My experience at the Downtown Downers Grove Art Festival

It had its highs, it had its lows and it was my last art fair for 2010.

Lows:
Setting up in the rain
Rain
Did I mention rain?

Highs:
Meeting new people
Well organized show
Sales
Won an award!

We were a bit worried when Saturday morning was filled with rain.  I'm talking rain.  Not a pretty, little light sun shower but a steady rain with the occasional downpour that created a small creek which snaked its way in front of my booth. What is it with me and rain at every art fair this year?

The clock ticked past noon and then the sun started to peek out between the clouds.  Then the people started showing up!

One thing I love about participating in art fairs is getting to meet all of the people that come through the booth.  Some I only share a few words with but there are others that make me feel like I've known them for years.  I love seeing familiar faces from previous shows.


You wouldn't believe how many dogs walked through the fair.  There were small ones, big ones, fuzzy ones, hairless ones, and the list goes on.  I have never seen so many dogs.  I wanted to hug every one of them!  I regret that I didn't take any photos of them.

However my husband managed to take a snapshot of me in the booth!  I tried to turn away as fast as possible and as you can see in the picture that this is what he captured.  I enjoy taking pictures but not being in them.  This was on Saturday and it was actually cool enough that I needed to throw a sweater over my shoulders.

Little does he know that I took a photo of him.  If you look closely at the photo below you will see him crouching down behind the back wall.  He was lifting the walls of the tent up a bit so we could get some air through.  Sunday afternoon became so warm that we were starting to get uncomfortable.  Talk about a change from Saturday!

You can also see the Award of Merit that I won at this show in the picture to the left.

These awards continue to remind me that I've made the right decision to quit my job this year and focus on creating art.  It's the mental hug of affirmation that I try to hold on to when I'm by myself in the studio and wondering if the piece I'm working on is good.