Artists' Market!

Last Friday was the annual Ithaca Artists' Market, and my booth was absolutely gorgeous if I do say so myself.  I took all the shoes, loads of paintings and prints, and a smallish selection of cards and other goodies.  Borrowed a rug, and my booth was palatial and included some lights.  Makes me want to re-do my regular booth.  The event was a success I would say, definitely a different crowd from the usual weekend market shoppers, and they were focused on buying ART which is always nice to be around.

Today you also get a bonus photo of my new flocks of hens, almost all grown up and being very cute as they run around outside.  Their names are Potato, Olive, Snow Flower (her toes are crooked, and they remind me of bound feet, poor dear), Carmella, and the interchangeable Ginger, Mary Ann and Mrs. Howell.

Out like a lion

July is going out like a proverbial lion!  Two big things are going on during this next week which YOU should know about.  First, I will be at the Ithaca Artists' Market this Friday, July 27th.  This event runs from 2-8 PM at the farmers' market pavilion (which means I get to spend three days in a row there this weekend), and includes over 70 artists from around the region in a variety of media.  Plus food and libations and music, you can make an evening of it.  I will be in booth #43.  Please come, support the local arts, try on my painted shoes, bring me snacks!

I am also joining Handwork, a cooperative art and fine craft store in downtown Ithaca, starting next Monday the 30th.  I'm excited to have a place to present my Wingtip shoes in a gallery setting, as well as a whole lot of my cards and calendars.  They are open every day except major holidays, so if you are local then you need never run out of my cards.

In general, this week is a little nutty.  All of the above, plus a major home improvement project involving carpets which I won't go into here.  I do have some nice new art to show you though!  I've started my new watercolor paintings for the 2013 calendars, and here is Miss February, working from a photo I took of a Thai temple dragon.

He's a handsome devil

Here's my beautiful cat Nebraska in the sunshine spotlight on my counter this morning.  He knows he's handsome, and is secure in how much I wuv him.  And yes, this is most likely the same cat who left the semi-eviscerated-but-not-completely-dead mouse outside the bathroom a few nights ago, which dragged itself in to surprise me while I was brushing my teeth.

I heart mice, but only if they're still moving

My cats are generall picturesque, and I photograph them all the time, but these little iphone photos are perhaps the coolest I've taken.

glasses, glasses everywhere, and not a drop to drink

Every now and then I end up with an unusual freelance project and my house gets taken over with unusual art supplies.  A few months ago, a friend of mine asked me if I would be interested in taking on a job for a local charity, painting some wine glasses for a fundraiser.  It's a good cause.  "How hard could THAT be?" I asked myself...always a dangerous question that ranks right up there with "What could go wrong?"and "Think I should have another?"

So, the local Family and Childrens' Services have a long-standing annual fundraiser, where the well-heeled can buy a ticket for a tour of even more well-heeled houses, and sample some local wines and eat delicious food at those houses.  There are musicians and artists involved as well, and it's a lovely evening.  At the end, the guests take home a hand-painted wine glass as a memento. 

I talked to my awesome arty friend Ben, and asked if he would be interested in splitting the work, since there are  (ahem)  THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY glasses to be painted by the end of August.  With unusual paints and squeeze bottles, and they all have to fired in the oven.  He agreed (good man), and we made a plan.  Then I got sick with Lyme and didn't do anything beyond survive for a few weeks which set back the process considerably.  And now it's time to get crackin' because it will be the end of August before we know it, and there are FIFTEEN CASES of glasses in my basement that need to be painted! 

But now we've found a production method.  Ben does the design, and I fill in and add details and the sponsor's name.  It's actually pretty fun, each one is turning out differently and the clients are happy and I'm eager to see how they are received at the event.  We do need to keep painting two cases per week to get them done in time...