Menlo Park Sidewalk Arts and Crafts Fall Fest

Menlo Park plays host to the 15th Annual Menlo Park Sidewalk Fine Arts and Crafts Fall Fest Friday, October 14 through Sunday October 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.  This art-filled family event will give visitors the opportunity to browse and shop among the many one-of-a-kind creations perfect for home, office or gift giving displayed by a variety of talented artists.
 
Taking place along Santa Cruz Avenue off El Camino Real, the Sidewalk Arts and Crafts Fall Fest is free to the public and features an exciting array of original works perfect for holiday shopping by more than 90 artists and craft makers including paintings, jewelry, photography, unique wood items , clothing, accessories, toys and much more. All of the artists will be on hand to visit with patrons while some will be demonstrating their craft during the show.
 
Among the artists presenting at this year’s show is Donald Ewen of Walnut Creek who has been painting for more than 21 years. In 1983, he started as a young artist making posters, t-shirts, prints, and coffee mugs.  He was the creator of "Iris Night" — a print featuring white Irises that became the top-selling poster in the country for six weeks during that year. Thesedays, his impressionistic watercolors feature landscapes and scenes from Contra Costa County as well as the North and Eastern shores of Lake Tahoe.
 
Jocelyn Hastings of San Jose creates soaps that are little works of art. Every handcrafted soap Jocelyn creates is made from natural ingredients and contains layers of soft pastelcolors in an artful shape. The glycerin soaps are individually poured into vintage molds or specially designed soap molds. “Imagine a soap that looks good enough to eat,” she says. One of Jocelyn's unique lines has an old-fashioned dessert theme -- tarts, cakes, Jell-O and flans.
 
Jill Pillot of San Mateo started designing children clothes six years ago with the environment in mind. She creates her one-of-a-kind wearable art for children from sustainable materials, turning old clothes and fabrics into new fashion. “I want to inspire other people to recreate things from what they already have,” said Jill. “This is as green as it can go. This is all waste that’s going to be put use again, especially old clothing that is outdated or out of style. It’s good to recreate them.”

Additional artists participating in the Menlo Park Sidewalk Arts and Crafts Fall Fest include Keith Liang of San Francisco with his landscape photography from around the world; Phillip Glashoff of Fairfield, California, who uses found objects to create large and small whimsical metal sculptures; and Beth Karpas of Mountain View showing her diverse line of unique, huggable dolls and stuffed animals based on folk and fairytale characters from around the globe.
 
For more information about the Menlo Park Sidewalk Arts and Crafts Fall Fest, contact the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce at (650) 325-2818 or Pacific Fine Arts at (209) 267-4394 or www.pacificfinearts.com.
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