More Art and Poppy Love

Kind  of  concluding  my  last post  with  art  that  I  made  from  my  papers--

I  wouldn't  really  call  this  the  end,  because  I  still  have  lots  o  papers   left  that  I  can  play  with.   It's  just  that  I  like  to  change  up  after  a while,  and  I   wanted  to  paint.  In  this  case,  it  was  some  new  poppies--

.....and  a  little  collage  with  some  of  my  faces  from  the  past....

In  the  meantime,  back  to  my shows--one  every  weekend  in  July--Yikes!!

So What's Been Going On This Month...

It's   been  exactly a  month  since  I  last  posted--Wow!--it's  been  a  busy  month--and  gone  in  an  instant--too  fast!    So,  in  a  very  condensed  version--here's  my  month  in  review:

...made  some  new  art...but,  I'm  always  doing  that.......

Okay,  remember  the  bed  springs  from  my  last  post  (the  ones  that  I  found  at  the  flea  market?)--here's  what  I  did  with  one  of  them--playing  around  : )

....made  a  new  doll...

...and  a  new  box

and hey--I  also  got  some  new  books--the  covers  alone  are  inspiration  for  me!

So,  back  to  what  I  was  talking  about--oh  yeah--making  new  art--this  time--Finnabair  style--

But  the  main  reason  I've  been  super  busy  are  my  shows--I've  had  3  this  month,  and  another  one  this  coming  weekend--

and  I  now  have  a  little  visitor  twice  a  week  at  my  house--

"off  to  grandma's"  : )  little  Tj--he's  such  a  little  cutie--but  now  I  know  why  you  have  children  when  you're  young  : )

So  that's  my  month  in  review--I  hope  the  next  month  slows  down  a  bit--I'll  try  to  be  back  sooner.....

Time For a Giveaway--plus my weekend

I  had  such  a  good  time  at  my  show  during  the  weekend.  It  was  at  the  Butler  Institute  of  American  Art  in  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

This is  the  main  level  of  this  beautiful  museum,  and  I  was  on  the  second  level--

I  was  so  happy  to  be  a  part  of  this  art  show  in  this  venue.   Okay,  normally,  my  indoor  shows  are  in  one  of  these  big  cold  expomarts  that  at  one  time  used  to  be  a  grocery  store   or  something  comparable  to  that.   My  sales  weren't  blockbuster,  but  they  were  good  with  very  appreciative  customers.   There's  no  doubt  that  I  will  be  going  back.

And  there  were  some  amazing  artists  there  too.   I  didn't  take  any  photos,  because  artists  aren't  too  keen  on  people  taking  photos  of  their  work  unless  they  give  permission,  and  I  didn't  want  to  make  a  pest  of  myself  while  they  were  trying  to  conduct  business.   However,  I  did  meet  one  artist,  Gail  Trunick,  whose  work  blew  me  away,  and  she  was  the  sweetest  lady, and  I  know  that she  would  have  let  me  take  some  shots  of  her  booth  (wasn't  even  thinking  at  the  time)   Luckily,  she  has  a  website  where  you  can  see  her  art--HERE.   If  you're  familiar  with  the  show  American  Pickers--well,  I  guess  you  could  say  that's  what  she  is.   But  it's  what  she  does  with  the  things  that  she  "picks"--wonderful!!  Go  take  a  look.....after  you  see  what  I'm  giving  away.

First  of  all,  my  2  year  blog  anniversary  has  come  and  gone--so  I  wanted  to  have  a  giveaway   for  it,  and  there's  another  reason  also.   You  guys!!--Thank  You  all  so  much  for  your  support  and  encouragement.   You  always  put  a  smile  on  my  face  especially  on  those  days  when  I  need  it.  So  here's  what  I'm  giving  away--

This  is  a  print  of  my  artwork  that  I  put  on  an  8 x 8  gallery  wrapped    canvas,  and  added  those  fun  knobs  from  Hobby  Lobby.

And  like  always,  you  can  enter  your  name  5  times.   First,  just  leave  a  comment  and  that's  it.   But  if  you're  a  follower--remember  to  tell  me,  and  that  will  be  a  2nd  time.   Mention  it  on  your  blog  for  another  chance,  and  yet  ANOTHER  chance  if  you  mention  it on  your  Facebook  page.   And  the  5th  time  is  to  be  a  fan  of  my  Facebook page.    Make  sure  you  tell  me  if  you  do  any  of  this,  so  I  can  enter  your  name  for  each  thing.   That  sure  is  a  lot  of  chances!   : )

I'll  be  drawing  someone's  name (via random.org)  next  Tuesday,  Dec. 13 (wow! so  close  to  Christmas!)   Good  luck  everyone  and  thank  you  all  so  much  again!!

Leaving This Morning & Bob

Okay, I'm off again--this time to my much anticipated art show.  It's starting tomorrow at 3:00 till 9.   I think that it's kind of a preview party thing--I'm not sure. I used up my painted papers for more art pieces.  I did a couple of "praintings" with my prints--

 

And on the next one, I just cut up one of the papers that I had and just jumbled it around and then added collage accents.  I really liked the way it turned out, and it was very quick to do.

And I used the rest of the scraps of paper for this mirror--really fun!

Today we're going to set up our booth/tent, which I like to do--set up the day before, although the temperatures are going to be in the 90's with the high humidity.  But I'm trying not to complain.  I remember all of those very frigid winter days when I'd be blogging and longing for warmer weather--so here it is!  I'll try to check in with everyone when I'm gone too!

