The Art Walk Heat

The Chisholm Trail Art Walk went very well. It is only the second year for it, and this year was a big improvement over last year. I think in time, it could be very a big event. But for this year, sales were nil. Most of the really interested lookers were other vendors. I told Toby that I needed to sell two paintings to come out ahead, but if I bought stuff at other vendors, I would have to sell even more to break even. We laughed about that, but one of the other artists told me that she never buys from other vendors until she breaks even with her sales. Good advice. Other good advice came from my buddy Jo, who is an artist and blogger.  Her email came a little late, since I did not receive it until I was sitting out at the Art Walk. Still, I tried to talk to people, which I like to do and can do easily. The problem was that my friend Glenna came to sit with me. I love Glenna. It was good to have her around, but she was a bit of a distraction. Several times I broke off conversation with her to talk to visitors. It felt rude, but necessary. Good news - there were very few visitors to talk with, so I did not have to be rude to Glenna very often.  Bad news - there were very few visitors to talk with :)

The day was very hot and we were in the sun most of the day. I wondered whom I had made angry that they would put me in the sun. It turned out that it was a lady whom I do not know very well. She put herself in a very shady spot. But one thing I know for sure, I will be nicer to her next year :) Actually, the tent provided some very nice shade, and I had a fan that we set up for a breeze. Most of the day there was a little breeze anyway. We moved our chairs around throughout the day to fit in the shade. In the photo, you can see that we are inside the tent. I really wanted to be outside the tent so that visitors could view the paintings easier. But there was no shade anywhere to be found other than under my tent. Even under the tent, I got quite the sunburn on my back - odd.

Something funny about the heat: While setting up the tent in the early morning hours, there was a bit of shade, but it was receding fast. Before the tent was up, we were in the sun and sweating. My feet were on fire. I thought it was my new sandals. I was thinking that I was going to have to go barefoot, because my feet were so hot. Finally I said something to Toby. He said his feet were really hot too! He had brought his flip-flops and was going to change into them immediately, because his feet were so  hot. When the tent was up and I was thinking about my poor feet, I realized something. The night before the art walk, Toby had put some heat lotion on his feet since his feet were hurting. He said it felt good, and he came and rubbed my feet too. It did feel good at the time. But standing out in the sun, I guess the heat lotion kicked in and was miserable. I rubbed ice from our cooler on my feet to help relieve the pain/heat.  I'm sure glad Toby did not rub my back. My back burned on its own.

When all was done, we broke down our tent, and went to see the Grandbabies. They have a new above ground pool. It is only 30" deep, but we cooled our bodies off while playing with the Grands. Then my son fed us some pulled port tacos. By then, I was breaking down. I was still a happy camper/artist, but my brain was done for the day. And it was a good day. I would do it all again.