An Afternoon at the Minnesota State Fair, 2016

I left work early on Wednesday to go sign books with the amazing Twin Cities Sisters in Crime group for Read & Ride Day at the Minnesota State Fair. My signing shift was 1-3, so after that, I took my camera and went exploring the fairgrounds. It was a beautiful day to be there.

What better place than the fair to see...

Thrilling rides!

Cute animals!

Profiles in butter!

 Colorful funhouses!

Freshly bathed llamas!

Prince-themed grain art!

Betty's (I'm assuming) award-winning pie!

Equestrian competitions!

Giant pumpkins!

Giant udders!

Giant...ummm...

 ...crowds!

As the day wore on and my feet grew weary, I decided to head on out. 

It was a fine day at the Minnesota State Fair!

Oh, yes...one thing to always remember, however...

For some wonderful Minnesota State Fair related books, click here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Prince Grain Art - Minnesota State Fair, 2016

Prince Crop Art

One of the more unique annual displays at the Minnesota State Fair is the grain art. If you're not familiar with grain art, it is exactly what the name implies; art made with grains. And...Since Minnesota's own Prince died this year, there was a plethora of grain art honoring His Purple Badness.

by Cathy Camper

Each individual grain is glued onto a surface one by one, painstakingly placed with a tweezers.

This one, by Suzanne Mears, is probably my favorite:

by Suzanne Mears

Different types of grain are used for different colors and textures. For example, this first place winner by David Steinlicht was created using white millet, red millet, regular old millet, poppy seeds, black beans, wild rice and amaranth:

by David Steinlicht

All of them are quite impressive...

by Nick Rindo

...and each took a heckuva lot of time and effort.

by Susanne Devitt

Who would've thought that Prince would someday be commemorated in grain?

If you get a chance, check these out at the Minnesota State Fair. The grain art is located in the Agricultural Building, and there are a lot of other amazing pieces of Prince and other subjects.

Okay now, let's all wave our lighters/iPhones in the air and sing together:

Purple grain,
Purple grain!

By the way, if anyone knows the artist who created the one at the top, let me know!

Prince on Amazon

prince seed art, prince grain art, MN State Fair