I started going to art fairs with my mom when I was five years old.
Back then she sold these small angels made out of polymer clay and had a booth a handful of times before giving it up.
Despite falling out of hosting her own craft booth, she never stopped going to these art fairs as a fan and customer. We simply did the craft and art projects at home for fun while getting a lot of our supplies from these fairs, like beads, fabric, wire, and gemstones. Even though my father wasn’t a huge fan of attending these fairs, he always joined us for fun at the kitchen table. I feel incredibly lucky to have a childhood that I can look back on fondly like this. While my parents aren’t around any longer to do these activities with, I have my old children to enjoy this time with, especially now that they’re all old enough to participate. However, I have some of my own hobbies as well that I’ve developed over the years. I started welding for fun after a friend gave me his equipment when he had to downsize and move across the country to accept a new job offer. I took my wife and kids to an art fair last month and I found a booth selling all kinds of wire for different purposes. I was surprised to see coils of rebar tie wire along with a few items, such as a lamp, that had been forged out of the same rebar tie wire being sold. I bought the lamp and a coil of rebar tie wire so I could attempt to replicate the results in my garage home. Thus far I’ve forged several door handles out of the rebar tie wire I bought from the local art fair.