For the savvy art lover, the Utah Arts Festival is a smart, fun way to accumulate wonderful works of art without having to pay gallery prices. One superb example of this is Salt Lake City resident Jodi Steen (booth 100), whose works have a look of classical Modernism, but she charges a fraction of what you might pay at galleries in town for pieces strikingly similar. ---

Steen’s works are on wood panel and have a ubiquitous format, not for arbitrary reasons but, she says, “I always base my paintings on land, sky, or water, and the colors come after.”

Steen says that the colors of the works and the scheme come from an emotional response. “I feel my paintings are simple in their approach, yet differ in the depth of the color and texture to how I feel in the moment,” she says. Although the paintings have a general subdued quality, she says “I am really drawn to early, quiet moments, so even with brighter colors, I find a sense of peace in the simplicity of the approach.” Festivalgoers can peruse the paintings and find compositions that appeal to their own sensibilities, from a scheme of dark gray to lighter gray to white, or a brighter palette of lavender, raspberry red, mango and turquoise.

With the panels ranging from 5” x 5” at $42 to hang in a front entrance, to 30” x 30” at $950 to hang over a love seat, Steen's booth allows a UAF visitor to bring home gallery-quality art from a gallery-quality artist without gallery-quality expense.