We made it!

Well, we are back from the Festival de la fibre Twist fibre festival in St-André-Avellin in Québec. We schlepped 5 boxes and a suitcase full of Yummy Yarn Studio yarns, display items and both Yummy and devonshireKnots patterns. Oh and a few articles of clothing.

What an absolutely beautiful part of the country!! If you ever get a chance to visit, please do. It’s about an hour’s drive from Ottawa (about 1.5 hours from Montreal) in the Laurentian mountains and Outaouais River valley, with gently rolling hills, larger rocky outcrops, fields of corn, grazing cattle, sheep, and even Beefalo (a cow/buffalo cross).

Sam’s GPS (Maggie) took us a bit “off piste” since the autoroute linking Gatineau with St-André-Avellin (via Thurso) isn’t quite complete yet. You know, the road less taken isn’t always a bad thing. Some leaves were hinting that they’re getting ready to turn. And autumn in this area is always spectacular.

Unfortunately neither of us thought to bring proper cameras so any photos we do have were taken with cellphones. We must admit that there were a few happenstances of, “is there anyone behind us? No? Well then STOP THE CAR!!!”

ARRET! Stop the car; I need to take a picture of this stop sign!

Oh and did we mention the HEAT and HUMIDITY? For a couple of girls from the dry prairies, it took a bit of getting used to.

Anyway, the Festival itself was a lot of fun. We met a lot of very nice people and made contact with others in “da business”. We even managed to do a bit of commerce which was the whole purpose in going.

Language barriers be damned, our patterns are out there in both French and English homes. That’s very cool.

The best best best part was the look on people’s faces when they asked where our shop was and we were able to say “______________”.
“Ben (pronounced bain)…You came a long way…” Yes; yes we did…For the most we were appreciated for coming all that distance.

It wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops though. As mentioned earlier it was HOT and by hot, we mean the kind of hot that eastern and central North America has suffered through all summer. Temperatures in the mid-30s (celsius) but humidity so high the Humidex readings were in the low 40′s. Standing on a concrete arena surface for 9-10 hours is hard. Let’s just say, elevated feet were the words of the night.

On the way out, Jody was randomly selected for a full body search and then her carry on was searched (naughty crochet hooks). On the way home, security didn’t believe that Sam could have so many boxes filled with YARN until they opened one to see for themselves.

We’re not saying Sam’s tired or anything but putting tired achey feet up on a hard surface feels GREAT!

And let’s face it; even that wasn’t so very bad…

Actually, the BESTEST part of the whole thing was getting hugs from a certain world-famous knitter who has a very successful blogging and writing career. Oh and this writer is now following Sam on Twitter and replied to one of Jody’s tweets. We’re not “there” yet, but we’re getting close!

This year I brought a few new designs; a pretty lattice button, small shank buttons, and a new square flower button were among them.

As busy as our booth gets, I do try to sneak out to see what’s new, shop,  and say hello to fellow vendors. While walking around Friday afternoon, I came upon Fiber Optics and nearly got whiplash.  Creator/dyer Kimber Baldwin is a chemist by trade and uses her knowledge of chemistry to help achieve a super saturated fiber, really stunning.  I will definitely use her fibers in the future.  In fact, watch my blog for upcoming news about Fiber Optics!  She also had a stunning display of shawls:

As a bonus, I was able to spend time with  Julia Hilbrandt who makes FABULOUS felt bags. We displayed one of her bags in my booth on Sunday, shown here with a new pattern (Dublin Tee).  Also shown on the dress form is a necklace by Laura Nelkin.  We sold her kits at the festival and again, they were hugely popular!

We all had fun on Cinco de Mayo at a beautiful restaurant called Azul 17 where they serve the BEST mojito and have a separate menu for tequila! Just look at Kristen’s lamb dinner (yes, she finished it!)

Sunday afternoon I went to visit my old tent neighbors, Larry and Kristina of Peavine Hollow Farm.  They Raise and sell Angora goats and Maremma Livestock Guardian Dogs.  The Angora fiber from their goats is just gorgeous!

By the end of the week-end we were exhausted, but uplifted by our many wonderful customers.  Thank you all so much! I am already looking forward to next year!

I need to learn to say no and draw the line somewhere, but with a lineup like this, how can you?

• Tiesto
• Excision
• Laidback Luke
• Steve Aoki
• Chuckie
• +3 undisclosed special guests!

http://www.ilovethiscityfestival.com/

The ILTC festival in San Francisco will take place Friday, May 25 and Saturday, May 26 at The Lot at AT&T Park set on the historic San Francisco waterfront.

