Last Show 2011~ Harrison Rally Day

...A cool, cloudy mid September morning in a small NW Ohio community. This was fun, because it is a downtown street festival and it has a mix of the activities a lot of people think of when they hear "street festival" in the Midwest. 

One being: historical celebrations :

This event is named for a rally held in Perrysburg in the 1800s for William Henry Harrison. If you've heard of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too", it was the Whig party's campaign song based on General Harrison's exploits at the Battle of Tippecanoe fought in 1811 against Chief Tecumseh, and his vice presidential running mate, John Tyler. Mr. Tyler, the 10th president, succeeded Mr. Harrison on April 4, 1841, a month after Mr. Harrison's inauguration. (This last bit of info was totally copied from another website: I generally run as far away from History as I can as a rule...)

Quite a large "small" Festival, 240 booth/tents were set up along the streets of Perrysburg,Ohio.

...Here's mine!

And it wouldn't be a Midwest street fair without a parade!

 

 Of course, the local high school's marching band, too...

 

Always displayed proudly at my booth!

 

And we all love our classic cars! My Dad actually had a black '57 Chevy that I still remember riding in! He sold it when I was 10 :-(...

 

Then the sun came out and totally transformed the day (Although, as you can see, our booth was WAY too close to the railroad tracks!) 

 

The local fire department showing off for the kids...

 

I HAD to get a picture of THIS guy! I didn't even ask to take his picture - I figure that if one walks around with two dogs in doggie harnesses hanging on him , he should expect it! Don't think anyone would have believed me anyway if I hadn't provided proof!

 

 My Hibiscus Blossom display

 

And the Faerie Doors! TWO more are now out in the world attracting our tiny friends =-)

 

I'm so thrilled with digital cameras, because I always take such important and well thought out photos, like the sun glinting off my FunGi....

 

I always like to take an "artist's eye" shot from inside the booth! Good parting shot, too. Later!

Revisiting The 2010 Art/Craft Show Season...(2)

Another installment in the saga of  my trials and successes in the Toledo art/craft show circuit...

"In Another Garden" Garden Tour

Perrysburg, Ohio

6/19/10

(My third year participating)

"Awakened to a thunderstorm @ 4:30 AM. Stopped before we left from home - was nice rest of day. Pretty warm, but we were in a nice spot in front of the homeowner's garage in the shade. I did visit 3 of the gardens that were on the same street - even found one of my pieces in the garden next door to the one we were set up in, and sold my first Faerie Door! Homeowners were great AND made a large purchase, too!"

notes: This tour is interesting because it is situated in a different part of town every year. I actually used to go on this tour as just another garden aficionado, and have many fond memories of all the gardens I was able to see. That is my only complaint about becoming a vendor - I can't participate in the tour itself! :-(

Revisiting The 2010 Art/Craft Show Season...

This past year I began a little continuing journal in my sales book, partially for helping me remember how each show went, how sales were and what our impressions were of each event, especially if we had never participated in that particular show before. And also for something to do! Even at a busy show, there's always some down time.

  As I was working on my year end books, I started to re-read the entries and thought they might be of interest to or could even help new craftspeople who may be thinking about diving into the art show world....

Toledo Farmers Market Flower Day Weekend 5/29/10 

 (My fourth year participating)

"Got up @ 4:30 A. Arrived @ 5:20 - first ones there! Set up canopy for 1st time in space #40, same place as last year. 62˚ when we arrived - NO RAIN! - light breeze. Went up to 85˚ but low humidity.

Slow start as always but really picked up - got to stay in the same spot Sunday so pitched in the $5 for security.Didn't use the sides - just covered up most of it. Left 4-4:30."

Toledo Farmers Market Flower Day Weekend 5/30/10 

"Got up @ 6:15. Arrived 7:35 or so. MORE nice weather. A lot slower, but several big sales ($80, $74, $65) made it pretty good. 88˚, but not horrible - low humidity again. Things died by 2:30 - 3:00 - left by 5:00 (4:30?)"

notes: I mentioned rain because in our area, rain is always more likely than not in the spring. Since there are vendors who set up there weekly, they have preference over spaces and sometimes you have to set up in a different space on the second day. The 5 dollars is the charge for overnight security. Well, if I have to pack up everything and move the next day, I have no reason to need overnight security, so I wait until I know where I'll be the next day. The crowds thinning by 3:00 seems to be the norm.

