Wow, what a week! I have participated in day long art fairs in the past...but let me tell you, this was like being thrown in with the wolves! ;) A four-day outdoor fair, open from noon to 11pm daily, in 95 degree weather. What was I thinking?! ;)
Even crazier was that I found out how tough it can be to get into this juried show. Featuring over 150 artists from around the country, and trust me, there are great artists (I came home from the show with five new purchases!) and 100,000 visitors came to see the show (and lil ol' me!!!). It was non stop crazy :) Crazy, good.
I didn't know what to expect!
I didn't expect to get lost on such a simple drive. But we did. I had my Coffee and Pull n' Peel to keep me company. :)
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| Necessities | |
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| Finally made it to Utah! |
I did not expect it to take Ellen and I over eight hours to set up our booth. But somehow, it did. ;)
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| Before Set up |
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| During Set Up |
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| Set up. EIGHT hours later!!! |
I also didn't expect it to feel like such a big city (seriously, coming from Jackson, WY, this is a BIG city!!) There were tall buildings everywhere, restaurants and bars, people all over the place!
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| Library Square |
I didn't expect to meet such great people, especially my neighboring booths who made the fair so so much fun! I LOVE the two new pieces I bought from Lisa Telling Kattenbraker! Here is one of the pieces I bought....
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| Loren modeling Hand blown glass beads by our neighbor Bonny. |
Nor did I expect to eat great fair food (mmm....still dreaming about the yummy hand cut fries and the vegetable crepes). Wish I had a picture of the fries, but I ate them too fast ;)
I also didn't expect SO many people to come to the show! Did I mention that nearly 100,000 people came?? And there were concerts going on all day and night on four different stages!
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| Setting up for a show at the stage right near my booth. |
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| Later that night...... |
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| Yarn covered Mini Cooper and me on the last night of the show. |
I also, didn't know what kind of reaction to expect.
Salt Lake City seems like a more conservative town than I am used to. Would they welcome SLD? Turns out they did, with open arms! :) It was so fun meeting our customers, and most exciting was when a little girl or boy walked right out of my booth wearing their new clothes. :)
Overall, it was a wonderful week. Thrilling really to be a part of something so big. But I can say that driving home and seeing the green mountains of Wyoming, the flowing Snake River, and hearing the squeal of my Finley when I drove into the driveway, made me realize that the traveling art fair scene may not be for me....
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| Snake River flowing high |
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| The majestic Tetons |
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| The love of my life. |
I am thrilled and honored to be participating in three more fairs this summer, but really what I like to do most is be at home with my family, work in the studio, and chat with you guys all day long :) And really, is that such a bad thing? ;)
xo,
shari
