Visitors to the 41st Annual Cape Coral Art Festival saw a sea of white tents slowly come into focus as they crossed the bridge over the Caloosahatchee River into downtown Cape Coral. The festival, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Cape Coral, was open both Saturday and Sunday, Jan.10-11, showcasing the work of more than 300 artisans.
Each artisan displayed his or her creations under a white tent lining Cape Coral Parkway, which was closed to traffic for the popular event from Del Prado to Southeast 15th Ave. While visitors and shoppers focused on a mighty tent village showcasing the work of gifted creators, the creators themselves focused on sharing the personal stories behind their creations.
“Somewhere in my collections of old photographs, there’s a picture of me – as a toddler – wearing my dad’s light meter,” photographer Jane Axman shared. We grinned at the idea that photographers don’t really need light meters anymore. Photographers need subjects. Jane Axman learned the love of photography from her father. “I inherited his eye,” she smiled, reminiscently. “I do with wildlife what he did with portraits of people.”
Axman has been an occasional vendor at the Cape Coral Art Fest for 20 years. Beneath her tent space are rows of wildlife images and several landscapes. Christina Jordan, a shopper leafing through Axman’s plentiful images, ultimately settled on buying a photograph of palm trees at sunset, an image that looked as though it could have been captured right here in Southwest Florida. Homebase for Axman, however, is nowhere remotely near Cape Coral. She is a resident of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and has captured numerous images across multiple continents. Jordan is a yearly attendee of the Cape Coral Art Fest. “I love this festival,” she shared. “I started coming four years ago, because I especially love the nighttime images.” After completing her purchase from Axman, Jordan turned, cradling her newest artwork, and said, “The artwork here is always special.”…