The Art Fair Season has officially begun!

What better day to have a spring craft fair than the day before Mother’s Day.  A perfect combination of the sea breezes, and panic mixed with guilt!  One small mention of Mother’s Day brings grown men to your booth to seek out the perfect piece of jewelry to assuage the guilt that comes from years of being reminded of stretch marks, labor pains,  and sacrifice…  Wonderful!

Our local Dewey Beach Business Partnership sponsored the first ever Dewey Beach Arts Fest yesterday, and I will gladly return each year for this event.  I am beginning to learn which shows I do well at, and which shows to avoid.  This one was a keeper.  It had the three most important things any craft show should have if you are a metalsmith.  1.  You can park your van directly behind your booth.  (We metalsmiths are a sickly crew, and we do not like to carry heavy objects for great distances).    2. Free food located close to your booth so that you can eat without loosing sight of your precious creations.  and   3.  No vendors reselling jewelry purchased online from some country employing child labor and questionable  environmental standards.  (Can you say Oriental Trading Company!)

Overall a great day spent petting all the visiting dogs ( and the occasional monkey):

Escaping from the heat

Cute, but NOT as a pet.

So proud.

As I was unpacking the van to set up the booth, I saw two extra boxes in the van – some unused tile from a kitchen project, and a box of items to be sent to Goodwill.  I had a sudden need for height, so I added them to my table setup, threw some extra black cloth over them, and was amazed at how they improved the overall booth look.

Enough to garner me the Best of Show ribbon no less!   Lesson learned – no need for fancy displays, just add some height to your table display, and use the artist’s eye.  Oh – and never return unused tile to Home Depot until after a show!

Rubber Tires – The New Silver?

Chicken Pin

A few weekends ago, I snapped this pic of an unusual pin worn by a lovely woman in a bright yellow jacket.  The pin, it turns out, was made from the remains of an innertube!  A little paint, and a few beads later, and this beautiful bird emerged. With silver prices due to rise to insane levels next month, we can all stand to look around and explore other mediums.  I’ve often discovered that those jewelry “mistakes” sitting on my bench can be reused in another way to create a totally different piece.  Drill a hole in them and dangle them from another piece.  Fold form them and cold connect them together.  If your bronze pieces melt into puddles, connect them together to form a new and completely “organic” bracelet!   Leave me a comment about your disaster that turned into a work of art.

Art is Where You Find It

Found this across from the Weaver’s Way Co-op in Philadelphia.  Not a trellis, not a ladder, and serving no use other than to make someone smile.

Deadlines are a Wonderful Thing

I have long known that when projects float in the ether, with no deadlines, they never get done.  I also had long promised a friend a painting of her amazing and treasured dog, but somehow never sat down to actually start the painting.  Subtle hints did no good.  Constant reminders from my wife also were equally ineffective.  Finally, a party, and a deadline did what nothing else could.  I actually started and finished the work in time to slap a ribbon on it for the occasion.  I love working in pastels.  I love any medium that allows you to manipulate (i.e. play) with the “paint” after it is on the canvas.  Moving the pastel around on the paper is only slightly above the sensation of finger painting.  Here is a pic of the original photograph, and a pic of the painting on the easel just before I blended in the background and before framing.  The lesson – treasure your deadlines, for without them, we get sh** done!

Paddy as a Photo

Paddy as a Painting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready for the ribbon

Finally – pics of the Kitchen

Our new kitchen has been done for a while, and I did promise pictures to everyone.  The problem is finding a moment when there are no dog nose prints on the windows, no mail piled on the table, and no exploded bread dough (see earlier post!).  Finally, that golden moment arrived and I quickly snapped a few pics for everyone.  Click on the individual pic in the collage to see a larger picture.

Playing with Copper

Just a quick post to show you some of my latest copper pieces.  As everyone in “the biz” knows, this is the season of applying for shows, and making decisions about which shows are worth the table fee, and which ones are are dominated by crocheted toilet paper holders and really bad pottery.  My calender is starting to fill up, and I’ll be sure to let everyone know when the schedule is set.   Meanwhile – here’s a sample of some of my latest:

A Cautionary Tale of the dangers inherent in breadmaking.

Ah dear readers – this is a cautionary tale for those who would worship at the feet of the great Martha Stewart.  For we all know that pride go-eth before a fall. Or in my case, pride go-eth before an explosion.

Last night, I quite proudly put a picture of my newest loaf of homemade bread onto Facebook.  Soon after, Linda and I were eating homemade pizza and I was basking in the compliments I demanded on a fairly frequent basis.  After dinner, I put a lid on the remaining bread dough, and put it in the fridge to cool further and wrongfully assumed that the rising would stop.  Little did I know the great power of my bread dough.  Defying physics and chemistry, the bread continued to rise in a chilled environment.  Meanwhile, Linda and I were barely asleep for the night when a fairly large explosion rocked the house.  We hopped out of bed, and could find nothing amiss.  And just as I was commenting that it seemed like an explosion, I opened the refrigerator:

       For those of us who grew up in the 60s, there is only one thing to say to this;

LUUUUUUSSSSSSSYYYYY!