If it's Monday, it must be the Small Works Show Report!

Complete with
all the great
features
you've come
to expect:












Amazement!




Good times!




Overwhelming Fatigue!
(oops . . . that's the part only I have come to expect. Sorry.)


Yes, it's true -- I felt like a truck had hit me when I woke up this morning. It is ever thus. And my poor booth-hand has to get up and go to work just like we weren't still unloading the truck at 10 pm last night after setting up for two nights and then working the show for 3 days. I don't pay him enough.

He has an idea about how I could make it up to him, but it involves one of these:



Negotiations are ongoing. It might be easier to hire new help.


But the show was a good show, like they always are.



Anytime I get to emerge from the studio and parade my children around in their Sunday clothes while they perform their best tricks it's a proud day, isn't it?

I was talking to one of the other artists who commented that it was difficult for her to be around so many people, because almost all of her time is spent alone in her studio and she's really only used to talking to herself -- sounds a little too familiar.

If I'd known it was in my wallet (I found it later that day) I'd have handed her this:



The latest addition to my fortune-cookie-fortunes collection. As it turned out, it came in handy for me later in the afternoon when I was alone in the booth because the weather outside was delightful and the attendance at the show became frightful.

If I'd thought to bring a bowling ball, we could have had a swell game in the aisles. There were just about 10 art lovers . . . isn't that the right number of pins?

But because I always collect fortunes from others at the table as well as my own, I also found this:


And it was completely apropos as well, because people were just so darn nice I could hardly believe my ears!

In fact, there's not a lot of good material for
"Overheard at the Show" --

(if snarky material can be considered "good" which in this case I believe it can.)

Of course there were all the usuals:

Cute!
If only I had kids!
Can I order it with any initial I want?
If I win the lottery . . . blah blah blah

but I hardly even notice those anymore.

There was a near-miss for an "Overheard at the Show"
all time doozey. (sp? Please correct me if there is a proper spelling for this word. Small Works takes pride in things like correct spelling, grammar and punctuation).

There was a woman standing just outside the booth and staring for some time. I was standing nearby at the entrance to my booth as well. Finally she turned to me.

She said: "I can't believe you spend time doing this. Wouldn't you rather be making art?"


I was unsure of quite how to react, i.e. cry, slap her, laugh, call security, spit


I said: "This isn't art?"

She got a funny look on her face and we were both quiet for a moment. Then she became quite flustered. "No -- I mean doing THIS, spending time sitting at shows!"

Ha ha ha. We both had a good laugh and she said, "that would have been really mean" and I explained that it wasn't outside the realm of possibility because people say bizarre things all the time.

Really she was trying to give me a very nice compliment. And for some reason, this time there were plenty of those.

One woman pointed to my head and said, "There's a lot of inspiration in your cupboard." I quite liked that image. Could be a future piece there.

Another said, "You must laugh all the time you're working on these!" Not quite. Ask my family.

And there was, "Your studio must be such a fun place!" No. Mostly just really messy.

But my favorite was the woman who stood in my booth for quite awhile and didn't say anything to me at all. Then as she was leaving, she said, "I'm going to remember this for a long, long time."

That struck me as being simple and very sweet.

I did have at least two people try to convert me to using a sewing machine. One even explained that I could learn to sew on beads and buttons with the machine. The technique apparently involves taping the embellishment on first, then using a zig-zag stitch to attach it.

But just threading my needle and poking it in the fabric myself sounds much easier and a lot less like work to me. I don't think I'll ever make friends with a machine.

I'll just have to admire the amazing things the rest of you are able to turn out while I

stitch . . . . stitch . . . . stitch.

And it's hard to hear "The Price is Right" with the sewing machine making a racket, isn't it?

I did take a few pictures for you -- someone suggested one of each wall, so here's what my booth looked like:






If you click on the pics you can actually see the pieces!

We invested (finally!) in some new lights and were very pleased to see that it finally looked like amateur hour was over.

All in all, it was another good show.

There was just enough of this:


(although I hope I didn't look quite that wild-eyed
while handling credit cards)

and plenty of teasers for nice opportunities that may come knocking in the future.

A great big thank-you
to all who participated!

(Come back Wednesday for Part II of the show report, including a preview of "Upcoming Attractions" as we approach the spectacular
Small Works 100th Post Celebration Extravaganza!)