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We were anticipating a good weekend for this year’s Sequim Lavender Festival Street Fair (July 19-21). The weather forecast was PERFECT!!  Unlike last year where it rained 2 out of 3 days and everything was a soggy mess with a river running through our booth.   However, we still did well enough last year to say it was worth returning, thinking that perfect weather would bring out bigger crowds and improve our sales.   With a forecast of sunshine and temps in the 70’s we were anticipating a huge crowd and a fun weekend.

Logistic details really haven’t changed for this show, I gave quite a few details in last year’s blog.  We had the same booth location as last year with the same great location to park our 5^th wheel.  Gotta love these shows that give us free RV parking with walking distance of the booth, got to go “home” for lunch each day, never had to use the porta potties once all weekend.  Yep, there are some advantages to having a home on wheels parked close by. 

Last year’s blog for anyone interested in logistics:  http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/sequim-lavender-festival-2012

A couple of changes from last year, booth fees went up by $20 and the artist hospitality booth was eliminated.  So, with our RV parked so close we ended up providing coffee for a couple of artist friends who were car camping and didn’t realize the hospitality booth was gone and had expected to at least have a cup of coffee and a bagel or something at the show. 

End results for this year?  Down 25% from last year, not quite what we had hoped for or expected.  Friday we started off with great sales, we only had 11 sales all day, most of the in the morning, but they were large sales.  Our average sale was over $100 per sale so we were very pleased, thinking we were off to a great start for the weekend.   That turned out to be our best sales day, much to our dismay.  Saturday the crowd seemed to change drastically, all low price point sales, lots of requests for discounts, more comments / surprise when we charged sales tax, like they thought this was a hobby, not a business.   Sunday sales were even worse, about ½  of Saturday and the crowd never materialized making for a very slow day and way too much time to visit with our artist friends.

So, is this a show we’ll do again? Not sure, the sales we had this weekend were about on par with a 2 day show that we did for 5 years before trying this one last year, held the same weekend with a lower booth fee and where we built a good following.  However, this one still attracts more people and tourists and just seems like a show where the overall results should be better. More thinking and analyzing to do on this one.

This was our 4^th year participating in this show in Eastern WA and this was the first time we left there totally mystified, not quite understanding what just happened, but definitely feeling as if we had been punched in the gut.

I’ve blogged about this show before, logistics, set up, etc. have not changed other than Friday was an hour shorter, they ended the show at 8 PM instead of 9 PM on Friday which was a welcome change for the artists.  The link to 2012’s blog, which has a link to 2011’s blog can be found here.  http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/art-in-the-park-allied-arts-richland-wa-july-27-28-2012

So what happened this year?  Definitely a lack of sales and a HUGE disappointment for almost all of the artists we talked to.  We were all assuming Friday’s weather and high temp of 102 caused a slower than normal Friday, plus the local Hanford plant that takes every other Friday off was not off this year on Friday.   Over the past few years their Friday off coincided with this show so we were all hoping they would show up on Saturday when the temps were supposed to be 8-10 degrees cooler.  Unfortunately the crowd did not materialize on Saturday. In fact, the crowd never really showed up, not like it has in the past.   We watched a small crowd walk through on Friday morning, then thin out considerably as the temperatures climbed, unlike prior years, the crowd never really returned in the evening. 

There also seemed to be more "no show" artists than usual. This show is held the same weekend as the 3 Bellevue shows with 800+ booths on the other side of the state.  After trying that madness and mayhem one time, we decided Allied Arts was a better option for us.  However, this is a show that some artists will apply to as a back up and if they get called off the waitlist for a Bellevue show, they forfeit their $80 booth fee and take a chance in Bellevue.  Interestingly enough, this year I was actually hearing some good reports from Bellevue unlike the past 3 years while I wasn't hearing that very many artists were happy with their sales here in Richland.  

