TOMATO ART FEST CELEBRATES 15 YEARS AUGUST 10TH AND 11TH

July 31, 2018 by Amber Ford in Nashville lifestyle blog

"A Uniter, Not a Divider ...Bringing Together Fruits & Vegetables!"

The 15th annual Tomato Art Fest takes place on Friday August 10th and Saturday August 11th in historic East Nashville. What once started as simply a Tomato themed art show at Art and Invention Gallery celebrates its 15th year as one of Nashville’s best festivals.

The Tomato Art Festival kicks off on Friday August 10th with an all New West Records line up to celebrate respective milestone years for both. The 37206 Main Stage presented by Pickers Vodka includes Buxton, T. Hardy Morris & the Hard Knocks, and The Whigs — highlighting just a few of the amazing acts New West Records has worked with in its 20 years in Nashville.

On Saturday August 11th the 37206 Main Stage features Guthrie Brown, Katie Pruitt, Stoop Kids, Marquee Mayfield, Teddy & the Rough Riders plus many more (full line up). Other stages include the Muddy Roots Stage, Cold Lunch Recordings Stage, Contest Stage, plus a Cooking Stage. For more information on additional artists performing at the festival you can visit tomatoartfest.com.

The festival and official kick-off concert are free to attend and welcoming to the public, uniting the community for a weekend of inspired art, wacky activities, great local music, creative vendors, unique kids activities, and favorite food trucks. For a full schedule of events, please visit tomatoartfest.com/scheduleofevents

True to the event's namesake, the art gets a big part of the tomato spotlight each year, where Art & Invention Gallery showcases over 300 tomato-inspired pieces throughout the weekend, beginning at the Tomato Art Preview Party at Art & Invention Friday August 11th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Tickets may be purchased at: https://www.tomatoartfest.com/art-preview-party/.

New this year the festival will feature a Bloody Mary Garden on Saturday August 11th from 11:00 am-1:30 pm in the heart of the festival. This ticketed experience will include up to 15 bloody mary samples from local and national mixes all served with Nashville’s own Pickers Vodka. Tickets may be purchased at: https://www.tomatoartfest.com/bloodymarygardenparty/.

About the Tomato Art Fest
Tomato Art Fest was founded by Meg and Bret MacFadyen, owners of East Nashville’s Art and Invention Gallery. In 2004, the gallery hosted an art show celebrating the tomato in late summer, and planned a few neighborhood events to promote the show. The Fest proved so popular that it immediately turned into an annual, signature event for the growing, hip, urban neighborhood of East Nashville.

A community builder, Tomato Art Fest has steadily drawn larger crowds with each year that passes. Last year, an estimated 60,000 came to celebrate this beloved fruit/vegetable and enjoy the day’s festivities. Touted in the Oxford American, and Southern Living, Tomato Art Fest was been voted “Best Festival” in the 2007-2017 in the Nashville Scene Reader’s Polls.

When Your Vision Turns Into a Reality...

May 05, 2016 by Amber Ford in Nashville, Nashville t-shirt, Native in Nashville T-shirts, Native in Nashville

About two and a half months ago, when I created this whole "Native in Nashville" thing, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. I had no idea how hard bloggers work on getting these informative things done. I had no idea how many hours I would spend researching places making sure I didn't dare to write incorrect information for the whole world to see. I had no idea how many connections I would make through this or about any of the events I have had the opportunity to attend, solely because of my blog. I especially had NO idea how many people I would reach by it. It has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done for myself. No, I don't get paid for this, and that's ok. That is not at all what I mean by rewarding. I have never been the type to really have any hobbies. When people have asked me in the past, I almost feel stupid because nothing has ever really interested me enough to give a straight answer. However, if you ask me now, I will definitely tell you blogging is it. I love connecting with people and this gives me multiple ways to do that. It gives me a platform to literally talk about anything I want to talk about and the beauty of it is that no one is being forced to read it. Gotta love being an adult. I genuinely want to thank everyone who, in fact, does read it. It means the world to me when I start to tell someone something, and their first reply is "I read about that in your blog" I literally LOVE you guys!! When I say it's rewarding for me, I mean that I take pride my posts. I've never had a lot that I have been super proud of. This is definitely it.

Speaking of proud, that brings me to my next subject. Since the first day I created Native in Nashville as my blog name, after about six hours of trying to come up with a name that wasn't already taken, I had a vision for all of this. When I created my logo I envisioned seeing it on tee-shirts, hats, etc. I know that I personally have always loved anything that has "Nashville" written anywhere on it, so I thought to myself, this would look really cool on a shirt. I never dreamed that when I thought those thoughts that I would actually have enough people that supported me to even think twice about it. Fast forward about two months later and I started getting requests from people, a lot of people, saying "you should make shirts with your logo on them". I had another friend, Erica, reach out around the same time period asking if I cared if she made me a shirt with my logo on it. She made me one and I loved it. I wore it to the Nashville Sounds game and posted about it. When I posted a picture in it I had twelve people order a shirt from me, when they knew the shirts weren't even made yet. I even had two people order from out of state. I am humbled beyond belief. That day when I went to the Sounds game, I thought to myself how amazing it would be if I was at a game one day in the future, or anywhere for that matter, and looked around to see even one other person wearing something I created on a shirt....five people... ten. I would be over the moon ecstatic.

