Craft Shows - Prince or Frog

 Toby and I have been busy little potters. We have been doing several new arts/craft shows as well as our usual After Hours Artwalk in Wichita Falls and the Artwalk on the Paseo in OKC.  Some of the shows have been fun and some were miserable. We read an article that said some craft shows were better than others and some were just better fits for your items than other shows. You just had to try them to see which fit and worked well for you. Unfortunately, the article said, "You have to kiss a lot of frogs."

The two art walks that we have done each month have worked well for us. People are beginning to know us and look for us. Some stop by to tell us how much they enjoy a mug that they bought from us, which is fun. These art walks do not cost us anything to set up and sell (well, gas money). The set-ups are pretty easy. Although the temps can be rough through the summer, the hours were from 5 to 9 and were do - able.  We saw people we knew and enjoyed the time. And we did okay on sales.

Then the fall arts/crafts season really kicked in. We tried one in Wichita Falls at the Multipurpose Event Center (MPEC). The MPEC is a very nice facility, so we did not suffer in the heat, but the crowd was not nearly what we had expected and the cost of the show was more expensive than the art walks. Sales were okay, but not great - not for the hours and milage put in.  We did get to see my cousin and have dinner with her and her husband, so it was not a wasted event.

Then we did the Rock Island Art Festival in Chickasha, OK. Other potter friends had told us that it was great and lots of fun. Well, it used to be held in a park with trees and grass. The park was sold to a private corporation, so the festival was held in the downtown streets. Being the last weekend of September, the weather had been great in past years. This year, the weather was in the high nineties, with gusty winds that blew tents around crashing into other tents. The dust and heat were not fun. We were next to a kettle corn truck with a loud generator. Then the booth across from us blared  "stoner music" that vibrated through us all day. The hours were Friday and Sat. 9-9 and Sunday 10 - 4. It was way too long and awful. If sales had been better, maybe we would have been more content. But sales were not great for the time and effort and hours and miles put in.

We live and learn and kiss a few frogs. We have a few more shows lined up in the next few months.

Jesse has been in touch. She is doing well. She is a happy camper and always makes the best of a situation. She loves adventure. This past weekend, she drove the university bus to Washington DC for a craft show. I have not visited her to find out how the craft show went. In the meantime, her mural in downtown Wichita Falls won People's Choice for best mural in Texas. She is also up for a community award in Wichita Falls. People love her mural and miss her. I know I miss her.

Long Hot Summer

 While I have my computer up and running, and I am connected, I thought I would drop by and say hello. It has been a long hot summer. If you have followed me for awhile, then you know I hate long hot summers. Right now, we are having a bit of cooler weather. Hopefully, the cooler weather signals a change of seasons and fall is coming. Chances are that we will still have some hot days ahead. If the temps just get under 100, I will be much better. 

We went to Red Lodge, Montana in mid July to see Jesse. We camped out in Beartooth National Forest land with no water or electricity or phone - boondockers. We did have a generator for electricity and batteries to save the electricity. We have our old dinosaur of a generator that made a huge racket compared to more modern generators that made a nice hmmm. Fortunately, we were not camped too close to anyone and only ran the thing during the middle of the day as to not bother anyone. We had a great time visiting Jesse, riding our E-bikes around Red Lodge and the campground. When we left Montana, we drove to Deadwood, SD, to camp and see the sights and also go to Mount Rushmore. Deadwood was not exciting, but they had a great rail-to-trail up in the mountains.

It was a blast to ride the e-bikes up the trail and the just cruise down the long downhill. And the weather was perfect. From there, we drove across South Dakota to Lewis and Clark Recreational Area, which was a very nice campground on the Missouri River. We were able to visit with an old teacher buddy from McAllen, who now lives in Nebraska, but has a lake house on the Nebraska side of the river. It was good to see old friends.

Jesse came home the first week of August, and we loaded her stuff in a U-haul and hauled it to West Virginia. It was a long way. Morgantown, WV, is a beautiful place. I think she will like working on her MFA there. Although the first week of school, it was announced that they would be closing their MFA ceramics program, which has been one of the best in the country. It seems that higher-ups made some serious bad investments and put the college in the red. Their answer to all problems is to cut arts. They say they will finish out Jesse's MFA, but they may fire several of the professors. The whole thing stinks. On the way home, we swung through Ohio to see the Ohio cousins. We drove through Amish country, which was quite lovely. Once we got home, we were worn out and ready to stay put for a while. 

We have been doing a few pottery and craft shows. Fall is coming and then the holidays when there are lots of craft shows, and people are buying. We are getting ready to sell, sell, sell. We have also been busy on the farm. Toby has been fixing tractors, trucks, fence, etc. We now have six calves to go with our longhorn mamas. I love watching them romp and play. Yes, they all have names:

The Bully Boys, Lightning, Ghost, Navajo, and Brownie.

That was just a short post to fill you in on what is happening. I make no promises on being a regular blogger. Sigh.

Kiln Time

 It has been a fairly nice summer so far. It's a little humid, which is horrible when it is hot. We went out to the Wilson's for hotdogs and fireworks on Saturday last. The outside temp was great. Last year we attended their 4th of July cook-out and fireworks, but it was stinkin' hot. Still it is always a good time with good friends, good food and great fireworks.