We left there very disappointed and wondering if this year was an anomaly or this is a start of a new trend for this show.  And as always, since I have a tendency to over analyze everything, I’m sure we’ll be thinking about this between now and next March when we will need to apply for this show.

What a disappointment!  I had read the reviews of this show on AFI and while it sounded like there was a lot of B/S, there was still a chance to make some good bucks.

This is a Chamber of Commerce show (50^th anniversary) and they get a good crowd but it’s the wrong crowd for us. 

Staci’s work is all about color and most of the fine art that we saw going out here was traditional New England style seascapes.   It was the only show we’ve ever done where people came into the booth, tilted their heads and got a “what’s this bright stuff” look on their faces.  Only a few smiling “I love your colors” compared to what we normally see.

So we misjudged the opportunity here – bad on us.

Show specifics:  It’s an easy load-in/out with a fairly short dolly across the town green to almost any booth spot.  The volunteers were great and the Chamber put on a Friday night BBQ  (we didn’t attend because we have family in the area and were visiting with them.  The reports we heard were that the food was great.)

The show layout was confusing.   All spots were 15Wx10D so there was tons of room to set up almost any way you wanted.  The rows didn’t seem particularly straight though.

The aisles were very narrow and when coupled with the usual jerks who set up their director chairs and huge beach umbrellas in the middle of the aisle, traffic became congested and booth visibility impaired.  Come on guys – stay in your tents!

Exhibitors were all over the lot.  There was fine art but there was also buy/sell and several show veterans complained that it’s getting worse each year.  Also, I have never seen so much sea glass!  There were three sea glass booths within a four tent radius!

We did end up selling 4 nice canvas mounted pieces, a small framed piece, and a few reproductions so it wasn’t a disaster but it sure wasn’t what we were hoping for.

One highlight – I got to meet/talk to AFIer Carrie Jacobson.  Her contemporary landscapes are stunning.  If we didn’t live on a boat, I’d want one hanging on our walls.  I’ll let her chime in but I think she would agree that the body of work to be successful here needs to be quite different that what we both were exhibiting.

I am new to the Art Fair Blog but finding good information already. I have lifting issues (neck problems) but like the look of pro panels. I have the Light Dome tent with mesh walls and love them but need a nicer display for indoor shows this winter. Does anyone know where I can look for these other than ebay and craigs list?

We only did one summer show this year.  It was Northville's Art in the Sun.  The weather on the first day about took out the tents and unfortunately about 30% of the artists packed up and left.  Too bad for them because the rest of the weekend was beautiful.  Two tents over from me was a woman who was selling all sorts of boxes and trinkets obviously buy and sell.  And people were buying from her because her prices were understandably premade tiles.  Even though the organizers knew these people were hurting the sales of real artists, they did not ask them to leave.  The more I think about it the more I feel the rest of us are owed a refund on our jury fees. I won't do this show next year even though the people in charge were helpful and very nice.  I felt cheated the whole time I was watching this woman rake in a profit and cutting into the sales of legitimate artists around her. 

It is my feeling that if you are caught doing buy/sell that you should be removed from the show immediately.  It usually states this in the contract.  How do you feel about that?  Should we insist on jury fee refunds if a buy/sell participant is not removed from the show? 

The 21st annual Art on the Mall took place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 28, on the main campus of the University of Toledo.

UT's Centennial Mall is beautiful in the summer, and makes a great setting for an art show. The event is organized by the UT Alumni Association and is the association's biggest fundraiser, according to The Blade. Many of the artists were wearing ribbons identifying them as UT alumni.

I saw a wide variety of price points, from $6 notecards to a handful of pieces marked at over $1,000. A little over 100 artists were listed.  Mostly Toledo-area, but some came from further away -- the furthest I saw was Florida.

I was just a visitor, so maybe an artist who exhibited can chime in with that perspective in the comments.

October 5 & 6  
Portage, Indiana

The spectacular fall colors, the lapping water of Lake Michigan, the hum of an active, vibrant community all beckon the artist and the art lover to Portage, IN, 30 minutes from downtown Chicago, South Bend and Michigan.  