..So that's the first show - next post, "In Another Garden" -The Toledo Day Nursery Garden Tour
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Black Swamp Arts Festival 2010

Although every art show is the same in many ways, they are also very different from any of the others. Of course, we set up basically the same, have to bring the same materials and supplies, and have the same hopes and goals for the day(s) of the show.

But then, the weather always is an unknown (Check with the weathermen? Yeah, right... ), our "neighbors" are usually artisans we have not seen/met before, and the space or area is never the same. Of course, since I never have two pieces exactly alike,my inventory is constantly changing, too!

Sunday was beautiful...

And something new and exciting (to me!...) always happens at each event I participate in. This past weekend it was...

 1) Several people telling me that out of all the artists there, it was my art they liked the best (a few were men, too),

2) Someone affiliated with the Arts Commission asked me if I would be interested in having a one person show (no details were discussed; but hey, even being ASKED meant a lot!),
3) Hans Ruebel, one of the other artists in the Kuhlman Corp. exhibit, stopped by my booth to say hi, which was very nice of him

4) I made a great trade with Larry (of Lars Glass ~ one of my "Art Show mentors") for one of his Sun Chains, something I had been yearning for thru the past 3 shows we had both been to, and
 5) One woman who acquired a Faerie Door from me 3 weeks ago shared with me that she had been having an awfully bad day at the time, and finding her Faerie Door really brightened her mood ~ wow ~ what more could an artist want?!

...And I'm ashamed to say that I judged someone by their appearance, something I always try not to do ('Cause I have no room to talk!Have you seen how I dress at these things?!)

Anyway, coming back to our booth around the close of the second day, I discovered my husband conversing with a man who looked...well, I'll use his words- "I've been a "bum" all my life!" ( Hey, I work in downtown Toledo ~ believe me, I see a LOT of "bum" like creatures!)...So that was my initial thought, until we spoke with him for awhile, and realized he was no bum, just an artistic, free spirit who lives happily with his wife of 29 years (like us), childfree (also like us!) but not very many similarities beyond that. His wife then joined us, and we had an interesting and fun conversation with them about their lifestyle, (minimalist and mostly "off the grid"), our life, and art ~ and my preconceived idea of them quickly disappeared. These are folks I will remember for a long time... and Sam and Brenda, I look forward to seeing you again!

Levis Commons 2010 - In Retrospect

Art shows are such an experience! I often wonder if I could live my life on the art show circuit - could NOT having a 9 to 5 job make up for the physical labor and worry it takes to do shows? Probably not, especially with my medium - if I had fiber or jewelry, something easily transported, and could fit everything I would ever need into a truck or van, I think I could handle it. OR if I was 20 years younger! ;-)

Anyway, I did participate in the Levis Commons Art Fair this past weekend, and did quite well! Despite a near washout on Saturday and being windblown on Sunday, it didn't seem to faze a lot of the shoppers, and of course, it doesn't harm anything I sell! All of the birdbaths are displayed outside of the canopy, so the display factor was increased Saturday by showing off how just well the birdbaths looked filled with water!

Saw some old friends (Rhonda/Ken and Janine/Jeff!)...and made new friends!....

And I really like to talk to the other artists - every one of them have interesting stories OR great tips on what they do in various situations (like how to keep your canopy's top from filling with water! LOL). I learn something new every show. With this show, I was somewhat concerned that our display was too "homemade" looking compared to everyone else's, but no one seemed to notice or worry about it - they were more interested in my work - as it should be!

I do have to mention The (Michigan) Guild of Artists and Artisans, the same association that organizes Levis Commons as well as the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair . When I saw all the rules and regulations regarding the show, I actually lost sleep over all of it! Yikes! What if "they" don't like this? What if "they" don't want me to have these things over here? Well, I should not have worried. Evidently those are just set out so if someone IS being inconsiderate or unreasonable, there is something in writing.

Actually, everything was well organized (and VERY well advertised, so I stopped whining so much about the cost to be there). We always pack sandwiches and sundry food items for a show, but they had a very well stocked "hospitality" tent for the artists, with donuts, bagels, water, coffee, bananas (and my sincere appreciation goes out to a couple of local businesses, namely Andrew Z's- for providing PIZZA on Saturday and Max & Erma's for the WARM chocolate chip cookies on Sunday!), so we didn't want for much.

