Creative Presence

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I met with the owner, Rachel, on Sunday and she loved my framed pieces! I took out more to show her than I intended but so many are my favorites that I couldn't seem to narrow it down. She kept them all! I really hadn't gotten that far in my thinking but it sure seemed like the right thing to do - jump right in and leave them there.

Good thing I don't have another definite show booked until October - I now have close to zero inventory of framed stuff. Good thing I'm feeling super motivated! Time to get busy and how.

She has a real eye for displaying everything and they offer a nice variety. It's all good stuff! I also fulfilled my other purpose of going to this store - I finally bought a piece of silverware yard art. I had my eye on this at the show but couldn't bring myself to spend the money that day, though I knew I really wanted one.

This one stands about 3 feet tall. It took me a while to decide between this or this same design in a wall hanging or a tabletop piece. I opted for the yard art so I can use it outside this summer, then bring it in and stick it in a houseplant for the winter. Lots of my houseplants have "plant poke" type things in them. I'm so happy I bought this today - I think it's adorable!

I forgot I had these pictures on my camera from the show! This is my booth, obviously.

This is the table with the pins, suncatchers and framed art. Now that I know I'm going to keep doing this, I'm going to figure out a wall system so I can display these pieces hung on a wall. I think they'll be more visually appealing. I've sort of been researching portable walls at various shows over the past months. I need something obviously portable, something I can assemble easily and looks good. I had sort of been thinking of chicken wire or hardware cloth stapled to two wood frames hinged together. I'd finish the wood and make it look nice, I mean. That way, I can hang the pieces anywhere on the wire mesh, on hooks, like drapery hooks probably. I don't know, I need to keep thinking about this and looking around. I'm open to suggestions, as always.

This show was at a winery in Fairport. They offer tours and tastings and hold events there too - weddings and corporate events and the like. This is the deck that was off the room I was in. The craft show was in three rooms. It's a very nice place. There are tons of vineyards south of here, in the rolling hills of the Finger Lakes Region but it's unusual to have this one in Fairport - on a fairly busy street, surrounded by houses. It's been here since 1974.

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We received word on Friday that my AR counterpart is returning to work one week from today, on May 15, after a 3-month medical leave. No one is cheering louder than me, believe me. I told Mary, my massage therapist, the good news on Friday and she whined, "Does that mean you won't come see me anymore??" I told her I planned to keep going as long as it felt like the right thing to do. I know I won't do this forever but it's sure saved my sanity these past three months. I'm getting better and better at relaxing. Mary says she can detect the change in my breathing the minute she starts. The last time, I sort of dozed a tiny bit, and woke myself up with my snoring. I was on my back and it was just a micro-second but sheesh. It gets worse. This week I think I sort of dozed off a tiny bit - and actually twitched a couple of times. She always tells me to take my time getting up and I do. This time I had this sudden fear I'd better get up right away or I'd zonk out for the night.

Yep, life is good.