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Visitors to Artfest came to watch art being made, talk to artists and just enjoy the view and get inspired.

This year's event featured 25 artist booths and the demonstrations of Fargo glassblower Jon Offutt, along with a silent auction and acoustic music performers.

Ashley Davis, a budding, young artist, was collecting collage pieces at the various booths to use in creating her own masterpiece at the children's activity table. Along the way, she was seeing a lot of art that she liked. Her favorites were the photography displays and Andrew Knudson's painting of Theodore Roosevelt and his feather art. With all the media choices, she wasn't quite sure what type of artist she would like to be.

"It's amazing some of the materials that they use," her mother, Anne Davis, said.

Kathy Miller of Minot, a stained glass and mural artist, came to see artist friends she hasn't seen for a while and to find out what other artists are working on.

"It gets me motivated again. You get inspired," she said.

Brian Bold of Towner, who calls himself an amateur artist, came to get some tips. Joyce Hendrickson of Minot encouraged him as she demonstrated her watercolor painting.

"I have been painting all my life and I am still learning," she said. Among the new forms that fascinate her is the computer-manipulated artwork.

"That's where I would be if I was an artist coming up," she said.

Visitors to the Taube Museum of Art's annual Artfest contemplated the paintings, photography, jewelry, pottery, glass, fiber and rock art as they moved with serious looks from booth to booth. Their moods changed when they came to Doug Pfliger and his handcrafted dogs.

"They come over here and a big smile breaks out. That's the fun part of it," Pfliger said.

Although he said he sometimes feels a bit like one of Santa's elves when he's working on the dogs in his workshop, he's also a serious artist who had to get used to his work being called "cute." But different art generates different reactions so as long as people appreciate what he does, Pfliger said he can live with that.

Pfliger's dog art began with as a project for his elementary school students. His creations gradually evolved, and after moving to Minot, he offered some of his dogs to a Taube silent auction.

"A bidding war broke out," he said. He's been making and selling the dogs ever since and has an exhibition planned in St. Paul, Minn., next month.

Clint Saunders and Daron Krueger have taken their art to shows in area states for the past four years but hope to make the leap to large, juried shows to expose their North Dakota photography to a wider audience.

The two artists, who operate Obsessed Photographers Gallery in Valley City, produced a book of their photography this past summer that's proven especially popular with former North Dakotans. Saunders said they get notes such as one that read, "I got this as a gift and it took me home. Thank you."

There's plenty of subject material in North Dakota, he added. Just by taking a different road, finding a new perspective or returning at a different season can create a fresh photo.

Saunders said he and Krueger have taken photos on travels to other states. However, they canceled a photo trip to Alaska to go to the Badlands after realizing it's the North Dakota photos that their clients want. It's easy to find photographs from Alaska but few photographers focus on North Dakota, he said.

For North Dakota artists, Artfest offers an opportunity to connect with a potential market. Nancy Brown, executive director at the Taube, said Artfest remains a small show, which is what artists like.

"They can spend a little more time with the customers and the people who come in, and they like the intimate atmosphere that we can offer them," she said.

Glass artist John Bartunek of Grafton said he likes the relaxed feel and the positive response from visitors.

"People are very appreciative at art shows," he said. "Even if they don't buy, they will tell you how nice it is."