Just the words, "Fall Festival" conjure up warm memories of the good offerings of our farm heritage....wine, cheese, chocolate....combined with a celebration of the creations of many skilled, talented and selected artists and artisans from throughout the region. Come join us for a sampling of all this and more.

Portage is proud to offer a wonderful weekend venue of juried art showings, a wine, cheese and chocolate tasting, live entertainment, all indoors. The Harvest Festival is open to art in all media. Much as the city itself is a melting pot and crossroads, we wish our show to reflect that milieu. Portage is 30 minutes from Chicagoland, South Bend and Michiana!

This is an indoor art fair with an easy set up and take down for artists.

Please put this event, the Portage Harvest Festival, October  

5th and 6th at the top of your fall calendar. Come, relax, and enjoy the talent, creativity and virtuosity of art as you've not experienced it before.

Important Dates:

August 22nd: Entry Deadline

August 30th:  Notification Date

September 6th: Booth Fee Due

Artists Amenities:

• A secure building/police monitored alarm system
• Booth sitters
• Set up on Friday 10am-6pm or Sat. at 6am
• Advertised in NW Indiana, Chicagoland, Michiana areas
• Coffee, doughnuts and refreshments on Sat. & Sun.
• Lunch on Saturday

For more info:

Pam Passera

Recreation Program Coordinator

      219-841-5361 x-303, 219-841-9017 fax

Learn more and download the application:

Find more shows for your 2013 season at CallsforArtists.com 

      This is the only thing I'll miss about Ann Arbor.  You never knew what you'd find in that alley.

Well, I thought I'd post my first art fair review, despite the fact that it was my first juried art fair and I don't feel super qualified to do an art review.  And despite the fact that I didn't do well at all at this art fair.

I had heard good things about Thunderbird Artists, so when I learned they were doing a new show in my hometown, it seemed like the perfect incentive for me to try to get into a juried art fair.  It was very convenient for me that this show was in the town where I live, since it took a lot of pressure off me in case I forgot something. And I could sleep in my own bed at night, too. :)

Load in was pretty decent. They had a whole parking lot next to the soccer fields at the Surprise recreation area, and the row right next to the sidewalk wasn't too busy to get unloaded.  They also had City of Surprise Recreation staff there with golf carts to help people get to their booth spots.  I ended up dollying in my stuff because I didn't feel like waiting.

As for the art fair itself, the City of Surprise isn't known for art collectors, more for families with kids and a lot of retirees.  So I wasn't sure, going in, how I would do in sales, especially with it being my first art fair and being new to it all myself.

Crowds were pretty slow. I would say Friday we had a lot of retirees, Saturday a mixture of folks but mostly families, and Sunday was off & on rain, and a lot slower.  The slowness did allow for me to meet a lot of fellow artists and kind of pick their brains about everything and just to talk and hear about their experiences.  I also had some critiques of my art and advice on selling techniques.  I did sell one small piece the first day, making back only 1/4 of my booth fee.

I mostly saw lots of lookers.  I saw small bags in people's hands, I think mostly food from the food vendors and some prints.  And of course wine glasses, since this was a Fine Art & Wine Festival.  The man across from me was selling copper discs he had bought somewhere in bulk (much to the dismay of my copper artist neighbor) that he had used a blow torch to make colorful patterns on, and he was quite the salesman!  He and his wife could hardly keep the walls covered with them, they were flying off the walls so fast.

The woman next to me had done a number of art fairs and didn't do very well.  I think she made her booth fee.  And the copper artist next to me (not the disk guy) didn't do well, sales-wise, and said he wasn't coming back.  He has been in the art fair world for over 20 years.

As for me, I have applied and gotten into two Thunderbird Artists' art fairs for this fall in more established parts of the Phoenix art fair scene.  I still haven't applied for the Surprise one for 2014 and haven't for sure decided one way or another.  I just think there are more families here looking for something fun to do, and not so many looking to buy art.

