Arts fair hits downtown Bloomington

Arts and crafts as part of a viable arts economy is nothing new to Bloomington.\nMore than 60 local artists and artisans collected around the city's courthouse square Saturday to peddle artwork, crafts and community literature during the 2005 "A Fair of the Arts." \nBloomington artist Marcy Neiditz said she creates functional ceramics by treating all surfaces like they are a canvas. She said she uses a microscope in her studio to examine sections of leaves and the growth of bacteria as possible artistic blueprints.\n"I'm influenced by nature and plants -- I go back to kindergarten and finger paint," she said. "I like being creative -- I fan out a brush so each hair creates a bunch of lines at once. I like being inventive -- most ceramic artists don't fire their pots three or four times. I really have a love and concern for environment. It keeps me going when I'm alone in my studio or I haven't sold much art in awhile." \nLocal and regional artists were invited to display, demonstrate and sell their art by the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department.\nBrown County artist Greg Schatz, who owns Schatz Studio & Gallery, said he creates functional pottery that is fired with either gas or wood. \n"I am drawn by the scenery of southern Indiana -- I like the hills and trees," Schatz said. "I'm really concerned with the forms and shapes of my pots -- how the surface interacts with form ... I love the process of working with clay -- making the pots on the wheel is the most fun for me. I hope to improve the experience of eating or drinking, and not just consumer food." \nNew Harmony artisan Danny Cain, owner of Wabash River Fish Fiddlers and Fillets, makes fishing nets. He said it takes about three to four days to make commercial fishing nets for Hoosier use within rivers. He said his nylon and twine fish-trapping concoction is modeled after professional and folk fishing practices, which uses a series of fiberglass hoops and garbage bag twist ties. \n"River fishing with nets is dumb luck. You go out there -- you think 'this looks like a good spot' and then you put your net down. You keep trying till you find the right place," Cain said. "You can catch about 100 pounds of fish a day, but you have to put back bluegill, crappie and largemouth bass. I keep catfish, buffalo fish and highfin fish."\nCain said he learned his trade from the skills of a master named Jim Cooper. He said he believes fishermen making their own nets is a "dying art," and net owners should be careful where they put them to avoid fallen trees and shallow river bottoms.\nBloomington artisan Julie Johnson, owner of North Wind Kites, said she has been building nylon kites and kite banners for more than 20 years. She said she prefers to use bright and vivid colors to decorate delta, box and multicellular shaped kites for use in neighborhood parks, resident backyards and local school yards.\n"Just wait for a good breeze to hit your kite and have a helper to hold it up," Johnson said. "We tell people not to run with it, but you can still do that -- make sure you have enough wind ... as long as your line lasts and the person is willing to bring it back in you can keep getting the kite higher in the sky. Kite-flying is entertainment for some, but I've had a lot of people who come up and say it was relaxing. It's a nice activity to do together as a family."\nJohnson recommended the IU Memorial Stadium, Karst Farm Park and local schools with open fields as ideal kite-flying locations.\nNoblesville artist Joanie Drizin, who owns Girly Steel Studio, said her metal garden sculptures are produced in her "little studio" in a downtown Noblesville garage. She said she uses rebar, sheet metal and "found objects" to produce works of art to generate the necessary income to send her young son to college someday.\n"I like to accent nature -- which in itself is art -- with rust called patina," Drizin said. "I like to make whimsical and contemporary things -- it's hard work for a practical purpose. I used to do pottery but this really clicked for me. I feel happy if people look out in their garden and get a smile on their face from something they can't buy at Wal-Mart"