My work, as usual, didn't receive any awards, which is not surprising at an art show like this - there is just too much around I myself would consider extremely Fine Art, but it would be nice to at least SEE a judge glance my way once in a while! Hmmph...

 

Did have fun, nonetheless, despite the rain,the long hours, the wind, the dumb questions ("Oh, does this one hang?" - While pointing to a leaf HANGING up on the lattice... ), and getting thru the inevitable period of time during each setup and takedown where Hubby and I fight the urge to punch each other in the eye! (He's very organized; I'm not - need I say more)?

A New Venue! Levis Commons Fine Art Fair 2010

On August 21 & 22,  I will be set up at the Levis Commons 6th Annual Fine Art Fair. This is the closest to a "real" art fair I have participated in so far, since it is promoted by The Guild of Artists & Artisans in Ann Arbor, MI., which also handles the Ann Arbor Street Fair, the largest art fair in this area of the country. I have not, and probably never will, be involved with that one, since A) I would need 3-4 times the amount of inventory I currently have and B) I would not want to go beyond the capacity of our truck just to haul more cement!

Plus I'm cheap~Levis Commons is costing me plenty, and Ann Arbor would be way beyond that! Of course, it is true that you have to spend money to make money sometimes, but I have my limit. There is a rule of thumb I have heard from other artists, and that is you should make ten times what you spend on the booth fees for it to be considered a very good / great show. Since the fees are conservatively around $700.00 (USD) for one space, and I have maybe, on a GOOD day, $3000.00 in my TOTAL stock, you see how I could never reach that goal (believe me, three grand would make me happy enough, but that would be every last thing I had!)

But, back to Levis Commons ~ expensive though it may be, I'm happy as a rat in a restaurant dumpster to be participating this year. It is a very nice event, plus this is the first year I am finally confident enough to want to be included in the big leagues, and am looking forward to the experience!

The Quest For The Unobtainable

I bet you think this post is about striving for wealth, or power, or fame - something along those lines. Well, no, it's about my great creative ideas using hardware or craft items UNTIL I find out no one makes the particular items I have in mind!

Well, here's what I mean...Example #1~ I normally don't like to add "silly" stuff to my leaves, but when I first began, I thought the waterlily pads were sort of boring (especially before I started painting my pieces), so I found little ceramic frogs/toads to attach to them, and discovered they were really popular. Enough so that I had trouble finding more! I finally found a local florist shop that agreed to wholesale ceramic toads, snails and turtles to me (they were floral picks), and they worked great! Then the store closed, so that was no longer an option (yes, they even gave me the name of the company, but they ignored my emails). Well, I'd just look online! Oh sure, I found lots of frogs and toads on Ebay - unfortunately, they were either the wrong size, too unrealistic (like wearing clothes or playing instruments ), or "collectible" - i.e., expensive!

 

...So here I am, making molds of the critters, and casting my OWN amphibians in cement! Then I have to paint them...yes, it was a good save, and it makes each one even MORE one of a kind, that's true, but it is also more labor intensive!

Example #2~...When I was much younger, I was fascinated by greeting cards that had glitter and rhinestones glued to them to enhance a scene, a flower, etc. I especially liked the "dewdrops"- tiny clear glass cabochons that looked like dew on flowers. I even got to the point that I would lift all the cards with dewdrops out of the rack, because inevitably, some of the stones would get knocked off loose in the card rack, then I'd pilfer them! (Well, I knew no one was going to go thru them and glue them back on, and I couldn't bear to see them thrown away!)

Here it is, thirty (or so) years later, and I decide that dewdrops would be perfect to add onto my leaf pendants. Simple; I'll just go to the local craft store, right? Well..., not so much. While they had faceted rhinestones up the wazoo, none were smooth! Still, I wasn't worried - again, I was sure I could find them online! Surprisingly, that didn't seem to be the case either. I found only ONE online store that carries them, and first, they are slightly larger than I'd like, and second, they're acrylic while I really had glass in mind.

So here I am, buying little clear glass beads that I'm actually physically BREAKING IN HALF to achieve the look I want! Again, more time and labor!

