long overdue update!

I haven't blogged in quite a while...hmm...seems I've written that before! Hopefully it will be a while before I write that phrase again. Anyway, things have been busy, and that's the reason for my lack of recent blog entries. Last weekend was the Arts Downtown and All Around Festival (sponsored by Five Rivers Arts Alliance), and it was a really great experience for me. I met a lot of cool people (shoppers and artists alike), I sold a painting and a collage, and I had a bunch of people take my business card and sign up for my email list.

Lee Cheever had her booth across from mine and she was an enormous help to me. As I wrote in my last entry, Lee outlined specific directions for me to build my own display (and found another display that I could borrow). I am happy to say I was able to finish building the display and it ended up working perfectly, although I did have a minor setback. When Lee came to pick up my display the day before the show (she has a truck, I don't), things started coming apart: screws broke through wood, staples started popping off, and I started freaking out. Lee was calm and assured me it would be easy to fix. I brought my tools to the set-up period before the show (which was noon on Friday; the show opened at 5pm) and hoped I could get everything done in time. It turns out I only needed my hammer and my staple gun, because Lee fixed the broken parts for me beforehand! All I needed to do was put in a few more staples and hammer the loose ones in. Whew!

I got to Fort Andross early on Saturday morning, and I'm glad I did. The place was packed, thanks to the Winter Farmers' Market going on next door. There was live bluegrass music and the mood was fun and festive. My friend Heather hung out with me for a little while (she is my art show MVP!), and I saw some other familiar faces as well. That evening, my husband Terry came by with his brothers Jerry and Patrick (who were visiting from Colorado and Rhode Island, respectively) and it was great to see them. It meant a lot to me that they could stop by and see my work in person (since Jerry and Patrick live out of state, they have only seen my work online). Also, Peggy from the Brunswick Art Collaborative came by with her husband Mark and two friends, which I really appreciated. It's so nice to have the support of friends and family!

I am really happy that I had the opportunity to participate in this event, and I look forward to next year's Arts Downtown and All Around. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, who helped out, and who made the weekend a fun and exciting experience!