September 14 & 15
La Grange, Illinois
Intersection of Burlington & Brainard Ave.
Sat. 10am-5pm; Sun. 10am-4pm
90 max. artist

Celebrating its 18th year, the West End Art Festival is a La Grange tradition whose purpose is to bring a quality, fine art event to the Village of La Grange and surrounding communities and highlight the west end business district.  Artists from across the country participate in La Grange's late summer festival that attracts art admirers and patrons each year.

Presented by the La Grange business Association and held in cooperation with the Village of La Grange, the festival is held in the shadow of the landmark Stone Avenue Station along Burlington Avenue between Brainart and Spring Avenues.  The charming and historic West End area of La Grange provides a picture-perfect setting to showcase art.  Other highlights include live music, food from local La Grange restaurants and children's art activities for an event to be enjoyed by all ages.

This show is one of a series of Chicago area art fairs managed by Erin Melloy of EM Events. EM Events are held in partnership with local business organizations bring close interaction between each community and its' local art fair and ensuring you loyal patrons. 

Learn more and apply: http://emevents.com 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought I would wait a little bit.  Sort of bide my time before I put my two cents in.  Here it goes.

I have done this show for 25 years.

First the State Street show in the 80's and early 90's.

Then, finally after waiting ten years, on the wait list, the Guild finally called me up.  That was norm back then, you could join the Guild, start with a waitlist number that could be in the high six hundreds and then wait for it to slowly come down.

In those times, Ann Abor was the show to do in the summer.  

Michigan economy was super.  Everybody waited for the A2 shows and then they turned out and bought like crazy.  It was win-win proposition.

Then something unique happened.  About the time the Michigan economy started going south, the A2 shows raised their booth fees from $450 to where they are now--$750.00.

Ironically, his was when our grosses went down, and the booth fees went up.

This is the White Elephant that sits in the room and nobody wants to talk about it.

Nary a person who has blogged about the A2 shows has mentioned that $750 booth fee.

Well folks, I am discussing it, and I will tell you what.  It is a blatant ripoff.

The A2 shows are worth about $450 and should be a three-day show at best.

For ninety percent of the exhibitors who show there, they are making $2.5K-$5K at best.  The other ten percent are doing better.

Trouble is, when you add up that booth fee along with auto expenses, along with parking, along with hotel and along with food--you are up to $1.5K-$2K for that show.

Add in the long hours, the always extreme heat and the dwindling number of "good shoes buyers" who attend--you end up with a poor business number for a return on your investment.

Oh, and we did not mention cgs or time invested.

For most, it is a bad gamble, a bad investment.  And, it will only get worse.

That is why, for after doing this show for 25 years I am giving it up.  

It finally went under a set number, for sales, that is unacceptable for me.

The good customers that attend are very slimmer.

 It will only get worse, each successive year, as more of the quality exhibitors drop out.

The shows will gladly take your money and fill the slots.

Trouble is, the majority of newbies who get the spots will not be up to snuff like the ones who left.

Increasingly, more good buyers will come, and the sales will tail towards the low-end.

It is a downward death spiral.

I mentioned this in my 2011 post on the A2 shows.

Did not do A2 last year, because of heart problems.

Came back this year with fresh new work at reasonable price points  and saw it be blissfully ignored by most of the crowds.

It was reminiscent of the  Arts,Eats and Beats crowd.  Most of them were going to the county fair.  Very few were looking for art.

Why most of you are willing to accept, and pay, $750 for this show--and then be happy if you pull $2.5K-$4.5K eludes me.

Your time and money is not getting a fair return.

You are better off going to Petoskey, Sheboygan or anywhere else.

I think it would make a great bumper sticker--  ANYWHERE BUT ANN ARBOR.

Oh well, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

But the game is rigged at Ann Arbor.

That is all I am saying.  It is a mouthful.

But somebody ought to shoot that White Elephant dead in the room, he is bad for our business.

