Art in the Park glitters like gold

Celebrated showcase marks 50th anniversary

At right, Micah MacConnell, 3, is hoisted to the top of a 1976 Cadillac “Chalkboard” Coupe de Ville by his father Ben MacConnell as he adds his own personal touch to the vehicle owned by Pat Slimmer during Art in the Park. Also pictured are Micah’s mother, Sarah MacConnell, Makenna Anderson, 10, front, and Natalie Adams-Menendez, 11. The car was one of the many attractions that drew attention in South Park on Sunday, May 1, 2011.

Olathe artist Michael Williams hammered nails to the beats of Queen and the Creedence Clearwater Revival on Saturday at the 50th annual Art in the Park.

Williams sat on a stool and peppered a wooden board with nails that snaked along in a pattern.

He calls it, simply, nail art.

“It’s a good stress reliever,” said Williams, who joined more than 100 other artists at the eclectic event at South Park on Sunday. “It’s a conversation piece.”

Williams has been hammering away at his nail art for the past year, after he decided to combine his construction background and artistic creativity.

Williams pounds, paints and layers the nails into finished products including Jayhawks, koi fish and a nail art K-State Wildcat that Williams wisely chose to keep hidden at the back of his display.

Art lovers could also find more conventional art forms at the event, such as watercolor paintings and jewelry. But it seemed, as usual, that unique works like Williams’ kept the sidewalks packed despite the cool, dreary weather.

Visitors could find everything from teapot and utensil wind chimes to gruesome-looking stuffed dolls.

Some of the artwork on display was so unique that the artists themselves had trouble categorizing it.

“It’s definitely a 3-D type of thing,” said De Soto artist Kathy Horniman of her bonsai-like “copper trees.”

Horniman finally settled and called them trees sculptures, as she talked about the process of molding copper wires together into wispy branches and sturdy trunks.

“This is my form of knitting,” she said.