“You can’t sneak around wearing lime green”

“You can’t sneak around wearing lime green” is the sarcastic reply I received when I commented on a woman’s bright shirt at the art fair this weekend. Her sense of humor fit right in with mine…and she left my tent with a smile, a painting and a new friend.

This is just one example of why we “crazy artists” do what we do.

It was a great show. Beautiful sunshine, low humidity and the breeze off the river made it pleasantly perfect. 99% of the people were happy and smiling before I even had the chance to try cheer them up! I was too busy to snap many photos. Here is just one of my tent that I took before the crowds appeared. There are a few empty spaces since I had to run home and grab the paintings that I forgot…yikes, I need an assistant.

This coat hook was popular…a few more have been requested as commissions.

Most of what I worked so hard on is gone…I hope the paintings bring some extra joy into the homes of the people who bought them!

Now I get to do it all again….with a smile. I love my job.

Time to put the paintbrush down…

Whew! I reached my goal number of paintings for this weekend. I can spend the rest of the day printing price tags and fine tuning the rest of the chores that go along with preparing for an art fair. It’s a lot more work than the average consumer realizes. Heck…it’s a lot more work than ARTISTS realize. We seem to forget the pain…(like childbirth haha).   “Remind me again why we do this?” is common comment I hear from other artists while passing the time during a fair.

I’ll give you the answer on Monday.

If you arrive early…you can take one of these home! They are currently drying in my studio…oh boy!

I love to make crabby people smile.

This new block pretty much sums up my motto for the weekend that’s arriving in 3 days. Most people are happy to be at an art fair…but there are always a few wandering around that are a challenge. Bring em on.

I really do love to make crabby people smile.

“I’m not very normal and I like that.” A lot of us can relate to this one.

4 days away…

Riverfront Art Festival in Northfield MN (celebrating the Defeat of Jesse James) is just 4 days away. I promise to stop posting every day… I’m doing it just this week so I remember how, ha! Seriously. I forget how to do simple things in a website if I wait more than 24 hours after learning. What IS that? Since I paint mostly on wood…I decided to add some landscapes to scrabble pieces. Why not?

 

Today I will be painting more circles…like these:

I just finished painting a custom wedding gift for a new young couple. The “aunts” chose the colors and theme…I just heard that the newlyweds were very excited about the gift! yay. I forgot to snap a photo…something I have to get better at. It’s wedding season and Christmas is right around the corner. These circles are my #1 seller this time of year!

Next phase: box and sell

So excited to add the last little bits of detail….

New batch of paintings!

Paint, paint, paint, sleep, paint, paint, paint, laugh, paint, paint, paint, sand, paint, paint, paint, repeat. I’m working on some new paintings to get ready for the Defeat of Jesse James Days art festival in Northfield, MN in less than 7 days! Here are some of the pieces I’ve been working on:Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!