4th of July Freedom Festival!! Community Event

On Friday, Rachel, Trevor, Brett (my brother), Liz (my sister-in-law), and Avery (my niece) went to the Freedom Festival event on Center Street in Provo. There was something for everyone there. Huge blow-up toys were out, as well as various kinds of art booths, and food stands. The place was crowded too. There were some places were it was too much for me. I wanted to be somewhere else. Most of the people I encountered were friendly. There were some, however, who were weaving in and out of the crowd to get through (that happens at any event like this one). That was probably the only bad experience I had. I didn't buy any food because I wasn't hungry. However, my wife and I bought something for our son, Trevor. Here it is!!



Pretty cool, huh!! Rachel and I had one of these done when we went to California in High School and we thought it would pretty cool to have one done for Trevor as well. I'm not sure where the artist is from or what his name was (I didn't ask). I do know that he is Asian. The letter's in Trevor's name are spelled with different types of animals and buildings. Each object has a meaning to it. I thought that knowing the meaning of the objects, the entire work of art meant a lot more. Here are what the objects symbolize and a short history of "Leather Brush Art".

History

"This history of leather brush art dates back to 1600 AD. Leather Brush Art is a form of hand art, which was created by a great scholar Yoo Duck-Gong. Leather Brush Art is a form of art in which the letters are written in the combination of animals, plants, and senses of nature. For over three decades many talented artists have modified Leather Brush Art. Young Kim is one of those talented artists who has modified Leather Brush Art. In the orient, it is believed that to have your name done in this art form brings you 'GOOD LUCK!'"

Meanings of the Drawings

"Bamboo/Cactus/Palm Tree ........................................Long Life
Bird/Rooster ...................................................Good Luck
Butterfly ......................................................Pleasure
Dolphin/Seal/Whale .............................................Strength
Dragon/Mermaid .................................................Dreams
Elephant/Monkey ................................................Wisdom
Fish ...........................................................Energy
Flower/Penguin .................................................Success
Lighthouse .....................................................Happiness
Mailbox ........................................................Good News
Mountain/Canyon ................................................Bravery
Sea/Sailboat ...................................................Bright Future
Sun ............................................................Ambition
Swan ...........................................................Love
Waterfall/Mushroom .............................................Hero
Windmill/Pelican ...............................................Wealth"


While we were waiting for ours to be finished, several people gathered to watch the artist work. All of the comments made were positive. It sounded like most of the people I heard may not have seen one of these paintings done before. They were intrigued, which is evidence to me that most people love art and appreciate it when they see it. Here is a picture of the artist with the crowd of people behind him watching.



I don't go to many of these kind of sidewalk art shows, but enjoy them. This one was especially good because I saw things that I never saw before which made the experience enjoyable. What also made the experience good was that I'd never been to this particular art show. People go to a lot of work to show what they can do. They love to do it and go to a great deal of effort to show it to everyone they can. I appreciate that. I will try to go to more of these type of events.