 

Example #3~I wanted to cast little steel nuts {no Iron Man jokes, please....I'm laughing though -"nuts" is a funny word! :-) } 

into my small bird feeders so I could just buy rods with threaded ends to screw them onto. Guess what? No one MAKES steel or aluminum rods with threaded ends - they are either threaded the entire length of the rod (which is unpleasant looking), or not at all!

.....So here I go again, manually threading aluminum rods individually because NO ONE MAKES WHAT I WANT!!! hmph.

A Stroll In Downtown Toledo

 

It was a beautiful day today, so I took a walk around on my lunch hour...

 Here's a sculpture across the street from my workplace, in front of my OLD workplace! Impressive building, huh? Too bad it's empty    ...:o(

 ...A closer look

This is a memorial sculpture inspired by Art Tatum in front of the brand new arena - the dark spaces are illuminated in blue at night. The parking garage at the far left is where I park, I also manage the parkers using that facility.

This is the old but renovated Valentine Theatre  

 This is close to the Valentine - (I apologise to the artist, but I think it borders on hideous)! If I was a five year old, it would scare me!

 Close to the water (Maumee River) - the panels are holographic when the light hits them just right.

Hark! There lies yon river I spoke thereof...picture taken thru the oak tree that I procure the leaves from for some of my pendants

I'll continue my tour in a few days!

Work Is Continuing

I have been on a quest for white cement (or any kind of a white cement or concrete product - mortar, resurfacer, whatever) ever since I cast my first piece, because I know the colors would be so much more vibrant if they were painted on white instead of grey. For some reason, everytime I read something ANYWHERE that goes like, "AND it can be found at any of your local home and garden stores!", OURS doesn't carry it. I have a Lowe's, a Home Depot, and a Menard's all within a couple miles of my house, and they don't carry white cement products, or things like smaller diameter copper pipe than 1/2" (which I could really use, also), etc., - and if I ask them if they can special order it, they all tell me No, in that special way that REALLY means, " Yeah, right! And go through a little extra work for YOU? No Way!". So much for being helpful to the do it yourselfers - sure,they can help, as long as it's something they already have in store! Yes, I have found it online, but I'm not paying shipping costs for CEMENT!

My second choice would be to paint a base coating of white, but the colors don't blend as easily on white paint. I HAVE found that white primer works quite well, and of course it is primer, so it would bond the paint to the piece better, and, although I usually don't have trouble with the paint adhering, it couldn't hurt! Here's my first try at a primed Rhubarb leaf, and I'm really happy with it! (Yes, the "worktable" that you see is the clothes washer!) This is only the first color after the white base coat....

..and here is the next color! I already see a drastic difference, and I'm really happy with it! I'm afraid I just added another step to my procedures, but if it improves the quality, that's what I'll have to do!

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Leafin' In The Snow

Sorry about the lack of posts recently - mid winter's not an exciting time of year for garden art! I do have an event lined up for early March now, though, so things need to speed up! My New Year's Resolution is going pretty well - I am determined to get all my raw cement pieces painted before the Spring leaves start appearing, and so far I'm "keeping my nose to the grindstone" - (you'd think it'd at least get smaller -LOL) and, despite my losing interest a little after the holidays, I believe I have my Mojo back and am again enjoying my chosen craft. Every winter I worry myself - I have started many projects over the years - art related or otherwise- and the normal lifespan of most of them was maybe a few months! I am beginning my fifth year as a leaf caster / nature artist, and after four years and well over 600 finished cement leaves I am amazing myself at my continued interest and excitement with my work. A lot of people think I'm kidding about this (except the ones who know me VERY well), but I am extremely lazy! If I could sit at home and do what I want WHEN I want, I would be very happy. If someone had told me 5 years ago that I would be working full time AND working every other spare moment on garden art, I would have laughed them out of the room! A full time job was plenty of work for me, thank you! And necessary - unfortunately, quitting to cast leaves full time is not an option. Believe me, I am not doing this because I have nothing else to do, or that I need to keep busy - it's

just something I have to do.