Congratulations to the Olympic champion of art fair reporting - Elle Heiligenstein, whose review of Art in the Park in Columbia, MO, was chosen as "post of the month" by our members.

Also, congratulations to Carrie Jacobson and Margaret Luttrell who were chosen Community Leaders for their generous sharing of information on the site.

We are well into the second week of the Advocacy roll out. There are many so be sure to check them all out. You need to request to join the page (link in top post) but you do not need to be a member of NAIA to comment. We would love to have you support our efforts through membership. Thank you all who have joined our page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NAIA.Forum/

September 20 & 21
Adrian, Michigan
Downtown
Fri. 4pm-8pm; Sat. 10am-8pm
80 Exhibitors
Deadline: August 1

Art-A-Licious, a juried fine arts fair now in its seventh year is seeking new artists.

Art-A-Licious is a nonprofit art festival founded in 2007 and located in historic downtown Adrian, near the beautiful Croswell Opera House.  We offer reasonable booth fees and easy access for setup and teardown.  Our artists come primarily from southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio.

We have made a strong commitment to marketing this year:

• In addition to promoting overall growth in attendance
• we are intensifying our efforts to target likely art buyers.   
• We have committed a substantial portion of our budget to making sure our exhibiting artists have a successful weekend
• we will be advertising in the Toledo market as well as in southeast Michigan.

        Our approximately 80 artists are set up along Main and Maumee streets in the    center of downtown Adrian.  We welcome a wide variety of visual artists.  Media exhibited and sold at last year's festival included painting, photography, ceramics, sculpture, fiber arts, glass work, woodwork, printmaking, jewelry and metalsmithing.

To download an application, go to www.artalicious.org/application  

For more information, contact Nancy Weatherby at: 734-649-7054 or email: adrianartists@gmail.com

You can also follow us on Facebook at:

I have attended the Ann Arbor Art Fairs every year since 1976, 28 of those years exhibiting with my husband Norm Darwish in the State Street Area Art Fair (14 years) and the Guild show on Main Street (14 years).

Jody DePew McLeane explains her drawing techniques

After spending Thursday booth sitting with glassblower Andrew Shea on North University, where the work is very nice, the rest of the day I was with Elle Heiligenstein, mixed media, on State surrounded by some not great work, interspersed with good work, and it was HOT. I fell into bed that night and actually thought about just going home on Friday, but decided to renew my faith in the AA shows by seeking out the place where I would probably feel better about the future of this event. 

I go every year and take friends because whatever else it is (and we all have ideas about that) it is a kaleidoscope of everything that is good about the art fair business and everything that is bad.

THE GOOD:

On Friday, with my daughter, Farah Darwish, we headed into the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the original. It was wonderful. You can see why people fly in to buy work at this event. Each booth was inviting and a prime example of why people love art fairs. The work was not "product", but art. This is the reason this show is so heralded by the public. It's the quality.

My friends Tina and Sandy meet up with Jim Parker

My intention with my sites is to bring people to art fairs to see the work and take it home with them. This is the kind of show that builds audiences of collectors. Is there excellent work in the other shows? Undoubtedly, but you have to walk many miles to find it, or pick your destination and not visit the other areas.

Let's say you've got money to spend and you don't have days and days to stay. The original show is the place to go. It took us six hours to view 200 booths. We did spend money here and part of it was the "Geri Wegner" factor. Geri has said many times on this site that she sometimes buy things just because of the "artist" and the interaction she has with that person.

My shout out goes to Elaine Unzicker, who works in chain maille, who was telling stories to the lone customer in her booth when we arrived and who proceeded to engage us and helped Farah try on her work. She was so interesting and so positive and making the best of the hot day that I had to carry away a piece of her jewelry. (Elaine's website is undergoing reconstruction but you can see an older YouTube video of her and her work here.)

For the future, there is good work on every street at Ann Arbor, but if you have limited time and want to see the best the original show is the place to go. You will soon realize why there are people who say, "I only go to the Original show."