P.S. I haven't talked about Bob lately, have I?   Well, I wanted to tell everyone that he had his yearly check- up, and the Doctor found that his back molar was completely cracked in half   (poor thing)--now of course they have to watch what they give him to chew on.  Well anyway, yesterday he had to go to have the tooth extracted, but of course with a French Bulldog, nothing is easy. I guess the molar has 3 different roots, so they had to take it out in 3 parts, so that means he had to be put under with  anesthesia  (more $).  He was at the Doctor's most of the day, but he did come home last night--completely out of it.

Fairport Canal Days

That's where I was this weekend--Fairport, NY --a great little town or village as they refer to it there, just outside of Rochester.  This is one of my favorite shows, because I love this town.  It's right on the Erie Canal.

They have a lift bridge there--an angled one--from what I understand, there's not many of them still being used in the country.  Every once in a while, you would here the horn go off alerting everyone that the bridge was going to be  lifted for the tour boat or ferry  that's passing underneath--

I was able to catch it when they were lifting it for the tour boat

But let me back up from the beginning.  My employee (aka husband) and I got there bright and early Saturday morning at 6:00 AM to set up my tent and display.  And my tent is not a pop up tent--it's the kind you have to build from the bottom up--a very sturdy durable tent, that I swear by, and it was certainly tested this weekend, let me tell you, but it came through for me as it always does.  Saturday the weather was warm and fairly sunny, but the problem was the wind, not breeze, but WIND!

The show was set up all over the town (the street shows are my favorite).  I was in this parking lot--

Ready for the show--

A couple more "praintings' that I did last week for the show--

 I have to say, that I've been very successful since I've "debuted" my ladies, which makes me very happy.  You know how you get a little nervous when you introduce your new work to the public--wondering how they'll react to it--it's been very positive!! 

So after the initial rush (I did very well), I took a little walk to take photos, but it was a little tricky, because of this--

It was packed!!

Bayou Billy's--My husband's favorite place to eat!

Some really cool artists there too!

And the town itself  has the greatest little shops there--

So when you do these outdoor shows, the real boss is Mother Nature. After Saturday's 35-40 mph wind gusts. This is what she doled out on Sunday--

A nice, rainy, gloomy, COLD (especially when you only brought sandals and light-weight clothes  with you, because the weather on Friday morning called for it to be in the 70's all weekend)  day : )

But the sun did come out--YAY!!-- at 5:00 exactly, and I 'll give you one guess to when the show was over!!

Back From The Festival

And Holy Moly--look at the people--

I think it's safe to say that half the population of Rochester was there, plus surrounding areas.  These shots were taken on Saturday.  It was cold and later overcast, but okay,  considering how it could have been.  Yesterday was one of the most gorgeous days I've seen in a LONG time--it was perfect.  And people were definitely out enjoying the beautiful weather.   Sales weren't great, but they never are for me on a Sunday, but I didn't care--I was just enjoying the day. 

So, I wanted you to meet a couple more of my artist friends.  First of all, I had to get my booth all ready--

And down the same row that I was in, was Jen.  The name of her businsess is P.S. Enjoy Your Life (how much do you love that title?!)  I met Jen  last year at her very first art show. She may be just starting out, but you would never know it.   When we first met, we just  clicked,  and all I have to do is show you her art, and then you'll know why (you can click on the photos to get a better view)--

The smaller pieces are prints on 3.5'' x 4.5'' resin coated woodblocks, and don't you love that large piece that she had on the outside of her tent. It's always good to display an attention-getter like this to get people inside your booth. And underneath the painting  are these--

These are resin-filled coasters with vintage bottle caps!--Cool!

So at the end of the show, we bartered, and this is what I picked out from her--

And now you know why we're kindred spirits!  And she does have a website---p.s.enjoy your life--just click on the title.

And then, at the end of my row, was Roland.  Roland is a metal artist.  My husband and I met Roland back in the 90's when he was just starting out also.  I remember--he had all of his work and tent in the back of a pick-up truck.  It was a craft show, and to this day  it's in  the top 10 list of one of the worst shows that I've been in, BUT,  it's  also in the top 10  list of one of the most enjoyable shows that I've been in because Roland was our neighbor, and  all we did that whole weekend was laugh--Roland is one of a kind.  His booth  is a double one, so it was hard to get a good shot--here's the front--

So-this is what he specializes in, and I'm taking this description right off of his website--Roland's creations are constructed from metal spikes, rods, rivets and other pieces of steel.   And they're all of different professions, and also custom ordered too.  And I mean EVERY profession--

Are you kind of getting the idea of Roland's wit?  ; )

And every year, he features a couple of larger pieces that he's designed.  This year it's a spider monkey and owl, and notice the spiders next to the owl--

This next photo is Roland's personal favorite--

And I can't talk about Roland without mentioning his wife Maria--I'm pretty sure that she is his rock.  She's great, and I'm thinking a very patient person (I may be wrong, but I think you might need a little bit of patience with Roland.....but in a good way : )  It was so great to see them both.  Roland's website is (and again, just click on the title)

roland metal art

So, as you can see, I had a great weekend, and I could go on, but this post is getting WAY too long.  I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to have another giveawy in my next post--just to thank everyone for following and stopping by to leave comments.  I always, always appreciate this!!