On July 17th, I went to peddle my wares at the 9th Annual Gresham Artwalk. I took along my lovely assistant Dian (and her lovely assistant Bob, who came in the a.m. to help us set up). We met a lot of very nice people and had a lot of fun. The show was very well organized, the volunteers extremely helpful. Sales were rather modest, but I came out somewhat ahead. I did meet several folks who expressed interest in having me do my signature collage/beading treatment using some of their own family photos, so there's the possibility of a commission or two. That would be exciting!I have to say, I'm not sure I have the stamina at my age to continue with these larger outdoor art shows. Getting up at 4:00 a.m., building a shop, tearing it down - by the time I got to sleep, I'd been up for 18 hours. That's a record for me! I'm still working on getting my energy back over a week later. I wouldn't have missed this for anything: it was an interesting, educational experience & I met some great folks. I just think it's taken too much out of me; I think I'll do better in the long run with the smaller school benefit shows I've been doing the last couple of years, looking for new retail outlets, beefing up my Etsy activity, and maybe my own website sometime soon. We'll see how it goes.
In any case, my thanks to all the customers who were kind enough to purchase my work, to all the friends who helped with advice and equipment,and to the organizers and volunteers who kept things running smoothly and were so helpful.
