Michael Olivares said when he's showing his art, it feels like his seventh birthday all over again. That was his best birthday ever.
Olivares is a painter. Many of his paintings have been scanned and transferred onto magnets that were on display Wednesday as part of the ASUNM Holiday Crafts Fair. He also does portraits.
Getting ready for a show has its ups and downs, but the most difficult part is the last-minute things that slip his mind, like remembering the receipt book, he said.
He said it was worth returning to the crafts fair for the money and to present his work, which he also shows at local coffee shops and restaurants.
The fair was created to give artists at UNM and the surrounding community an opportunity to show and sell their work, said Sam Johnson, director of ASUNM Crafts Studio.
The booths this year cost $50 for students and $100 for non-students. The event is juried, meaning the work must be high-quality to be allowed in the show.
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Former craft fair director Zara Southard has a booth called The Funki Shui. She sells drawstring purses with embossing. She is also selling jewelry, paintings and Christmas ornaments made of salt dough.
"When I was organizing the fair, I really didn't have a lot of time to spend on my own crafts," she said. "Now I get to see the other side of the craft fair."
Southard works for a gallery in Santa Fe.
The majority of the booths had works made by UNM students.
"It's a good place for students to buy gifts for family and friends," Southard said.
She enjoyed being able to see how other vendors put together their booths.
"I was born into the crafts world," Southard said. "Both my parents are artists, so I grew up with it all around me. I lived in Santa Fe all of my life."
Band performances and pottery wheel demonstrations accompanied the craft fair. It began Wednesday and runs through Friday. There are more than 80 vendors at the fair.
