It’s been awhile – a very long awhile, since I’ve done a blog post! But, this idea keeps rolling around in my head to write about my crazy, challenging, never boring life as an artist. The plan is to bring you some stories from the road and from the studio. Hopefully, they’ll provide an accurate and occasionally entertaining glimpse into life as a weaver – the good, bad and unexpected!
So, I thought I would start with a little vignette from the road. I’ve been a traveling fool this summer! Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Connecticut, Tennessee and of course, homebase Indiana. Most of the art fairs have been new for me – which just ratchets up the anxiety level! Not only am I driving to a new place, I’m hoping to sell well in front of new buyers, impress new organizers, and ideally, connect with new artists! It’s a tall order, let me tell you!
Here’s the scenario – I’m in Nashville, TN at the TN Fall Craft Fair at B24 for a 3-day show. You always hope you have been assigned to a good spot, but you never really know. Turns out, B24? Best spot in the event! How do you figure, you ask? Well, I have some shade (which is priceless when the temps are in the 90’s every day), I’m close to the food & port-o-potties, and I have brilliant neighbors!
On Friday (first day of the art fair), I ventured over to get the largest cold beverage I could find, since it was hotter than the sun. Or at least it felt like that, as I had already sweat through my outfit multiple times. Up to the coffee vendor I go, “Biggest ice tea you have, please!” Turns out, they offer a fish bowl – 32 ounces! Perfect! The drink is prepped and I don’t see any lids. So, I ask and they respond, “Yes, we have no lids”. Now, I’m not the world’s most graceful girl and a number of scenarios instantly play through my head of how this could end badly. But, I cautiously proceed back to my tent all the same.
My neighbors at B25 are Julie & Darrell – fellow midwesterners, newbies to the show just like me, and all around extremely likeable people! I share my predicament with them and Darrell chimes in, “We’ve got a lid”! Julie, who has a fierce love of lemonade, got a humongous drink earlier in the day from a different vendor. So, I happily borrowed their lid to ensure that neither myself nor my handbags ended up covered in iced tea!
Over the course of the weekend, it became a thing – Julie would use the lid early in the day for her lemonade and then pass it over to me for my iced tea (we were being good recyclers and reusing the cups, too). On Sunday afternoon, as everything was winding down, we made our final swap & I ended up as Keeper of the Lid. Being an artist is mostly a very solitary job. So, finding kindred spirits at an event is an amazing bonus! When I see Julie & Darrell next (in November at a holiday event in Michigan), it will be great fun to reconnect, see how the fall was, and most importantly, hand back the lid!
