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Photo by Jesse Chambers.
One of the visual artists
Sarah Mason was one of about 30 artists selling their work at Handmade Art Show at Central Park, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Lots of diversions
In addition to music and art, Sunday in the Park featured some food trucks and food and snack vendors.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
A colorful scene
Central Park was enlivened with the addition of lots of colorful visual art in different media during the Handmade Art Show.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Fun in Central Park with friends
Sunday in the Park attendees (L-R): Marion Wilson, Ann Gervin and Audrey Marschinke.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Picking and grinning
Pickin' in the Park founder and Homewood merchant Bob Tedrow with other players in the music tent.
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Photo by Dan Starnes
Old-fashioned musical craft
There was nothing electronic in the music tent at Pickin' in the Park on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Two of the artists
Hunter Bell (L) and Beth Bradley (R) behind their tent at Homemade Art Show, part of the Sunday in the Park event.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Picking and grinning
Organizer and musician Bob Tedrow, clearly enjoying the music, raises his hat.
The Homewood Arts Council again hosted two popular local events on the same day, Sunday, October 15. at Central Park.
The park was the site of Pickin’ in the Park and Handmade Art Show on a warm, sunny day, all under the Sunday in the Park umbrella, with some food trucks and other food vendors also on hand.
This is the second year the organization has combined the events. “Art and live music go great together,” Arts Council president Diane Litsey said recently.
About 30 artists were expected to take part in the Handmade Art Show, which has been held for more than 20 years, according to Litsey.
Items for sale included jewelry, clothing, leather, paintings, pottery and stained glass.
Pickin’ in the Park -- organized by avid musician and Homewood merchant Bob Tedrow -- allows professional and amateur musicians to play together all over the park, entertaining themselves and other attendees.
And the art show was a chance for residents to meet and support local artists.
Nancy Abney, maker of recycled and upcycled garments made from vintage fabric was selling at the event for the second year.
“It’s good family fun at the park, a chance for Homewood residents to enjoy local arts and music and a chance to shop local,” she said.
A Birmingham resident, Abney that she enjoys meeting customers and telling them about her work.
“I work with vintage fabrics, and each textile has its own story,” she said. “People who buy local art want to know the story behind it.”
Artist Celeste Amparo Pfau -- in her first year at Handmade Art Show -- was showing her botanical monoprints, as well as other works on paper and some clothing, including shawls and scarves
“The best part of doing this, more than just selling my work, is meeting people I normally would not meet,” Pfau said. “That nourishes my creative energy and helps me figure out what I want to do next with my own artwork.”
Some professional musicians were on hand to play and interact with attendees at Pickin’ in the Park, and the event is intended to have an intimate, personal feel, according to Tedrow.
“You can sit right next to some good players and watch them play,” he said recently..
The intimate, participatory feel of Pickin’ in the Park makes the event “a kind of a throwback” to an area before TV and radio when people had to entertain themselves, according to Tedrow.
“It just has a charming, old-school appeal to do a festival like this where people are not being served,” he said. “They are a part of it.”
The musicians played almost constantly during the event, both in a tent set up in the middle of the park and at the main stage.
Most of the music had a throwback feel, as well, with lots of old country and gospel songs, including the classic Come Fly Away, and such old pop hits as Stand by Me, Wonderful World and Love Me Tender.
Some of the attendees who brought their own instruments to the event were members of the Birmingham Ukulele Society and some other ukulele clubs in North Alabama
Kirk Webb, a ukulele player from Huntsville, said he most enjoyed the interaction with the other musicians at the festival.
“I think the best part of meeting new people and learning new songs,” he said, adding that he enjoys “sharing things back and forth.”