (yay!), so on Friday morning we met at the festival.  According to Wikipedia, it’s “the nation’s #1 out door arts festival.”  While those sources may be dubious, there are over 260 artists represented there and thousands of applicants for those coveted booths.  There’s a row of food booths, live music, a section with hands on activities for kids that Jack and Sam loved, and the type of people in the Cherry Creek area are typically very supportive of the arts (and well-positioned to do so.  My dad watched a couple pause in their browsing so the gentleman could take off his shoe and pad his bunions with wads of folded cash.  “It wasn’t small bills either,” he noted.)  My parents have purchased many an item over the years here, and this year I finally joined their ranks!

My mother was no help whatsoever in encouraging me to be frugal.  Completely abandoning the motto they taught us when we were younger (“You need to separate your needs from your wants”), she was quick to spot my interest in different items at the fair and to appear next to me to say, “You should get it!” as soon as I lingered on a piece.

I resisted until spotting Jamie Heiden’s encaustic photographs on our way out, and in no time my mom was encouraging me to buy some “wants.”  I especially liked her small 4″x4″ wood blocks and, after much dithering, narrowed it down to three of them:

“Get them!” said my mother.

“I don’t need them,” said I.

“Get them!” said my mother.

“I don’t even know where I’ll put them,” said I.

“You’ll find a place.  Get them!” said my mother.

I knew this was true, having proved it on multiple rug and art purchases in the past; although it’s usually Jason standing next to me saying, “You’ll find a place.  Get them!”

“Get them!” said my mother.

So I did.  And lo, I found a place:

I’m officially a Cherry Creek arts buyer!