Today we got the kiln loaded for a glaze fire. Tomorrow we will start the kiln early in the morning. It will be done in about 8 hours, but it will take another 8 hours to cool. Thursday we are planning on taking our pottery to the After Hours Art Walk in Wichita Falls. It will probably be stinkin' hot, but we are beginning to have people expect us there.

Here are my next two World Watercolor Month paintings: July 2

July 3

World Watercolor Month 2023

 Today is July 1, 2023. I am going to try to do World Watercolor Month again. I will try to post my watercolors here, if not daily, then close enough. I have been looking forward to doing some watercolor. I have been glazing mugs using watercolor type paintings. I bought a new book on watercolor flowers in order to paint on my mugs, so expect to see lots of flowers. I also bought a Anne Abgott book called "Daring Color". I like her work, so you might see some of her technique and lessons during July also.

I started on my first watercolor this afternoon - a beach scene. I put down some tape to get the ocean line straight. Then I painted a while on the sand and shadows. When I pulled the tape off, the paper came up too! Tore a big piece off! So I started on another paper that I had cut just for the WWM. While cleaning out my art closet, I found some sheets of watercolor paper. So I cut it up to use. I got a little ways into the beach scene and realized this was the old paper that had problems absorbing the water without making funky spots. Why didn't I throw that away years ago? So, I started over again. Then I decided that I was tired of the beach scene and would do a quick poppy painting. I'll finish the beach scene tomorrow.

July 1

Mugs

M

The Big Mess

 I saw a little thing on Facebook that said something like: I decided to clean and organize the closet/room, and now I am sitting looking at the mess. Well, it seems I have done the same thing (how does FB know?)

 One of the things Jesse left behind was a large cabinet with pull-out shelves for prints and paintings and paper, etc. that Toby made for her several years ago. My plan was to put it in my art closet. After measuring, I thought it would fit nicely under some wall shelves that Toby had made and hung on the wall for me years ago. I mention "years ago" because now those shelves are full, and so is the bottom of the closet. I have ten-jillion canvases, frames and crap stored in that closet, not to mention all my art supplies. If there was a contest for those who had the most art supplies, I would be the winner.  

I took everything out of the closet to put the cabinet in under the shelves. Unfortunately, my measuring was wrong and the cabinet did not quite fit under the wall shelves. We are talking a quarter of an inch off. So close! So, I took everything out of the shelves in order to have Toby raise the shelves an inch or more. At the moment, the whole room is full of art stuff. It is like walking through a hoarder's house. Geeze Louise! What a mess! Today Alayna is supposed to come for art. There is no room for her. Now I must get busy and put things away - after we get the shelves moved higher. I think I am going to get rid of lots of old canvas that has already been painted on. Maybe Alayna will take some. Isn't that what old people do - try to give things to young people?

Big Move

 My how things change in such a short amount of time. Once again, I have fallen short on blogging. I give up on promising to do better. It is what it is. And I will try again.

During the time Jesse was working on the mural in downtown WF, she told her professor that she really loved working in the studio. He told her she should go back to school and get her masters and maybe get a job teaching college level ceramics. And the seed was planted. The prof gave her a list of grad schools with great ceramic programs. West Virginia was one of the top schools. So she wrote to several schools. West Virginia called and said they wanted her, had a job for her, and a full ride. She accepted and started preparing to head to WV in August. Then about the first of May, the WV professor called and said he had a summer residency in Red Lodge, Montana, and would Jesse be interested in spending the summer in the mountains working and doing ceramics. She needed to be there around June 1. Of course, she said yes. 

That kicked things up to warp-speed. She decided to sell her house and most of her stuff. She put some things in storage, lots of things at my house, and put her house on the market. We helped her as much as we could, cleaning and hauling things in our truck. Then on Friday of Memorial Weekend, we helped her clean the house and do a few fix-up things. She left the next morning for Montana, stopping to spend the night with my sister in Amarillo and then on to Colorado to stay with my cousin. Then she made it to Red Lodge where she has a very cute little apartment in a neat little western town in the mountains.

I am very excited for her. This will be a great opportunity. But I cried for about a week every time I thought about her moving away. It was difficult to talk about it to anyone without tearing up. This week I am much better. We inherited her little dog, the diva. 

Before Jesse left, we had our opening reception for the mother/daughter show at the Leslie Powell gallery in Lawton. It is a neat little gallery and the opening went well. I have sold a couple of pieces so far. 

Last night we had another reception for the CTAC gallery. For the summer, we do a "Starving Artist" show and sale. Each artist is supposed to take care of hanging his own art and keeping up with it on social media and such. I sold one little watercolor last night. 

Other than that, I have been working on pottery. We have done some local art walks, setting up our table of mugs and making sales. I have done a new painting. And we got new E-Bikes! The bikes are lots of fun. They have five levels of pedal assist. By setting that on level 2, we can cruise along at about 14 MPH as long as we continue to pedal. It also has gears, which helps with the hills around here. I am enjoying bike riding again. 

My little art student, Alayna, is going to be in the Wichita Falls Art Battle on June 23rd. If you get a chance to watch and vote, I think you will like her art.

Retirement is still going great.