My heart is filled with gratitude for everyone who made ADAA a wonderful experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my fellow artists, to all the show-goers, to those who couldn't make it out but still offered their love and support in other ways, and to the event's very hard-working organizers and volunteers...as the kids are saying, "mad props" to Catherine Worthington, Lily Roy, and Joan Carney in particular.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this year's ADAA group show was in the former Coleman Burke Gallery space right next to Frontier. This location turned out to be fantastic! The room itself was beautiful, with high ceilings, exposed brick, large windows, and good lighting; plus, the proximity to Frontier got us a lot of traffic that we may not have otherwise had. People started arriving while we were still setting up on Friday afternoon because they were either on their way to or coming from Frontier, and on Friday evening, when diners were waiting for their tables, the Frontier staff encouraged their patrons to make good use of their wait time by checking out the art! Thank you, Frontier peeps, for supporting local artists (and for making awesome food, too)!
Twinkly lights make everything nicer, don't they?
Things were busy right from the get-go, and the traffic all weekend was fairly steady. Not only were people in a good mood, but they were in the mood to shop! They were also in the mood to chat...allow me to share some stories that were shared with me!
*A couple bought an "El Camino" magnet and an "Old Fat Boy Sign" magnet to send off to their daughters who are currently living in California, but are homesick for Brunswick.
*A woman told me the magnet she bought was going to be the "pickle present" this year. I told her I didn't know what that was, so she filled me in! Evidently, this is a tradition in Polish families: you hide a pickle ornament in the Christmas tree, and whoever finds the pickle ornament gets the "pickle present"! I've seen pickle ornaments in stores before, but I just figured they were made for people who loved pickles (such as myself)...I didn't know there was a story behind them!
*A woman bought an "Old Fat Boy Sign" magnet as a stocking stuffer for her adult son. She told me that when he was a child, her son would get very upset when anyone in the family would say "Fat Boy," because it wasn't nice to call someone "fat". He insisted they refer to it as "The Restaurant By The Airport." It didn't stop them from eating there, of course!
*A woman bought a couple of magnets and a mixed media piece from me. We started talking, and it turns out she is a collector of my work! She lives in the Gorham area, so we first crossed paths at the Gorham Art Fair a few years ago. I remembered that one of the pieces she bought from me a while back was called "You Are Eternal," and when I brought that up, she told me something that made the hair on my arms stand up: she gave "You Are Eternal" as a gift to her brother after he had been diagnosed with ALS. "He keeps it in his man-cave," she said, smiling.
Not only am I grateful for the excellent turnout and for the great sales I made at ADAA, but I feel really good about all the wonderful interactions I had with show-goers and artists alike. It is a privilege to be able to connect with others through my art, and for that, I am thankful...and if you're reading this blog, I am thankful for YOU!
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