Meeting Kris through the Fun A Day art show was one of the best things that happened to me this year! Eight months after the show, she asked me to be a part of the Experimental Arts Tour that she had created in honor of her grandfather, Earnest Daniel. You can read about Earnest’s creative life here, and how he always explored new mediums. The Art Tour encourages artists to work outside their medium and comfort zone, and try something new!

A bunch of artists created something different than they’re used to and brought it to the Lauraville Fair in Hamilton, Baltimore. I tried painting for the first time! My paintings look absolutely horrible, but I was really proud of myself. After the first one, I said “This is mine!” and I felt really incredible. I know that it looks like a child made it, and I’m completely okay with that.

I also made art on my face. (That is my favorite sentence.) I stuck rhinestones and gold paint on my skin, wore two layers of tights, ruffly bikini bottoms, and a shirt made of sequins. People were really excited to see my face, and I brought some rhinestones to share.

Other artists, like Donald Edwards, Carrie Donovan, and Rachel Elise, brought their work to sell. Sculptors had painted, musicians had drawn pictures and made quilts, and it was lovely to see the beauty of creating for the sake of creating.

There was a lot of other stuff to do at the fair, like eat chili dogs, hula hoop, and the buckets full of corn meal were a hit! There was a toddler who just sat by herself in one of the buckets for a couple hours, completely content. A woman was selling mini punch-balloons, a guy had every flag you could ever want, and there was an older magician making balloon animals.

It was a great experience to have. Kris is really wonderful at marketing her project and talking up her artists. She draws people in, and is genuinely excited about what she’s selling. She also took a bunch of pictures of me in my sequined glory.

Even though most of what I did was sit, talk, and hang out business cards, I was exhausted at the end of the day! I’m really glad I went, though. Follow the Experimental Art Tour on Facebook for more info.