Saturday, May 08, 2010

Art Show a Success



The Art Show today was a huge success. I really enjoyed visiting with folks and talking about my art process.

A little after 6 a.m. I had everything piled on the sidewalk, thinking I needed to turn it into an art show booth.

I'm so thankful to Pam for loaning me her tent. I wouldn't have done the show otherwise, and would have missed out on today's fun. And to be thinking a Saturday that started at 5:07 a.m. with the alarm is still fun at 10:30 p.m. is no easy feat.

I had some paintings and also some jewelry. I had hoped to have more pix, but I never had time to take any.



There were some memorable moments:
1. A woman who just loved my favorite piece and talked to me for a long time about how my artist's sensability was so evident in the work. I didn't even know I had an artist's sensability so that was an enlightening conversation to say the least.

2. I heard the following words about my work - "interesting," "vivid," "unusual" different," - most people really loved it

3. One man did walk up and look at my work and say, "that's weird." I wasn't sure how to respond so I went with "thank you." He then pointed at a large piece with his walking stick and leaned over and said, "that's REALLY weird." I responded, "thank you very much." I wasn't sure what else to say to that.

4. A young girl about 8 or 9 who bought a journal. She had looked at them earlier, and picked out two she liked. When she came back to get one, one of her favorites was gone, but she got the other and paid for it with her own money. I thought it was so neat that she was using her own money on a piece of art instead of something more typical for a young girl. Very cool. Obviously some great parenting there. In fact, she bought the blue one visible on the left side of the table in the wicker basket.



5. A woman who talked to me for a long time and the art and encouraged me to put my stuff on etsy. I've had an account since they first started (2007?) but I've never used it. I will. Really I will. Honest. She's about the 10th person to tell me I should be doing it.

6. I had a piece that was designed for a sewing room - included pattern pieces and some vintage ribbon. I thought it would sell very quickly but I still had it at the end of the day. A lady came by after the show was officially closed and we were talking and she bought it saying she had a purple sewing room. The board was painted purple. I guess it hadn't sold because it was meant for her. Cool how that worked out.

7. A young lady probably in her teens named Tammy who was with some friends and bought a piece. One of her friends asked, "Is this your first art purchase?" Very excitedly she said, "Yes! It is! It's so great!" I applauded their interest in supporting the arts at such a young age. Then Tammy asked if I would sign the back of her piece. Of course, I was thrilled to do it and asked if she wanted me to sign it to her. "Oh, yes, that would be terrific!" she said. So, I wrote a note to her on the back and signed it. A definite highlight of the day for me.

My friend, Jocelyn, who's an exceptional artist has always told me she likes shows partially because she likes to talk to people who like her stuff. I get that now. It's fun.

I talked to a lot of folks about how I do things. It was obvious many of them were just wanting info to do things themselves, but I decided I was just going to be generous and share. There's enough art love for everyone in the world who wants to create.

A couple of people from work stopped by, which was fun. I'm not sure any of them had seen any of my artwork. If they thought it was "really weird" they kept it to themselves, or at least didn't say it to my face.

It was great to visit with lots of folks I know who were there for the show. Really cool to connect that way.

All in all it was a really neat day. I had intended to take photos of all the pieces, so I'd have a record of them, but I never got a chance to do that. So, I'll just have to think of it like I think of mail art and let it go out into the world. I hope they all like their new homes and their new keepers enjoy them.