Aside from various musical performances, activities and food vendors, Common Ground Music Festival 2016 featured a slew of artists selling paintings, jewelry and clothing. One artist from Walled Lake, Mich. caught the eye of many festival-goers.
Selling canvas paintings, prints and lapel pins, Kevin "KPac" Pacynski picked up the brush for the first time four years ago after being bedridden due to a medical condition known as Postural Othostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS.
POTS is a medical condition in which a change from a position of laying down to upright causes a massive increase of heart rate, and as much as the diagnosis and treatment of POTS changed and took from Pacynski's life, it gave back a sense of purpose, passion and "untapped freedom."
"It's like there was something in me waiting to get out," Pacynski said.
Shortly after discovering his talent and passion for art and color, in 2014 Pacynski opened his shop, KPac Kreations, on Etsy.com where his acrylic paintings, prints and pins are available for purchase.
Most of Pacynski's art seems to be inspired by the outdoors and wilderness around him, featuring pine trees, lakes and other landscapes which have a very "Michigan" feel to them. With very vibrant colors contrasting darker silhouettes, his artistic-style is very identifiable.
"I feel the world has enough black and white," Pacynski said. "It's my job to add some color to it."
For now, Pacynski is attempting to sell most of his work vending at various music and art festivals in hopes of being able to finance a cross-country road trip "in search of a cumulative vision of unity through the eyes of all cultures and, in doing so, translate this idea into art people can feel the idea through," according the artist's website.
"The purpose of my trip is to share this universal language of love with as many as I can, through my art," Pacynski said.
This dream is what brought Pacynski to Common Ground Music Festival, which was his first time vending there.
"(Common Ground) has been pretty fun so far," the artist said on Saturday. "Tuesday and Thursday were my best days so far."
This year, he has vended at Great Lakes Art Fair in Novi, Mich., Shed 5 Sundays (an art fair at the Detroit Eastern Market) and East Lansing Art Festival. Upcoming, Pacynski will be vending at Dally in the Alley in Detroit on Sept. 10 and DIY Street Fair in Ferndale on Sept. 16 through 18.
"Not only is the people watching worth it alone, but the conversations and connections you make with (people) are unrivaled in the 'real world,'" Pacynski said about his experiences with vending at festivals. "The care and passion in people is unprecedented in anything I've experienced. People may be the worst thing to happen to our plant, but they may very well be the best thing as well."
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