First Saturday at The Chicken Farm Art Center

First Saturday at the Chicken Art Farm  this past weekend provided a family oriented, hands-on participation in the arts. The courtyard was filled with vendors selling original artwork in the form of paintings, wood crafting, and various handmade items.

In one corner of the yard a blacksmith pounding away with a sledgehammer mallet on a neon red glowing metal rod, forging it to a point as he casually spoke with an older gentleman. Sparks flew with every strike from the mallet.

The smell of grilled hamburgers lured people to the back of the Chicken Farm. There, Chef Sergio from the Silo House Restaurant was manning the grill. If you follow the walk way to the right of the Silo House you will find a separate seating area surrounded by artist studios and a couple of the bed and breakfast cottages’.

A circle of musicians gathered in a circle, strumming guitars, playing a flute and drumming away on various percussion instruments. As the afternoon progressed, the circle grew, and so did the sounds.
Inside one studio you could faintly hear the band of musicians playing a Johnny Cash song from outside the door, providing background music as inspiration for painting.

Inside, a group of little girls and a boy, seated around a rectangular table, painted what they all said were to be gifts for their mothers for Mother’s Day (that happens on Sunday, May 10.)

Artist Elizabeth Starnes' studio is in the front courtyard of the Chicken Farm. This First Saturday in her studio and for $1 you could paint your own card or for $10 you could paint an 8 x 10 canvas.

To find out more about the art classes visit, Elizabeth Starnes Watercolors on Facebook.

First Saturday takes place every month on the first Saturday monthly at the Chicken Farm Art Center, 2505 Martin Luther King in San Angelo.