The Eastern States Exposition, known as the “Big E,” happens for a few weeks every September and is the largest Fair in New England. It features a colonial village, 13 State Buildings filled with Exhibits, equestrian competitions, rides, music, and just lots and lots of people, activity and stimulation. When we were 13 or 14, my friends and I used to love hanging out there after school in September. I’ve gone back to the fair during the last couple years and sketched quite a bit, trying to capture a little bit of everything: the twinkling lights and carnival rides of Funland, the electric busker calls, and smells of cotton candy, corn dogs and fried dough. In the first of the three compositions on this site, “Big E Fair,” rendered in watercolor, pen and ink, I’ve tried to capture the commotion, the whir of humans trying to see, hear (and eat) everything. I sketched from atop of a wall where I viewed a “Funland” (location of fairway rides) Ferris wheel and an exhibit building in the distance, but up close, the main attraction was people and their hunt for FOOD – lots of fattening food!!
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