Time for Christmas trees and arts and crafts shows!

post #407
        It's a bit busy these days around here.  My car died and I had to buy a new one just to get home from where I was. There was an unexpected vacancy in the Laurel Gorge Cultural Heritage Center's Arts and Crafts Fair, yesterday, and I had to make some hasty preparation to be ready for it. The Morehead State University Arts and Crafts Festival, held every year on the first Saturday of December, with over 100 vendors, will be going on next Saturday, Dec. 1. This means more preparation, both in the items needed to set up my 10 x 10 space, and then to have the right things ready to sell. I do enjoy seeing people I know in this area.  There was Thanksgiving, of course, but since my son-in-law loves, loves, loves to cook, he did most of that, and the two families joining them brought food as well. Quite the feast! The four young kids/friends had a great time, too.  
       They also were all together yesterday, at another friend's Christmas tree farm, and so, guess what, today the tree was put in place and decorated! I will start with a few photos of that event, from this afternoon:

sweet symmetry not done on purpose

       I did take a few photos at Laurel Gorge. The Center provides a history of the area in addition to wildlife information and nature trails, which are lovely to use. We were kind of packed in the two museum areas, but it all worked out.

These dulcimers are made from a variety of woods, and are works of art. I can't believe that I didn't know before that the age of the wood contributes to the quality of the sound -- old is better! Some of the wood Matt Maggard uses is over 100 years old, and comes with a story that goes back that far. Gayle Maggard plays them, and, I believe, has a group that plays together.  I didn't have time to find out everything I wanted to know -- or to take the best possible photos.  I hope these few photos at least give a flavor of their work and enthusiasm.

the underneath of one of the dulcimers

Here, in my gallery/workspace, is some of the work in progress for Saturday's Fair. If I ever end up with no more envelopes, no more paper to cut and fold, no more copies of the photos I use, no more sleeves for the photos, all at the same time, I would be tempted to quit and call it even. But somehow I don't see ever coming out even like that..... In any case, if anyone reading this is near Morehead, come by and see me on Saturday at MSU's Laughlin Health Building between nine and four.  Then stay around for the Hometown Christmas and then the annual performance by the Cave Run Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m.  This year there is a choral number, with a large choral singing section.  Friend Molly Carew is singing in it, and says the music they're doing is truly beautiful. She never imagined being able to perform with a full orchestra!

       Next week I will share some snow photos that I never used last year. As I write this, there is a big storm in the midwest -- I hope everyone is safe and warm.  Somehow, those first storms of the season are often not taken seriously enough. 
      Talking about taking seriously enough, of course I continue to hope that sanity will prevail on the subject of climate change. We should be having a global imperative to get a grip on what work is required. When will enough leaders realize that we need to do a lot to protect our future? Right. Now. 
       Well, we don't need just to protect our future. We need to guarantee a livable future.

The Appalachian Arts and Crafts Fair, and a tribute to a neighbor

post #219
      Well, last week I said I would post some photos YESTERDAY from the Appalachian Arts and Crafts Fair I was part of, but it wasn't possible to make that work.  The wi-fi there was not reliable, for one thing, and for another it was hard work just keeping up with things.  Like sales.  Like seeing return customers and friends.  Like gauging how hard it was raining outside -- by observing the wetness of people's coats and hats.... 
       So here is the early view of the booth I would be sharing with Jennifer Reis:

FRIDAY afternoon, starting from scratch....

SATURDAY morning, before the 9 a.m. opening.... Jennifer's embellished fabric art pieces are not yet mounted for display.  However, I arrived there later than she did, so my cards and matted photos are not yet ready either.  But I had time for making a photo.... and we were both ready by the 9 a.m. opening!

The view from my corner of our booth -- before the crowds arrived.  Looks peaceful!

      The next two photos are ones I have wanted to use for awhile.  They were made by a very good photographer, the son-in-law of some friends who are also neighbors of ours.  I asked to be able to share the photos because they show a slice of life from this area.  
      However, I just now received a phone call and learned that the man in the photos died this morning, after being so very sick for a few months.  I want to offer these photos now as a tribute to him and to his family, with all my love and my condolences.  I know that the readers of this blog who know him will recognize him, and others don't need to know his name in order to feel for the family.  We all are mortals, and death is as much a part of our lives as is being born.  Our happiness is in loving each other while we can.

