Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Des Moines Buildings are finished

Still plugging along on the Des Moines skyline - I'm down to water and sky . Very hectic week at work so not much time to blog ( oh did I say that I blog while I'm at work )


Monday, October 26, 2009

Lincoln Show

The show in Lincoln IL is very constant as far as sales and this year it was a great relief that the sales were steady. The weather was also very nice - no rain or wind just very cool temps ( it was in the 60's both days) It is always nice going to Lincoln and spending the weekend under the trees relaxing with my Famous Walleye Sandwich.






Got to paint Sunday

Sunday is a good painting day - have a leisurely breakfast then get ready and go to church - The Woman fixed a wonderful lunch and as they go off to see a movie I get to retire to the studio. So I got to put in a few hours before the E-Group ( a group of church couples ) came over for a few hours that evening.

I must say it wasn't as scary as I had thought, I'm still a little intimidated by Morton people (must be the hood rat in me) but I think every thing turned out all right. I must say that it is a pretty competitive group, as we found out during the gaming portion of the evening.

Two weeks until Des Moines still have some stuff to do so I'll be painting again tonight!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Finally a sunny day!!

Today the clouds have separated and the sun is really above them, this seemed hard to believe as late as last night. The trees are a beautiful fall color and I am busy cleaning my studio and trying to prepare for the Mortonites invasion tomorrow.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Next up was Champaign!

After Sugar Creek there is a large gulf that there are no real good shows to do, it could be that it is late July and early August and it is usually hotter than blue blazes outside. Not so much this year, so I sort of hung out with my girlfriend and finished up some things for the two shows that I do in August Champaign and Lincoln.

I have been actively going over my current list of shows and have found some to fill the voids in the current line-up. It would be nice to get a major show every two weeks or so during the summer. So far I have penciled in some that I'm going to apply to as early as May. Wish me luck in the coming year. From East Lansing, MI to Belleville, IL and everywhere in between.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The power went off so what do you do..



Today around 10:30 the power just snapped off at work. This is a real problem in an old warehouse as ever on a good day it is like working in an underground cave. We can't hear or see the weather - the large mass of concrete that surrounds us make temperature swings almost unnoticeable - until we walk outside. So when the lights go off we are plunged into total darkness.



My answer was to stumble to my desk and sit back with my feet up and try to take a nap. This was somewhat difficult as people kept stumbling by , but if I was quiet they didn't even know I was there. About 11:15 the power came back on and then it was back to work. I don't think I ever really was asleep though, but my foot did as it was crossed funny on my desk.
Sugar Creek and the time in between



Took a week off work to take care of my assistant as she was a little out of it the middle part of June. As The Woman recovered I had to mow the grass for the first time in years ( maybe since Kaleb was born). We did still manage to get one good weekend out of the summer the 4th of July weekend was sunny and warm and the pool was blue. Then it was back into the cloudy and cool stuff that so described this summer.
Sugar Creek is the weekend after the 4th of July and true to form the first day was cold and rainy. I did have the opportunity to have the reporter for the Bloomington Pantograph stuck in my booth for awhile. So it was no surprise to me when my photo and story were on the front page of the art section in that paper the next day. Like all the shows this year so far Sunday was the good weather good traffic day.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

We survived !

For the last few weekends we have had our oldest children back in town. The first weekend Charlie rolled in from Des Moines and turned our usual quiet life up a notch. She has a way of getting everyone going and always is a joy to have around.

Then Kristopher blew in for a week since he was in the states for some meetings. For those of you that don't know him he is also very funny and easy to be around but is also very much going to get things done his way. This seems to be at odds the most with his mother, they get along great but definitely have different views on numerous subjects.

So for the last three weekends we have sort of let the older kids have there time in the sun (while they are with us just enjoy them) and now this weekend we are having our e-group ( Elevate Group ) over at our house on Sunday evening.

This would not really be a concern if these people were not from Morton ( see any article ever written by Rick Baker ) There is nothing wrong with Morton and these are wonderful people from our new church ( Elevate) it is just that they vacuum their lawns in Morton - they don't even allow mice or insects there ( It is against city ordinance ) We are planning a game night as to keep them amused. This is a scary thing for a boy from the hood to have Morton people over!!
Where did I leave off.....



After Junction City I went to the Wells Street Show in old town Chicago. The show was terribly expensive to attend ( Booth fee 460.00 parking for weekend 60.00 - plus hotel and food for weekend - total expense of about 1000.00) It was a rainy, cold Saturday the wind blowing in off the lake. The show had advertised 80,000 people would attend , that morning I was having a hard time believing that would ever happen as I sat almost falling asleep in the corner of my booth. My world famous assistant had gone back to the van and was taking a much needed nap.

Around noon the sun finally came out and so did some people but as I was soon to find out the art crowd was not coming out until Sunday. It seems that the Wells Street show is really a huge street party and around 4:00 the crowd shifts to the party types - all coming in to grab some beer and offer their opinions on the art being exhibited until the 10:00 close time. Around 7:00 The Woman and I zipped the tent closed and called it a day.

The next day at least the morning art crowd came as the weather was much nicer. It was a learning experience and one that I not sure I will attend again. We packed up and left at about 6:00 that evening well before the 10:00 tear down time - it was the only time I have ever left a show early.

At least I got to knock around the city for the weekend with my beautiful assistant and that alone was worth the price of admission.
Des Moines is in three weeks





This has been a hectic summer with not near as many pool parties as in years past ( it has been the summer that wasn't - extremely cool and rainy) and with more major shows it seems that my whole summer has been a blur of preparing for one then another. The shows themselves have been rather bleak the sales have been down by a huge amount over last year. I really feel for allot of the artists at these shows that derive all their income from these outdoor shows. I am going to try to get back in the swing of blogging

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