SAN MATEO – In Camelot, Queen Guinevere sings ‘Take me to the Fair ‘ where she recruits henchmen to whack and crack the undefeated Frenchman Sir Lancelot Dulac. The source of such power that was so tremendous and stupendous in battles came from Lancelot’s purity of heart and undefiled spirit until his downfall. (Men take note. ) The winner earned the right to escort and sit beside the Queen at the fair.

You don’t need to be an unquestioned champion or the strongest knight to go to the fair. Just buy a ticket.

Date: June 4-5, June 8-12 , San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo. 650-574-3247.

To see a detailed schedule, CLICK HERE

I received an email from Fair’s management who deserved a big Congratulations. See a quote:

“The San Mateo County Fair received the most awards given to a single fair by WFA (Western Fair Association) in 2021, receiving 20 First Place and 12 Second Place awards! The Fair was also recognized by IAFE(International Association of Fairs and Exposition) and took home 5 prestigious awards.

“This is such a thrill for us,” said Dana Stoehr, CEO of the San Mateo Event Center & Fair. “Many of the awards centered on our focus around fighting COVID. We had events to Get Vaccinated at the fair and this clearly impressed the judges.” The San Mateo County Event Center & Fair is one of 77 fairgrounds in California, but the only one to be part of the Office of Emergency Services.” The Event Center administered over 250,000 COVID tests and over 100,000 vaccinations over the preceding 12 months, much of which happened at the fair this past year.”

I’m glad I was a participant in 2021. CLICK HERE FOR 2021 ARTICLE

Fair includes concerts with live performances from the 

Commodores, Gloria Gaynor and the Sugar Hill Gang, Uptown Funk(Bruno Mars tribute); Dia del Feria, Pacific Islands day, Family Pride; carnival rides, pig races, robotics, creative kids activities; creative arts(Home, Florals, Culinary, Fine Arts Gallery, Garden); Livestock, STEAM inventions; San Francisco Bazaar with curated crafts; Food Courts with corn dogs, barbecue, burgers, funnel cakes, pineapple chicken teriyaki; Expedition Dinosaur, an interactive experience and educational journey with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs.

San Mateo County Libraries have a BOOKMOBILE  to showcase their current programs, books, videos, language offers, and adult and kids activities.

This part is a creativity enhancer for artists. The only area in the entire Fair where you cannot take photos or videos is the Fine Arts Gallery. I think this is to prevent copyright infringement litigation which can be expensive. The last year 2021 only winners were on display but in 2022 there is no preselection; everybody who submits an art piece is included in the exhibition. Winners will be known during the fair or end of the fair.

News state that San Mateo County is sometimes listed as either 2nd or 3rd wealthiest county in the US. Really??? I thought only the areas of Atherton, Hillsborough, Woodside, Los Altos where there are mansions. For me, the real wealth is the good, friendly, kindhearted, fun residents.

For example when I was submitting my two pieces to intake volunteers.

I asked, “Do you have a trolley so I can get my heavy frame art?”

Peggy said jokingly, “We don’t have a trolley. We can do better. We can give you a man.”

I said, “Where can I get this man?”

Peggy said, “First you have to remove your glasses and mask,” and she added to make a flirty and coquettish gesture.

I laughed and said, “That’s good, as in the Proverbs ‘A cheerful heart does good like a medicine.’ San Mateo County residents are helpful and funny. Indeed, Roger helped me pick my heavy art and then showed me his seven submission pieces. He said he makes art to release and express creativity not to win awards. I totally agree, “When I finish my art I’m already a winner because I pulled out something invisible to make it visible. Ribbons or prizes are external opinions.”

I’ve two submissions—

a) Watercolor titled Wildflowers Becoming Wings which arose from a poem I’d written for April National Poetry Month. The lonely wildflowers when they heard a whimsical sound spotted an angel and they latched themselves to the wings so they can fly and listen to heavenly music. The inspirational technique in this piece was Gustav Klimt who painted flowers around women’s bodies. I saw his exhibit Rodin & Klimt in San Francisco Legion of Honor with sculptor Rodin.  I thought Klimt was German or Russian but when I was in Vienna, I saw a big billboard about his exhibition. He was Austrian Viennese.

Poem: Wildflowers becoming Wings

overlooked , lonely wildflowers in a meadow ;

heard a musical riff arising;

a gavotte, a pavana, a tremolo for a flamenco;

spotted an angel, multicolored petals jumping, attaching onto wings flying to listen heaven’s symphony.

1. b) Lettering–Love Stops Wars is the solution for ending wars. Hearts of nations gather together as a fence to block wars from entering into daily lives existence. I used sunflowers instead of O to symbolize the sunflowers seeds given by a Ukrainian woman to Russian soldiers when they first invaded her country.

1. c) My 2021 lettering piece is still relevant to current pandemic, inflation, and war; it stuck in a server error and was not judged but got displayed in the fair online gallery.

My mantra ‘ Simple is the new happiness and plenty’ is a cornucopia of several lettering scripts.  Henry Thoreau states it differently ‘That person is the richest whose needs are the simplest.’ 

Addendum: Studies have shown that joyful, cheerful, optimistic people live longer. Listen to joyful music.

Someone asked me what kind of music did the wildflowers hear? I was listening to Fascination, from the movie  Love in the Afternoon while I was painting. Listed below are links to three interpretations of Fascination.

In spite of his millions of fans, Andre bothered to say to me ‘Hello my dear, nice to meet you.’ What a friendly warm-hearted human.

Fascination by Andre Rieu(violin and conductor)  CLICK HERE

https://youtu.be/PCCADNZLbGM

Fascination, piano solo José M. Armenta CLICK HERE

https://youtu.be/FelaJogCaHU

Fascination guitar arrangement by Nemanja Bogunovic  CLICK HERE

https://youtu.be/w3NfmgNaofo