Already booked my hotel, needless to say, I am looking forward to a festival like this in SF.

See you there!

I’m happy with the look of the booth, though I will admit I find myself missing the larger booth we had in Baltimore.

In some ways this 10′ x 10′ feels more enclosed after having the 20′ x 5′, but we’ve been told by many visitors that it feels very inviting and open, so that’s good.

Besides, how else am I supposed to pass the idle time at shows other than finding the smallest things to obsess over?

I suppose I could work on my memoirs…if only I were an interesting read.  I think if I were a TV series I’d have to cancel myself.

Until next time,
-M

I’m doing jewelry as well as mixed media now, and this was the first show where I’ve had it out in force.

It’s off to Atlanta next for ACC Atlanta March 8-11.  Hope to see you there!
-M

Here are some quick shots of the show

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Along with a shot of our booth

The space was wonderful for a show like this, and set-up and tear down couldn’t have been any easier.  As always it was a great show, and I want to give a big shout out to all of the lovely Handmaidens who work so tirelessly to put this show on.   Thank you ladies!

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In other news, Victoria Falls is progressing nicely, and I have reached the point in this painting where I need to decide the final direction it will take.  Basically I have two options, the first is to continue on much like I am now with a more interpretative painting, and the second is to begin adding more substantial details to make the piece more of a translation rather than interpretation.  I think I might just have to go with my gut on this one.

Until next time,

-M

I’ve finished up a fair amount of new work

small to mid-size pieces mostly

I think this one might be my favorite of the lot

and a few others

Have a good weekend, and if you get the chance

Relax.

Talk soon,

-M

He particularly liked this one tree which was perfect to climb in.

I liked being able to shoot his shadow in the late afternoon.

From our experience- don’t know if it was the same for everyone- the crowds were great, but there weren’t that many people purchasing art. For the show to be located in such an affluent area, and garnering such a prestigious reputation, we were expecting to be swamped.  We were busy from time to time, just not as much as I expected.

So in between, I had plenty of chances to shoot some photos.   Lately, I’ve been beginning to experiment with photographing objects, animals, and such in motion -especially birds in flight- and I think there are a lot of possibilities; especially when combined with mixed media.  Here’s a piece I sold, that I hope better illustrates the point.

“Flight Study III”

My favorite shot of the weekend, at least of the birds, was this image of a pigeon taking off.

J and I had been feeding it crackers, but it would only let him get so close before it would take to the safety of the tree above our booth.

Finally, on Saturday afternoon, a lady came along randomly snapping photos and decided to take a shot or two of us.

Kristina and Jeremia were their usual, beautiful photogenic selves, whereas I was too busy yacking about some nonsense to stand still.   Oh well, at least we’re all in the same photo.  Often with us and family pictures, it’s like trying to herd cats…

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On Sunday evening, we packed up but decided to stay an extra night at the hotel before heading home.  This seems to be a theme for us, but we tend to do better with the long drives once everyone has had some rest.  The next day we were back on I-95 heading north, but we quickly found a detour at Washington Oaks State Park just north of Palm Coast.  Not a well known place, but it was beautiful and secluded- we practically had the place to ourselves.

Definitely the kind of driveway I’m going to get when I move out of my parents’ house.

The was a small playground where Jeremia could play, and some nice hiking trails that went around the park, so we decided to check them out.

It didn’t take long for J to find some large palm leaves-

I’m not sure if he was happier carrying them or “sweeping” with them.

He certainly was enjoying trying to whack me on the head with them as he rode on my shoulders.

We strolled around for the better part of 2 hours, but decided that it was probably time to get on the road.

On the way out I shot one last image of this nice large oak.

It might make for a good art piece sometime in the future.

Until next time,

-M

It was clear, temps hovering around 80, perfect weather for an Art Festival.  Or so you would think…

Let me tell you first off, the show was in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park which is a beautiful location, but load-in for this show was an absolute beast.  Kristina was watching Jeremia, and because I was not allowed to take our small trailer directly into the park, I had to instead unload piece by piece, then trek each load app. 150 yards to our booth space.  What normally takes us 15-20 minutes to do, took me a full 2 hours.  By the time I was done I was sweating more than a fat cow in a hamburger commercial.

Once in the booth however, set up was fairly easy, and I was happy with the final look.

For this show, I tried to choose bolder and larger pieces which turned out to be a good thing.

Sales were good for the two days, and it was interesting in that people seemed to want to purchase the larger rather than smaller pieces.

I’m not complaining, with so many shows lined up one after another, it actually makes my life a bit easier by not needing to make as much work.