This fair is "commercial free" - no vendors showing their wares.

The award winners and media:

• Christine Bartling, Park Ridge, IL

• Lisa Burge, Taos, NM, Painting/Printmaking

• William Kidd, Miramar, FL, Ceramics (in his booth at Lakefront)

• Natalia Margulis, Livingston, NJ, Fiber

• Jenny Pope, Ithaca, NY, Printmaking

• Eric Silva, Whittier, CA, Jewelry

• Heinrich Toh, Kansas City, MO, Printmaking

• Mark Traughber, Pittsburgh, PA, 2D Mixed Media

• Ann Tubbs, Ottawa Lake, MI, Ceramics

• Yamashita Takashi, Tokyo, Japan, Photography

THE BAD:

Way too much commercial buy/sell work all over the place. It is mind numbing. But the event got its start 54 years ago as a way for the merchants to attract people to their summer sidewalk sales and those sales remain. Intrusive for an art fair? You got to believe that. 

Do I buy from them? You have to believe that also. The original Borders bookstore was near our booth and it was a wonderful place to take a break from the heat and find good books. There was an upscale clothing store (Jacobson's) behind our booth where I used to buy my sons' back to school clothes at their summer sales. Summer shoes? Jackpot!

Did I like selling art in the "pants department?" No. Yet, the art work nearby was good and you really could see where the commercial work ended and the art show existed. 

As years went by and the shows expanded to their current size, the economy got bad, the shows had a harder time filling their spaces and now the quality of the work is not nearly as good in the "pants department." I saw work on Liberty Street that was part of the show, but you could hardly tell that it wasn't buy/sell. Really confusing and not good. 

I think this is the only show in the country where the merchants have gotten out of hand, selling anything that will bring in the dollars. This proliferates though only in two of the shows: South University and the State Street Area show.

The Guild show on State and Main do not have vendor booths interspersed throughout, as well as the Original show.

I know the organizations count on each space being filled to meet their financial obligations but as I stood on State Street in the midst of the show it was truly disheartening to see all of the "art" that was clearly "product."

I'm talking about in the show, not the merchants buy/sell areas. Booths full of "stuff." Please shows, can you resist the need to fill each space with anything you can get your hands on?

Even the City of Detroit was out to get us. The Emergency Manager Kevin Orr picked art fair week to announce the Detroit bankruptcy. How about a little more depressing news for this region?

A story on local artists responding to that.

Yes, the heat. What are you going to do? A story from AnnArbor.com:

Before we get too carried away I must say that many of us in this business owe our careers to this big summer celebration. The AA fairs have set the stage for what is good and bad about shows across the country. Many artists built their business on the lessons learned in Ann Arbor.

The Alpine Art Affair was held in Winter Park, CO July 20-21 in a small city park. This was the 40^th year for the show.  Show hours were 9-5 on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday.  Winter Park is primarily a ski resort about an hour and a half west of Denver.  During the summer, mountain biking along with fishing, hiking and camping are popular activities.  A jazz festival is held the same weekend as the art show and this brings a lot of people into town.  The drive to Winter Park is pretty easy on I-70 and US 24. The latter is a typical mountain highway with switchbacks and steep grades to the summit of Berthoud Pass and down the Fraser River side. The uphill sides have passing lanes.  Going down the Fraser Valley are the towns of Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash and Granby. Granby is at the south edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.

SET UP AND TAKE DOWN.  Set up starts at 7:00am on Friday. We were unloaded and had the truck off site by 7:30. The park has a single lane around the trees so it is best to get in and get out avoiding congestion that will occur later in the day.  Takedown was equally easy. Most were dolling to parking lots on both sides of the park or knocking down before bringing in a vehicle to load.  

WEATHER.  We got into a real mountain down pour around 3:00pm on Thursday as soon as we got off I-70.  It was fun driving up the grades in the rain.  It continued to rain most of the evening.  Friday was pleasant and in the mid-80s, and there was brief shower Friday evening.  Saturday and Sunday were clear and warm in the 80s.

