A great StART

StART on the Street was great this year. My mom traveled from CT early on Sunday to help with the show and got here just in time for the checkin at 8:30. I'm so greatful that she is willing to make the trip here to do craft shows with me. Its so great to have the company and the help!

My spot ended up being about 3 or 4 spaces up from where we were last year. We had two volunteers unpacking gear from my car and two more showed up just as we were looking perplexed about how to setup the tent (I hadn't used it since last year!). But together we figurd it out and got it set up quickly. StART has the best volunteers!!! Once the tent was up, Mom and I went to work setting up tables and my new gridwalls, hanging scarves and artwork, placing out notecards and therapy bags. The street was already loaded with people shopping by the time I finished my setup at 11 AM, the official start of the show.

My nuno scarves were the hit of the day. I sold my 1st one early in the day and the customer wore it while she went through the rest of the festival. It was a warm day for a wool scarf. By the end, I sold 5 of the 6 scarves. I probably would have sold more if I had them. I am already planning to make many more of these for my December shows.

Other hits were felted soaps, daisy pins, notecards and wrap bracelets. I also had serious inquiries about 2 pieces of artwork and inquiries about commissioning artwork and wholesale orders. Wow! What a great show!

One of the great things about having my mother help me at shows is that I get an opportunity to walk around a bit. This year's stART was definitely bigger than last year's , and I think it was even better. The Elm Park end was a flurry of activity, with a music stage, non-profits and crafters, activities and more. There were more activities outside CC Lowell and all along the festival route there were street performers sharing their talents.

I managed to snag a few goodies at the show, including two pairs of baby shoes for my nephew from Kaya's Kloset, a pretty scroll saw basket (a gift from Mom!) and a fun Christmas gift for John (shhh its a surprise!). There were ALOT of vendors that I loved, and I wished I had more time & money to shop at their booths. Hopefully, if I get into StART at the Station this year, I'll be able to do some more Christmas shopping!

Wissahickon Footbridge

I just missed the deadline for entering this in the ArtsWorcester Biennial Exhibit. I was disappointed to say the least, but not surprised. So much went into planning the shower, that I didn't get to finish this until Sunday. And then I forgot that I never bought a frame for it! I am so happy withe the resulting paper painting though. I made the original underpainting in Philadelphia almost 3 years ago, but never added any collage to the piece. This is a painting of one of the beautiful bridges in Wissahickon Park. The park is part of the Fairmont Park system in Philadelphia and was our favorite place to go walking and hiking when we lived at the seminary.

I have grown so much in this style of art since I first started showing my artwork in Philadelphia and am so happy that I was able to finally finish this piece. I cant wait to make some prints and notecards of this for my etsy shop and stART events!

Artsy Weekend

This weekend John and I drove to Marlborough to drop off artwork for a juried art show at the Post Road Art Center. I submitted two pieces of work - "Paper Birches" and "New England Heartland". I can't wait to see if any of the pieces made it into the show. Though we didn't spend alot of time there, the Post Road Art Center seemed like a cool shop. It had a variety of artsy gift items, like hand dyed silk scarves and beautiful stain glass sun catchers as well as art supplies & custom framing. They have a room set aside as a small gallery space and will have someone from the DeCordova Museum judging the work. I'll know on Friday if my work made it into the show.

After we dropped off my work, we drove to Hudson, MA. We found a cute restaurant called the Harvest Cafe to eat lunch. The cafe is a restaurant, bar and coffee lounge. In the bar and lounge area, they have an "Art on the Wall" display, where they show local artists. I may someday inquire about showing my work there. It seems like it would be a good fit!

Another place that might be a good fit for my work is the Serendipity gift shop iin Hudson. What a cute place! This is a beautiful art and gift shop that feature work primarily from local artists. The owner is a jewelry designer and her shop not only features her work, but also some gorgeous fine art, pottery, and other crafts. John happened to mention that we were there after dropping off my work at the post road art center and she was very excited to hear that I was an artist. She even asked me to email her pictures of my artwork for her to consider for the shop! While I was there I bought one of the few imported items in the shop - a fair trade paper bead bracelet.

After that, we had a very non artsy stop at the mall to buy some of kitchen soaps at Bath & Body Works. I am using them for game prizes at my sister-in-laws baby shower! Shower plans have been taking up alot of my time lately. However, I am planning on taking some time to work on my entries for the ArtsWorcester Biennial and the CT +5 juried shows!

stART at the Station 2008

stART moved its Holiday event back to Union Station this year with great success. The place was packed with people for much of the day. I did ok with sales and had a wonderful time. All of my ornaments flew off the tree. I sold notecards, and jewelry and had lots of interest in my collages, though none of them sold. I think my mom really enjoyed watching the booth with me and hearing all the people compliment my artwork.

The vendors at this show were fabulous! Next to me were two great glass artists who made the most fabulous decorative plates and votives. All day I was oohing and ahhing over different pieces on their table. On the other side was a bagmaker who had beautiful fabric totes. There was a great variety at the show:visual art, jewelry, handbags, pottery, soap, notecards and so much more.

My big purchase of the day was a folkart triple decker. I had seen them at the stART on the Street event but didn't get a chance to go back to buy one. So I got my chance yesterday when I walked around. Unfortunately, my plans to put it on top of my cabinets didn't work out. It was just a little bit too tall. So our triple decker found some real estate on one of the book cases in our living room, along with my Simon Pierce bowl and the gyotaku minnow from Barry Singer.

I've finally recovered from the cold I caught from my husband. It couldn't have come at a worse time. I was really expecting to have a number of other projects done, including cleaning my house so we can decorate for the holidays. As it is, I still have to bake a million cookies this week. Tomorrow I am going to tackle the chocolate hazelnut biscotti and the chocolate cherry chunk cookies. Wednesday I'll be turning out orange shortbread, and Thursday and Friday I'll be making my very popular church mice macaroons and maybe some molded cream cheese cookies. So check back if you'd like to see them. And stop by Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester (across from the Art Museum) from 9-12 on Saturday if you want to buy any!

stART in the Park

I'll be selling jewelry and artwork at stART in the Park!

Paper, Paper, Paper

This coming week I will be focusing on making paper beads and other goodies out of recycled paper. I've found some good ideas and instructions online.

Today I am entering an art show in Hartford CT called [Un]Art. It is a nonjuried free for all at the Artspace gallery. They are expecting over 70 artists. I hope its not too crazy when we go this afternoon. I wanted to enter a show in Southbridge but alas, my best photos of the artwork to be submitted is on my computer, which is currently in CT being fixed (hopefully) by my brother.

I opened my etsy shop for my artwork today. I added the giclee prints I had made up for the Holiday Arts Happening. I only sold 2 prints (one was to my mom - hah) at the show, so I have to try to get some $$ for what's left. I plan on opening another etsy shop focused solely on recycled crafts once i get moving with my projects...