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Sunday evening came, and load out was a little easier; some of the volunteers came with golf carts which helped shorten the number of loads it took to get everything back to the trailer.  By the time we left, Jeremia had just had more fun than he could stand and promptly passed out in the car with a fry in his mouth.  We couldn’t resist a good picture before removing it.

The next day we headed home again, and as per the usual, we made a slight detour on our way home.  If any of you have ever been up or down I-95 then you know that on the border of North and South Carolina there is perhaps the largest and most ridiculous tourist trap known to man, “South of the Border.”  Seriously, its one of those places that understands what it is, so it relishes in it rather than try to deny it.  Its been there probably since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and its mascot is the most prototypical politically incorrect figure, “Pedro.”

Someone of whom Jeremia was not a big fan…

However, all hope was not lost, while stopping to look for me a leather hat which I could wear at shows to keep my head out of the sun (Yes, I naively thought that we could stop here and I could go into a building simply marked, “Leather” and there a hat would be, miraculously waiting),

we met none other than….

Fabio.

Yes, Fabio.

Well, a cardboard cut-out of Fabio, but close (and scary) enough for me.  I mean seriously, wouldn’t it weird you out to know that there were cardboard cutouts of yourself floating around in the world where you were sporting nothing more than a tight pair of jeans and chains?  I love how he guards the emergency exit.

Jeremia tried to work a new purse out of the deal (probably to keep things quiet), but we instead we talked him into a pair of plastic glasses with the goofy eyes.

And yes, in the entire store marked “Leather,” there was not a single leather hat.  Notice however, the ample supply of Pedro dolls.  Needless to say, I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Once we got outside we stopped to shoot a quick photo with a horse.  J was preoccupied with noticing that horse wasn’t wearing a diaper and should have been-

I just wanted to find the car.  Once we were loaded up and preparing to leave it was then that I spotted it-

a lovely Ferris Wheel just begging to have its picture taken.

So of course I obliged.  What I love about this shot is the “Convention Center” in the background.  Can’t you just see yourself entertaining some million-dollar clients at that locale next time you need to set up an important meeting?  Yep, me too.

I got one other nice shot; this RIDES sign-

then I was ready to hit the road…

Where’s the tequilla?

-M

The first is The Handmade Market which is Sat. April 23 from 11-5, at Cobblestone Hall, in Raleigh, NC

Its a great one-day show with over 40 fabulous designers and craftspeople-definitely worth checking out!

The next show will be Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philadelphia, PA the weekend of May 14-15.

We’ve never done this one before, but Kristina and I have heard a lot of good things about it so we are really jazzed.

The following weekend, May21-22 we come back to Raleigh, NC to do Artsplosure.

The website doesn’t look like all that much, but it is a great show.  It gets about 100,000 people in attendance over the weekend, and sales for us have always been strong.

The following week we are taking off to rest, but then the week after that – June 3,4,5 – we are off to Columbus, Ohio for the 50th Annual Columbus Arts Festival.

This is another monster show, getting about 300,000 people over the entire 3 days.

I have several more to tell you about, and I’ll pass that info on once I have all the details.

-M

Here’s an image of the booth from the American Craft Council show in Baltimore in February.  Overall, it was a wonderful show, and we will certainly do it again next year.

If you want to see the best in contemporary and traditional craft this is the show to visit.

Until next time,

-M

First some images of some of the new work:

“Treeline”

“Big Wheel”

“Three and One”

“Balance I”

“GXM”

The piece “GXM” I’m really excited about because it was made using my new large format Epson printer.

The first show of the season was ARTfest Ft. Myers in Ft. Myers, Florida.  I can say that aside from being a nice location, there wasn’t much else about the show to rave about.  For us, it was a terrible show in terms of sales, but most everyone around us seemed to be doing well.  Go figure.

Otherwise we had a very nice time-

Jeremia was making new friends as always

and the downtown area of Ft. Myers was particularly beautiful.  I especially like this great piece of public art outside of the art museum there, and the way it reflects light and casts shadows.

I’ll have to continue this in the next post, Kristina and Jeremia are beckoning me to go with them for a trip to Home Depot, so who am I to argue.  I practically keep the place in business.

Until next time,

-M

for us around here.  Since I last posted we’ve done 3 shows:

Festival of the Masters Booth  Orlando, FL

I’ve worked on a large commission:

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And I’ve even managed to get a few other new pieces finished,

including a another version of one of my favorite pieces:

“A Series of Minor Distractions” 2010

“Ferris Wheels and Polka Dots” 2010

“Four Dandelions” 2010

“Sanctuary” 2010

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Jeremia, of course, has been his usual hip self-still growing like a weed

and cute as ever (if I do say so myself).