THE SHOW.  This is a well-organized and managed show!  The crowds were good but not exceptionally larger.  I estimate around 5000, and there were buyers among them. The quality of the work was high and there was no buy\sell.  There was also a good mix of art without a dominance of jewelry.  Hawk Quest, a couple nonprofits, and a kid’s art experience were included.  Food vendors (4) were at opposite ends of the show.  The Lions had an all you can eat pancake breakfast for $6, and complimentary coffee for artists.  

This was the third consecutive year I have done this show and all three years I have had sales in the $2.5-$3K range.  I am a little concerned that the sales have decreased progressively by about $150 each year.  More analysis and comparison to comparable shows will tell me if I should begin to alternate this show with another.  I had several repeat clients who bought more stuff but others just looked.  Belts were the best seller with a good mix of gun leathers and personal leather goods.   As usual, I had lots of leads for special order work which may or may not develop over the winter.

The only complaint I heard was that people watching the Hawk Quest demos blocked access to a couple artist’s booths.  Management might consider moving the nonprofits down there. Nuts and bolts of the show are in the review on www.artshowreviews.com.

OTHER STUFF.   Besides Steve Appel (Bolt People), I met AFIs Weldon Lee (wildlife photography) and Fred Lunger (sculptor).  When we got home from Vail-Edwards show on Monday my allergies started bothering me. They got worse all week and I had a miserable sinus infection over the weekend. I can only remember one other show in twenty plus years when I was sick.  I lost my voice by mid-day Saturday. Got a doctor’s appointment Monday shortly after getting home and am doing better with antibiotics now.

Friday night Steve Appel came to the condo to enjoy the hot tub and meet my family, wife Jean, daughter and husband, and three grand kids. We had a barbeque in the commons area at the hot tub. I think it would be fun to get a bunch of AFIs together down the road.   I found a neat Precambrian rock in the glacial till around the parking lot while waiting for Steve. It will go in the rock garden.

Winter Park has trains. The west portal of the 6.2 long Moffat Tunnel was about 150 yards from our balcony. The tunnel through the mountains was completed in 1927.  We went through it on AMTRAK a couple years ago.  Freight and coal unit trains of the BNSF go through around the clock.  I found it neat to hear the train whistles way down in the Fraser Valley and then hear them get closer until they entered the tunnel.  Also neat to have silence then the roar of diesel engines as the west bound come out of the tunnel.  

One of my clients now retired, had a ranch in the Fraser Valley. He told the story of how he went up St. Louis Creek to check his irrigation locks but was stopped by the Secret Service.  President Eisenhower was fly fishing upstream. I remember as a kid reading about how Ike would go fly fishing in Fraser, Colorado.

Ana Petercic (Fiber art), Connie Mettler, Elle Heiligenstein (3D Mixed Media) and photographer Larry Berman

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," motto of the U.S. Postal Service Creed.

Do you ever feel in the same boat? When I see my postal service worker at my mailbox on beautiful days I give thanks in her behalf just as when I wake up on a beautiful day and say to my husband, "a beautiful day for an art fair." Right? I'm sure you know what I mean.

Last Thursday evening, July 18, some stalwart artists showed up at Sava's Restaurant in Ann Arbor, despite it being 9:30 pm, they'd been up since 8 am meeting and greeting visitors to their booths through the heat of the long day. It was such a pleasure to stop for a few minutes and meet them. Here are some of the people who showed up. Some of us looking the worse for wear after the long day and others looking fabulous!

Jeweler Roger Rimer, his wife Alison (fiber), Connie, glassblowers Richard Ryan and Andrew Shea

My friend and often art fair companion Sandy Dunstone, Michael and Victoria Terra (ceramics), Elle, (standing Connie & photographer Scott Pakulski), glassblower Henry Levine, photographer John Bell, Farah Darwish