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May 17, 2010

Springfield Old Capitol Art Fair 2010 - My perspective

What an incredible weekend it has been! Being the second art fair that I've exhibited at in the United States, it was a phenomenal experience and I can't wait to be there again next year!

I just want to say "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" to everyone who stopped by and purchased some of my artwork. I truly appreciate your patronage.

I had the opportunity to meet some incredible people. And the art, oh my. The calibre of art at this festival was a sight to see. There are some very talented folks out there.

I have to give a special shout out to Thomas and Linda Dumke of Oconomowoc, WI. Thomas' wood working skills are beyond belief. If you need furniture, this is your man. I believe they are working on their website but it's http://www.ltdwoodworks.com/ when they get it updated.

I also had the pleasure of being neighbor to the fabulous glass work of Ed Martin (who is also a Springfield artist). You can see his work at http://www.edmartinart.com/. Oh, and the folks across the path from me were Anne and Leslie. Their paper art is so beautiful. Be sure to stop by their website at http://3amisdesigns.com/. They will be coming back to Springfield for the Carillon Art Fair so if you didn't catch them this time you will get to see them in the fall!

I was absolutely thrilled to have won the Outstanding Newcomer award (there were a total of 32 new artists to the fair) and Fourth Place Children's award. I wish the children's award was because I was a child but it's actually for a very cool program that they offer at the fair. Every artist is given the opportunity to create and give art to the children's tent. The art has to be valued at $4, $5, or $6. Then parents are encouraged to drop their child off at the tent so they can go in and pick out something by themselves. Yes, the kids do this on their own so that the parents can't "coach" them. What a great idea. So, getting back to the award, the artists can select one of their contributions to be judged. I guess they liked mine and I won an award. How great is that?

It rained all weekend but I was amazed at how many people showed up for it. I really can't say enough about how nice everyone was and again, thank you, if you stopped by and chatted with me for a little while.

Here is a photo of my booth from Sunday afternoon. I think I actually found a moment where it wasn't raining! Oh, and don't let the lack of people fool you. You have no idea how hard it was to snap this without people or body parts entering the photo. I think it took me ten tries.

















So, now I'm off to the drawing board. I have to prepare for my next show which will be in Naperville, IL in July. You can see more info about it at www.napervillewomansclub.com/artfair.html. I hope I see you there!

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