Today I picked up thirty shirts with my logo on them. It was a surreal feeling. Ever since I was young I have always been a big fan of t-shirts. Wearing them, buying them, or thinking of ideas for them. I think my favorite part of high school was making shirts for pep rallies (those were the days). Anyways, I never really had a reason to make them, and now I do. I think they are the perfect way to show your love for Nashville and pride in living in such an amazing city. Don't be surprised when you see me wearing one everyday. Nothing wrong with a little shameless self promotion, plus they are SUPER comfy! I'm so proud to call Nashville HOME. I'm also proud of myself, that is a rare thing. I genuinely appreciate everyone who supports me and my blog!

If you are interested in purchasing a "Native in Nashville" shirt you can click here http://www.nativeinnashville.com/represent-nashville/ or choose the "Represent Nashville" tab from the dropdown above. I have put in a lot of time and dedication on these shirts to make sure to provide a good quality and comfortable shirt for everyone. I have definitely experienced a lot of trial and error through the process, but I couldn't be happier with the result. If you have any questions, please email me at nativeinnashville@gmail.com. As always, thank you for reading.

Murals You Don't Want to Miss: NASHVILLE

February 28, 2016 by Amber Ford in Wall art, Nashville lifestyle blog, Nashville Blog, Murals, Nashville, east Nashville, Mural locations, Art

I never have a free day, where I don't have any plans or something I absolutely have to do. I finally had one so my best friend Jennifer Cody (who also happens to be a fabulous photographer) and I decided to go exploring around Nashville to find the best murals we could find. Some of these you have probably seen before (if not in person, definitely on social media.) I'm almost embarrassed to say that I waited in line to take a picture in front of one in particular but it's seriously a "thing" here. You can't live in Nashville & not have your picture made with the "I believe in Nashville" mural at least once. You can't come here as a visitor and not take a picture with it either. I am not ashamed to say I have at least 10 pictures with said mural. You can never have enough! I want to share with y'all some of the great places I found today! They definitely make for some great pictures. I will probably end up with another post some day in the near future because we were mural hunting, literally until the sun went down. There definitely are never enough hours in the day but this is a great list of must see and must experience beautiful artwork around town. Luckily my best friend is a photographer so we decided to turn the hunt into a photo shoot ! I decided to actually do my makeup on a Sunday, which is not a normal thing & just so happened to have the perfect shirt for it from The Nashville Shirt Co. It says "Native" how convenient, right ?

I will start with one of my most favorite new walls. This is on the side of Draper James which is Reese Witherspoon's new boutique located in 12 South. It is a lovely Southern boutique. To the left of these stripes it reads "Pretty as a picture." Looking at it just makes you feel good. Thanks Reese :)

The wall directly across from Draper James is one of the many "I Believe in Nashville" murals around town. If you go, be prepared for a complete stranger to hand you their phone so you can take their picture for them too. This is a Nashville favorite by Adrien Saporiti of DCVX Industries.

The next place I want to take you guys is right down the street, still in 12 South, the wall on the right side of Green Pea Salon. This wall is covered in beautiful flowers and makes for some beautiful colorful photographs!!

Directly across from this beautiful flower painting is not necessarily a mural but to me its a really cool wall, especially for photos. As you can see below we really had fun taking them here. We must have taken a hundred.

Yall my be sick of my face by the time this is over, whoops. The next place I want to tell you guys about was my absolute most FAVORITE place we went to. It was like finding a hidden treasure and I have NO idea how the heck I have never seen this amazing place before today. I am about to share probably 20 pictures from there. Sorry in advance. There wasn't just one piece of wall art, there were several. Even the fences were painted. I'm SO excited to share. This is in Berry Hill at the House of Blues Studios. I had no idea we even had that here, but I guess you learn something new every day. Some of these are iPhone photos, so don't judge me.

Y'all know I had to take a picture with Snoop !

If you pull out of the street this is on and head towards Wedgewood you will see this ! I loved this one because it's painted as a cassette tape, gotta love anything old school. Kids these days will never know the struggle.

I couldn't resist heading downtown off of Korean Veterans Bridge on Almond Street to see the Willie Nelson wall!

The last 2 murals I want to show you all are both in East Nashville and about 45 seconds apart (driving) We got a little lost so it took us more like 15 minutes but that's ok, they were both awesome! The first one actually says "East Nashville" and is by : @ColorTheoryStudios.

This last one is also by Adrien of DCXV Industries and names "Stay Tuned". This is at the Center 615 Building.

I have lived here my entire life and it's crazy the things you can see if you actually just open your eyes. Pay attention to something other than your phone for a change ( don't worry I'm guilty too) and really take the time to go enjoy the beauty that is all around you. If you know of any other great wall art in Nashville please share with me so I can share with others !! I never knew how much I would enjoy blogging or how much work it would be but I really do love it! I sincerely appreciate everyone who has reached out to me about my new blog and it means a lot to me to know people actually enjoy reading it. Be sure to follow me on Instagram at @NativeInNashville and Jennifer Cody at @JenniferCodyWeddings. I hope you enjoy this one, we had lots of fun with it & thank you for reading ! XOXO - Amber

If you would like to book Jennifer Cody for photographs you can contact her by visiting her website at http://www.jennifercody.space/ she specializes in weddings, engagements & boudoir and adventure photography :) (shameless plug) you'll love her !