The Big Event

So you may well guess since I didn’t just jump right on this telling you all how awesome the event was … that it wasn’t. Not much traffic at all despite being a soup lunch and wine tasting. But the event was cheap to do so no loss and it’s always good to support the local art centers though I don’t think they’re much into critter art. (I know right?) Though they did use of my images for the inside of this card so that’s something.

Anywho I have been studiously working trying to get a bunch of bigger projects finished up as well as get ready for this weekends event. (I suppose technically it’s next weekend’s event) It’s the last of the season and I think I’m ready.

For today fun and frivolities I’m going to a movie and then lock myself up in the gallery and not leaving until I have at least an outline for this year Christmas card. Best make sure I have plenty of Diet Coke on hand to keep the creative juju a-flowin’.

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Where I'm At This Weekend

So this week has been kinda nuts. I had a couple of quiet-ish weeks and then everything comes at once. I’ve been staying late (way late like 7 – 8:30 each night) at the gallery and still I’ve not so much as got the postcard for tomorrows event scanned so I could post it. So … umm …. yeah.

I’ll be at the Pearsons Lake Art Center in Okiboji, Iowa tomorrow. Actually it might technically be in Spirit Lake, Iowa. The towns kinda abut one another. At any rate the Holiday event is from 10-4 and I believe there is soup and wine tasting going on as well.

I’ve not done this event so I haven’t a clue what to expect. I’ll let you know how it went next week.

On Selling Art
I have just recently created a new Squidoo lens about Selling Art: Tips From An Art Fair Veteran It has some tidbits from some of the other lenses on marketing and art fairs but it also has a whole bunch new content. The lens has already been award a purple star and been blessed so I think it means it’s a good ‘un.

Note to Undaunted
Been meaning to email but as I say … no time for nothing. Once again I can’t comment on our lens because the captcha’s gone missing. I can’t seem to comment on Angela’s blog either but for a completely different reason. I think the bloggy gods are messing with me. But I do pop in and I love your MeerKat. 🙂

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Yup I am alive.

So the Percheron Congress kinda kicked my butt and then just about the time I get to feeling normal we get a blizzard. Reports vary but somewhere between 9-12 inches. I’m so not ready.

I’ve been on a squidoo lens writing binge (thus not a blog writing binge) but should be back to the blog this week. I’ve got an event this weekend that I’m preparing for but other than that all’s quite.

So I guess this is apost to say expect there to be a post. Umm … yeah.

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The World Percheron Congress (Part 2)

Do you remember that conversation I had with Carol about not wanting to get stabbed in my sleep Well it turns out we did actually wind up in the Bates Motel.

The First bad sign, we couldn’t find the hotel and after calling them a couple of times we find out the name of the place has actually been changed in the week or so since Carol Booked it. (Yeah I know Right) With the correct name we do find the place and as we circle it a couple of times trying to find the lobby, we see a parking lot full of battered and broken cars with garbage bags taped over their windows. We parked under the biggest brightest light in the lot.

We spent most of our first not feeling comfortable enough to go to sleep. So we amused ourselves telling scary stories of dumpy hotels and beg bug scares. Carol had the best story with her having woken up to multiple spider bites all over her face and arms from hatchlings in her pillow. Yup the stuff sweet dreams are made of.

The next hotel Carol got a suite. And it was stunning. “I’m like “ah how much is this?” This place had a beautiful king bed with Marble topped posts and a huge leather couch. Flat screen tv’s everywhere but the bathroom. Nice. No more scary nighttime stories for us while staying here. I do wish I had taken picture of both places though. The difference was shocking

So here’s some horse pics as promoised. I just dropped off 13 rolls of film to be developed so I should have some really good ones then.

Here’s The World Champion Stallion. Isn’t he a stunner?

Not sure why but I relly have a fascination with horses being bathed.

I kinda forget just how big they really are.

The view from our seats during the 6 horse hitch show. Close enough to be pelted by the dirt clods as they passed.

I thought I’d plug my Squidoo lens on the World Percheron Congress. It’s awaiting the photos to be developed but I did add a few videos from the event.

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The World Percheron Congress (Part 1)

So as has been the way all along, this event was chocked full of surprises. I suppose that’s to be expected though since I do primarily art events and Carol does Dairy and Stock shows. We are talking different crowds of people here.

The first surprise was when we discovered that yes the event ran 7 days but it was only open to the public for 3. Meaning we had to be there for 4 days where all there would be was breeders. I’m like “Ah crap.” My first days sales total was $15. Carol had a sale before we even opened for one of her cold cast porcelain pieces of a trotting Percheron though so there was hope.

But those early days were really one long yawn. Fortunately I adore Carol so we spent much of the time laughing. Also Carol Eilers (Yup totally kicking myself for not getting a pic of Carol E in her booth) was there from Apples ‘n Oats fame and so we all went out to dinner together and in general just made a party of it. (And by “party” I mean an exhausted over-indulgent eating spectacular. Oh wait that might have been just me. )

Carol (photo right working hard on a sculpture for some sheep trophy due the day after we returned). As the event went on it slowly got better and the final day was a bit of a feeding frenzy for both of us, which is always fun. Though I’ve already had one check come back bad. Art Fair patrons almost never write bad checks. Not so sure about horse people.

Another surprise was our booth had a wide open view of the horse barns (which I planned on getting a snapshot of but didn’t as after the first couple of days they closed the doors.) We kinda missed watching the horses get groomed and harnessed less than 40 feet away but closing the doors definitely cut down on the draft. Somehow the dust still blew though. We had no heat for the first few days and Lordy it was cold. But on day 3 or 4 they kicked it on. Mind you I’ve been through worse. The MN Horse Expo one year I wore a heavy winter coat and blanket for the entire event. This wasn’t nearly that bad.

I’ve included a couple of shots of our booth. I think our work really looks good together. Carol doesn’t have much for horse art as I say she’s primarily a cow artist. In the end we both made enough money to make it worth the trip but not enough to consider doing it again.

NEXT POST: Will contain actual pictures of draft horses.

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You know it's bad when a person who see's me maybe 3 times a year is shocked by how I look.

Well I’m back but have been rather sick so I’ve been hiding out a bit. Hard for my fevered brain to focus.

The event went better than expected and I’ll give you the rundown (complete with pictures) when I’m up to forming coherent sentences.

I spent 7 days breathing horse dust (and by “dust” I mean pulverized and air-born horse poo) and both Carol and I were having sinus reactions by the time we left. That’s what happens when you sit in a barn for a week I guess.

I got back in on Sunday and rested (slept for 12 hours straight) then thought I’d go in for a few hours at the shop and wound up working for 7. Came home dog tired and crashed again.

Went in the next day “for only a couple hours” and worked over 8 because folks had been waiting for me to get back and so I was swamped with phone calls and customers coming in. Came home and slept for another 12 hours.

The clincher was one of my framing reps delivered some glass yesterday and when he came in he said in a shocked kind of way that I looked really tired. (and by “tired” he meant I looked like the living dead. Yeah I can read between the niceties.)

So today I said “Nope. Not doing that again.” I snuck in, in the morning and placed a framing order that I hadn’t had time for yesterday and then snuck out. I was all stealthy like a Ninja. (like a really exhausted feverish Ninja) My husband who was working the gallery didn’t even know I was in and out.

The key to keep me from staying was …
* I didn’t put on makeup
* and had my unbrushed hair pulled into a pony tail.

To my credit I had taken a bath though.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll put in just “a couple” of hours.

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