-styling for the camera

-being chased by Zombies during the Zombie Lurch in Durham

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-going Trick or Treating for the 1st time.

He especially liked where we were staying while we were showing at the Festival of the Masters in Orlando.  There was a heated kiddie pool

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where we could swim day or night.  He could even fetch his own towel

when he was ready to go back to the room (well almost).

But nothing compared to meeting the Mouse:

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Up next for us is a home studio show this weekend, and I’ll try to get some details up a little later this week.

-M

My booth was full, and I even had time to get some new pieces finished

“Rest”

“Dreams of Flight”

We got lots of compliments on the booth, and even managed to win a “Judges Choice” Award, which was nice.

On the way home, it was one of those beautiful clear early fall sunsets and I managed to snap a few shots at twilight:

I shot these as the car was moving

but I think they still turned out nicely

perhaps I’ll use these later on

Up next for us on the show circuit is a show in Florida in, of all places, Disney World- hopefully its a good show, and we can’t wait for Jeremia to meet Mickey.

Until next time,
-M

-M

Annual Irish Celtic Fair Irish Dancers, Singers, Bands, Pipers, Food, Vendors, Bake Table & Children’s games with “Entertainer’s Caravan”

Admission – Adults $5.00
Students $1.00
Children under 12 – Free (must be supervised)

Hosted by: Sudbury Irish Arts Association

This is a great day for everyone to get together and enjoy traditional Celtic Irish music, food, dance and experiences.

While you are there you can shop for some amazing Celtic goodies as well as other crafters.

I checked out the website and application on line, and I have to say that this is probably one of the best put together shows I have seen in a while.  They seem to really be interested in the comfort and success of the participating artists, which is often not the case with many shows.  It is in Florida, so I’m not sure how that is going to work for us with a then 10 month old, but I’m going to apply anyway because it looks to good to pass up.

The application deadline is Sept. 16, and I encourage you to check it out if you are doing the show circuit.  If you live in the area, maybe we’ll see you in February!

-M

and ribbons are always good (even better when attached to money)- they almost always help when applying to future shows.  Of course, you never really know what the judges are looking for, just a matter of opinion I guess.

Here are some booth shots from Bele Chere:

I had a lot of new work, as well as some old favorites

I knew all of those blank panels in my studio would be good for something

One of the new pieces from my bird series

It’s 7 weeks until Centerfest, my next big show, so I think I’ll take a few days off to recover.  May be a good time for Jeremia, Kristina, and I to hit the pool.

-M

First off, I want to apologize for not blogging in over a month. I took a long vacation to Europe, and once I returned, it took me a little longer to get back into the swing of things than I thought it would. But fortunately, all the time I spent on busses and planes traveling around, I was listening to tons of new music to share! But first, I want to make sure everyone in San Francisco knows about the Outside Lands Music Festival coming up. 

Now held annually in Golden Gate Park, Outside Lands is a 3 day music festival with a huge line up of bands; all of which I love! Headlining this year are some huge names including Pearl Jam, Incubus, Dave Matthews Band, Modest Mouse, Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz, just to name a few. 

Last year I was new to living in the city and Outside Lands was the first big festival I attended with my roommates. Although we saw some awesome live music including Cake, Ben Harper and Tom Petty, I have to admit we missed a few good bands thanks to a nice combination of one (or four) too many beers and being horrible at planning and directions. The park is huge with stages all over, so you have to force yourself to do a little planning, or else you could miss a lot in the time it takes to walk across the park. 

But this year my roommates and I are getting 3 day passes and vow to see every band we want to see, but there are so many good ones! Aside from the headliners, I can’t wait to see The National, TV on the Radio, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Portugal. The Man, Bat For Lashes, Lenka, Brett Dennen, Calexico, Band of Horses… and the list goes on! 

Anyone who lives in the San Francisco area should definitely attend at least one day of this festival. Aside from the music, it is known to have some of the best food and drinks of any event in the bay area. The festival is coming up on August 28, 29 and 30th and I am literally counting down the days. Above is the concert poster with the lineup, but you can also visit the website to see artist bios and purchase tickets. I also posted songs by some of my favorite artists in the lineup that I can’t wait to hear live. With so many songs I’m eager to hear, there might just be a part two of this post closer to the show! 

Modest Mouse – Trailer Trash

The Avett Brothers – The Ballad of Love and Hate

TV on the Radio – Staring at the Sun

Band of Horses – Is There a Ghost

Blind Pilot – The Story I Heard