In the food court
Simple Swirl, Phoenix
A ribbon of flavor is injected into a vanilla base to create a rainbow of options at Phoenix-based Simple Swirl.
The food truck’s nondairy soft serve desserts, made with almond milk, are lactose and gluten free and come in a cup or cone. Customers can choose from nine flavors and “unlimited” combinations, though owner David Scott Hammond recommends no more than two or three at a time.
Popular combinations are chocolate and peanut butter and chocolate and raspberry, Hammond said. A favorite single flavor is orange, which, combined with the vanilla base, is reminiscent of a classic Creamsicle.
“We’re very, very simple,” Hammond said in a recent phone interview. “We don’t do toppings. We believe when you’re at the fair you don’t want to spend all of your time in line waiting for your food, so we try to serve as fast as we can.”
Prices: small $6, medium $8, waffle cone $10; root beer floats $9-$12.
Among the artisans
MakeShift Accessories, Northfield, Minn.
Devin Johnson crafts cuff bracelets, money clips and rings from salvage sources, including a crashed Messerschmitt Bf 109 World War II fighter that was excavated in Germany.
He purchased the airplane “that was dug out of a swamp in pieces, in chunks” more than a decade ago, Johnson said in a recent phone interview. It’ll be a source for his art until he retires, he said.
Most of his materials come from a scrap metal processing yard in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area; he also picks up items at estate sales.
His jewelry and accessories are made from brass, bronze, copper, stainless steel, aluminum and sterling silver — nonferrous metals (containing little to no iron) that won’t rust, he explained in a recent phone interview.
Johnson brings his upcycled inventory to Idaho for the first time this weekend. The appearance at Art Under the Elms brings the Minnesota-based artisan one state closer to his goal of doing an art show in all 50 states, this being No. 43.
His website, at makeshiftaccessories.com, reflects about 15% of what he sells, he said.
Prices: The average price for Johnson’s pieces is about $45. Vintage spoon handle rings are $22. Bracelets made from retired space shuttle materials sell for $220.
Contributed photo
Niccole Blaze and Mo Kelly from Garden City, Idaho, will perform at Art Under the Elms.
Making music
Blaze & Kelly, Garden City, Idaho
Singer-songwriter Niccole Blaze and bassist-vocalist Mo Kelly bring a blend of deep, emotional songs and lighthearted “bumpy bumpy” numbers to the LCSC Student Union Building amphitheater from 5-7 p.m. Saturday.
The duo performs both classic fare, like Johnny Cash, and original material, Blaze said in a recent phone interview. Their signature two-woman harmony combines Kelly’s “very sweet, more high-end voice” with Blaze’s more “rugged voice that goes super, super high.”
“I have a song about my mom when she passed,” Blaze said. “I have a song called ‘Thankful’ that’s about gratitude.”
Audiences can expect a musical journey with depth, she said, both fun and emotional: “Hopefully they can tap their feet and wipe a tear.”
More about their music is at blazeandkelly.com.
Stone (she/her) is at mstone@inland360.com and (208) 848-2244.
If You Go
Art Under the Elms
When: Noon to 7 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Lewis-Clark State College, 500 Eighth Ave., Lewiston.
Cost: Free entry.
Details: Presented by LCSC’s Center for Arts & History, with 75 artisan vendors, food vendors, children’s activities, pop-up art exhibits, live music, dance performances, poetry and prose readings and film screenings. Full schedule is at lcsc.edu/cah/art-under-the-elms.
