Buddha Nature

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Sunday's visit to the Tea Party rally left me unsettled. Fortunately, there was something very positive from Saturday to carry me forward.

The annual St. Louis Art Fair in adjacent Clayton is one of the bigger ones around the U.S. We go every year if we're in town. It's interesting but sometimes a little disappointing. The exhibitors need a high degree of craft to be accepted. However, we often find a sameness to the work, a lack of originality. There were two notable exceptions this year.

Marlene Rose is a glass artist from Florida. The process by which she creates these objects is complex and exacting. The face of Buddha appears over and over. We bought the work shown above, not a foot tall even with the base. It is sending a pacific glow through our home. Pictures of some of her other pieces I photographed are here.

We ran into another artist we admire, Chia Haruta, a Japanese woman who lives in Michigan. She's a bit shy about having here picture taken and doesn't have a web site, so the best I can do is send you to a picture of one of her works on another festival's web site. Her prints are a blend of traditional Japanese and modern elements, all strikingly original. She is a brilliant colorist with a tight graphic sensibility. A couple of here pieces have been our living room for years.