Since it was the first time I visited this fair, I wasn't sure what to expect.

To be honest, I had mentally prepared myself for an afternoon of gazing at still-lives and portraits. Beautiful of course, and inspiring, but probably not too exciting.

Man, was I mistaken.

At the fair I spotted a lot more than just very cleverly painted representations of real life. Don't get me wrong, I did see a lot of paintings that I mistook for photographs from a distance (from up close too, actually).

But there was so much more.

What was especially inspiring mesmerizing was the 'Wunderkammer' presentation of Gallery ArtKitchen. The Amsterdam based gallery displayed the work of -amongst others- Cedric Laquieze:

Here is what Cedric says about his fairies on his own blog: “(the fairies)... were some of my first creations and the main theme of most of my exhibitions. They are made from insect parts, including grasshoppers, beetles and butterflies, bones and plants. I always like to think there is a root of truth behind every myth... And that there's not that much of a leap between fairies and insects, some of which offer amazing shapes and textures to work with.”

Unfortunately these photographs don't even start to do justice to the exquisitely put together figurines.

Make sure you check Cedric Laquieze's blogspot or the website of ArtKitchen Gallery for more information about upcoming exhibitions you could visit.