Don't feel sorry for me - I'm definitely not killing myself - I know a few people who could probably do a lot more than what I'm doing, but this is it for me! I have a philosophy in life - and I hate to say something so cliche' as "Stop and smell the roses", but that IS how I

feel. I think a lot of people rush around and do so much that they're killing themselves! Most of the workaholics I know either have cancer, or heart disease, or are diabetic, OR are dead already! I see it over and over again. I do feel it's important to be productive on a daily basis, but it is also important to relax on a daily basis, also. OK, I'm off my soapbox now (Wow, this must be Cliche Day!).

I "Heart" My Leaves!

Speaking of little things, I have also just developed a little

"trademark" - a small Morning Glory leaf pressed into the backs of my

castings. Isn't that sweet? A little heart shaped reminder that they are

made by hand. Actually, the truth is that I can't seem to eradicate all

of those damn weedy Morning Glory vines from my yard, so I thought I'd

at least find a use for part of them! All plants have a purpose,if one looks closely enough!

MY Favorite Artists -Part 1

I have enough "stuff" of my own around the house and garden to keep me from collecting very much in the way of other artists' work, but there is one show in my area where I find Amy Citko Designs. She creates art out of Borosilicate dichroic glass, crushing/breaking it up somehow and making "sparkly things" out of it. Let me point out right now, I LIKE sparkly things! Hubby tells everyone I'm like a crow - I dive after anything that glitters! But, anyway, I found Amy 3 years ago at the Levis Commons Art Fair in Perrysburg, Oh. These are the same promoters who handle the Ann Arbor Street Fair in Michigan (and that is a big one! Too big for me, as yet!), so I am assuming Amy would also be found there.

My first purchase

Amy claims that these are weatherproof, they can be left outside all year, which I have not done (because I hate winter and figure it destroys everything it touches!), but after having this outside all summer for three years, the copper is starting to patina, but there is no change to the sparkle on the piece! So I would bet it could be left out - I just can't do it, though.

...This is what I acquired last year - I think it's my favorite so far

This is a little different piece I acquired this summer - Hubby sort of talked me into it, and even though I really like it, I would rather have the more sparkly stuff.

Although- when the sun hits it and I get this.....like little flying saucers cruising around the yard...I do become very fond of it!

Some Impressive, Talented Artists!

I am not real impressed by a lot of artwork that I see - not because I'm such an expert, or even that I know what constitutes beautiful artwork, but IMHO only, since I have a little talent, and my father is such a talented painter, a lot of what I see is nice, but not amazing. Certain arts, such as glassblowing, constitute something resembling MAGIC to me, as far as I can tell! I have never tried it, and so can't look at it and understand how it's done. Other artwork, such as pottery or jewelry, is something I understand, but if someone takes it in a new direction, something I would not have thought of, it is impressive to me. Here are some artists I was fascinated with at the Black Swamp festival....

I seem to be attracted by pottery, and, although working in concrete is WAY different, I can relate to what potters do in some ways. I did not purchase any of them, though - every place I could think of to put a piece seems to be taken up by a leaf! Hmmm. I tried not to say to them what always bothers ME, though -" Oh, your work is beautiful! Such good prices! How Unique! Too bad I'm (choose all that apply) A) downsizing, B) broke, C) A parent of young children, or D) moving." Oh well, C'est la Vie!
Some more colorful pottery by Parsley Pottery (I like that name!) in Cincinnati, Oh. (NOTE: While I do not mind photos taken of my work, many artists DO, so please ASK before taking photos of artwork! And if you do ask and they say no, don't get upset - they need to protect their livelihood.)

...And some amazing sculptures!

This is Larry Mack of Lars Glass Originals http://www.larsglassoriginals.com/, he has been a friend of ours for a long time, and has been in this business for a long time, too (of course, he probably started when he was 5 or 6, right, Larry?)

But now that I am starting in the art field, he has become more like my "Mentor"! We have been at some of the same events, and he gives me good advice and information on what shows may be successful for me and shares different techniques he has found that work for him at these shows. Our artwork is at totally different ends of the scale (he works in glass; that's more of the stuff filed under "Magic"!), so we're not competitors at all. We own some of each other's work. In fact, here's one of Larry's glass and copper pieces in my garden, fashioned to place in a birdbath ( NOTE: did you know that copper inhibits algae groth in fountains and birdbaths? Just throw a couple copper pennies in it - or get one of these sculptures!)

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