God's peace be with you.

fourth and final year of my most popular blogs, and news (Arts Fair, George Ella Lyon book)

post #218

A bluebird nesting box in our yard, opened recently to reveal an even more crowded living situation than my study!  It is nice to have beautiful companions in crowdedness....

        Who would think it.  A post from a year ago ends up on my top three from year four.  It is called a change of seasons sweep-up: post #164 on 11/17/13.  There is mistletoe, barns, a four wheeler, and information about the upcoming annual Arts and Crafts Fair at Morehead State University.  I am thinking the number of page views might have something to do with the Fair, actually, since two weeks later, on 12/8/13, for post #167, I have some photos from the Fair -- which also made the top three posts for the year.  In fact, there have been recent viewers!  I do give the link for Monarch Butterfly stations, however, a hot topic in recent years.  The post is called Updates: monarch butterfly stations, the local arts Fair, and frogs changing colors.  
         I love that little frog whom I would not have noticed perched on a milkweed pod had I not been looking carefully at the plants almost every day, for art's sake.  Here is another photo of the frog when I went back to revisit him later in the day.  He had moved to a lower leaf, still green:

tiny!

This is just another version of the frog earlier, on the milkweed pod above the leaf.

       The top post for year four includes a couple of milkweed in winter mode, several interesting but far from awesome photos of some mourning doves making do during a snow storm, and two scenes from down near our waterfalls. I don't even show the waterfalls, shaped by ice.  I have NO idea what draws attention to this post, #171, on 1/5/14.  A good mystery to have.  Maybe, now that I think about it, it might be due to the simple mention of milkweed in the title.

      By the way, I am doing the Appalachian Arts and Crafts Fair at Morehead State again this year, on Saturday, 12/6/14, in two weeks.  The hours are 9-4.  Of course my own hours are a lot more than that -- prep time earlier in the week, set-up time on Friday afternoon, and regrouping time after the 4 pm closing.   As my new bumper sticker points out, "ARTWORK IS WORK."
      This year I will have my photo note cards, as I always do, but I will have many more 8 x 12 photos matted in 12 x 16 archival mat board, each in a protective sleeve, $25 each.  I will be sharing a double booth again with Jennifer Reis!!  As I say every year after she and I do this, "ARTWORK SELLING CAN ALSO BE FUN!"
       If I manage to be on top of my game, I will post a photo from the Fair in a special blog post early that day!!  Girls gone wild!

         Speaking of artwork, it is a privilege to announce that George Ella Lyon has two books coming out in November.  The trailer for the first book, VOICES FROM THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON, has just been released, and she sings on it! Beautifully. The book contains poems written by two poets, George Ella and J. Patrick Lewis. They imagine the voices of people who took part in the march.  (Published by Wordsong, an imprint of Highlights, 2014)
        The link to the trailer is HERE.  I love the fact that her singing sounds louder and stronger just as the resolve to be there became stronger for those many people who went.

        This coming week, my plan is to take a photo a day for next week's post. I haven't actually ever done that yet, and I think it is way past time to try it.  I'm rewarding myself for finally studying the instruction booklet for my "new" camera....  In the meantime, here is a photo to keep you warm.  It shows all the wood my husband has prepared for this winter for use in our wood burning cook stove!  It is currently sheltered in the barn, with some logs used already since I made this photo.  Surprise, Frank, and thanks! 

art fairs and my gallery

post #140
      Despite more than two and a half years of posts, I have not yet explained all that much about what I do or where I work or even what individual artistic path I have chosen to create for myself.  There has just been so much other stuff I have been eager to share.  Today, however, I will begin a try at establishing a sense of the places and spaces that make my work life happen.  
      A good place to start would be yesterday, a day spent in a fair with other artists, trying to sell my stuff to whomever comes by.  I had been invited to take a 10 x 10 place on a carpet in the hallway of the Morehead Conference Center.  There would be 6 or 7 of us in a row outside of the main room where 50 folk artists from ten states would be displaying and selling during the Kentucky Folk Art Center's A Day in the Country.  This made for a building busy all day with art and artists! (We all agree to stay there from 8:45 to 4.)
     I was able to share the space with my creative friend Jennifer Reis who does embellished fabric art as well as metal jewelry.  She also crochets jewelry.  It's way more fun to be sharing the setting up, which includes final design decisions for the space, as well as to be helping each other out during the day.  It also helps that her work and mine are easy to tell apart....
       Here is a photo of our "booth" all ready to go at 9 a.m. yesterday morning:

   

     It is of course hard to tell what will sell on any such day.  I had at least 75 different note cards on display.  But, for some random reason, my two best sellers of the day were writing spider and country crossing.  I only had five copies of each on hand.  Both were purchased because the customer had a longterm specific project in mind.  I do enjoy learning what speaks to people who come by to buy....

     I have come to admire the artists ENORMOUSLY who can set up weekend after weekend, and/or who can work around hot sun or rain.  I don't even have a tent because my note cards would not do well in most kinds of weather, plus I am not patient enough to do it by myself all day long.  I trust it is obvious that there is a lot of work involved in getting art work ready for an event, in setting up the day before an event starts, and in taking it all down at the end -- in an organized enough manner to fit it back in the vehicle and, later, in the space it came from to begin with!  For me, yesterday was cushy -- a rug!  No need for a tent!  The restroom and water fountain just across the hall!  Air-conditioning!  WiFi!  Live guitar and then banjo, with singing, at the end of the hallway!   But even so I didn't earn enough money to make up for the total time spent.  It's great publicity, however, which is important.  And I don't want to be working by myself every single minute, which is why the FUN part is so great as is the interaction with people who like my photography. 
       It is all part of that work any art path takes, one which we each have to determine for ourselves. 

      I've already written more than I expected to, so I will save the other gallery photos and thoughts for next week's blog.  Here are just two photos, both of the outside of Sideway Gallery, and there are more!  in just 7 days!

Wisteria appears!

more from Indonesia, mostly Borobudur

post #113

      Indonesia again, with its kids in central Java eager to check us out.   I believe these folks all appeared while we were waiting for a train!  They didn't ask for anything in return.  There weren't all that many of us Americans off the beaten track back then.
     However, as promised, this post is mostly about the Buddhist temple of Borobudur, in central Java.  After looking up the place on Wikipedia, I learned that major renovations have occurred  since our visit there 40 years ago.  These few images may seem like ancient history!   Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world, is now also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and evidently the most visited location in Indonesia.  We, however, had the place pretty much to ourselves.

It seems we didn't take a slide of the front of the temple, so this is as much in situ as I can provide.

It would be so interesting to return for another look!

We liked how the building was so in harmony with the mountains.

For those who expressed curiosity about the journal and the notebook, when I mentioned them last week, here they are, together, loyal companions. 

A favorite photo from our whole trip, taken while visiting Prambanan

     I was thrilled to hear from my neighbor Chris last week in response to my last post.  It seems he is a remarkable photographer and was in Java last year.  I hope I can work it out to share some of his photos from Indonesia on this blog, very soon.  Maybe Carolyn or Ashley have a photo from there to share as well.  Cool!

    I want to end with an INVITATION: I will be sharing a "doublewide" next Saturday, the first of December, with Jennifer Reis at Morehead State University's annual Arts and Crafts Fair at the Laughlin Health Building Gym, from 9 to 4.  LOTS of note cards to choose from and photography banter and some matted photos and copies of Counting on the Woods.  Come see Jennifer's jewelry and her one of a kind embellished textile assemblages.  We have a great time.  Again this year I offer 10% off to any one who mentions this blog -- like Ann S. did last year -- and visit Appalachian Holiday Arts and Crafts on Facebook.

  Note: I have had expert preparation help this year from my friend Sandy, and I am grateful!

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