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offcntrBack to Anacortes for their 56th annual Arts Festival, and things are unexpectedly ideal.
In previous years, we've set up in scorching heat, froze in the morning from chill drafts, or nearly had our booth blown away by onshore gales. This year, it's mild and calm, temperatures in the high 70s. Except for the smoky haze drifting down from forest fires in British Columbia, it'd be ideal. (And even that seems to have had its silver lining, shaving five or ten degrees off the predicted high temperature on Friday.)
First day sales were brisk--we sold our first pot 40 minutes before the show officially opened, the next one 20 minutes later--and ran overwhelmingly to octopus. Nine so far, square baker, pasta, pie, mugs, even the sugar bowl and french butter dish. (Still haven't sold the big platter or teapot, but I have hopes.) Running a distant second are hen and bunny pots, and I wish I'd brought more than two elephant banks, as they're both gone already.
This our first time staying at an AirBnB; I was very late looking for motel rooms, and even our usual place in Oak Harbor was charging extortionate rates. We're in a very nice house in Mt. Vernon, about 30 minutes out, sharing facilities with our host and another guest, in town doing genealogical research. Glad she's here, as I feel I'm being a poor guest. I don't like to socialize after shows--I've been talking all day, and just want to be quiet and decompress--which leaves Denise and Marcia, the other guest, the target of Dennis' volubility. Also, he'd really like to prepare us a fancy breakfast, show off his cooking skills, and I'm more of a cold cereal and berries guy. And we brought our own cereal. Sigh.
Had a bit of a surprise yesterday. Four years ago, when we first started getting into Anacortes again, our neighbor was an art photographer with a familiar name. Tracy Lebenson's uncle Keith was famous in ceramic circles for his handmade brushes, using such exotic fibers as wolf hair and such like. I drooled over them one at NCECA, but didn't have the money to buy one, particularly as I knew how hard I was on my brushes.
We had some nice talks that weekend, and I showed him one of my brushes--which he mistook for his uncle's--I was flattered. Apparently, selling photography wasn't working for him, because he's here this weekend as Lebenson Brushes. They look a lot like his uncle's; I haven't tried one yet for fear it would want to come home with me...
In previous years, we've set up in scorching heat, froze in the morning from chill drafts, or nearly had our booth blown away by onshore gales. This year, it's mild and calm, temperatures in the high 70s. Except for the smoky haze drifting down from forest fires in British Columbia, it'd be ideal. (And even that seems to have had its silver lining, shaving five or ten degrees off the predicted high temperature on Friday.)
First day sales were brisk--we sold our first pot 40 minutes before the show officially opened, the next one 20 minutes later--and ran overwhelmingly to octopus. Nine so far, square baker, pasta, pie, mugs, even the sugar bowl and french butter dish. (Still haven't sold the big platter or teapot, but I have hopes.) Running a distant second are hen and bunny pots, and I wish I'd brought more than two elephant banks, as they're both gone already.
This our first time staying at an AirBnB; I was very late looking for motel rooms, and even our usual place in Oak Harbor was charging extortionate rates. We're in a very nice house in Mt. Vernon, about 30 minutes out, sharing facilities with our host and another guest, in town doing genealogical research. Glad she's here, as I feel I'm being a poor guest. I don't like to socialize after shows--I've been talking all day, and just want to be quiet and decompress--which leaves Denise and Marcia, the other guest, the target of Dennis' volubility. Also, he'd really like to prepare us a fancy breakfast, show off his cooking skills, and I'm more of a cold cereal and berries guy. And we brought our own cereal. Sigh.
Had a bit of a surprise yesterday. Four years ago, when we first started getting into Anacortes again, our neighbor was an art photographer with a familiar name. Tracy Lebenson's uncle Keith was famous in ceramic circles for his handmade brushes, using such exotic fibers as wolf hair and such like. I drooled over them one at NCECA, but didn't have the money to buy one, particularly as I knew how hard I was on my brushes.
We had some nice talks that weekend, and I showed him one of my brushes--which he mistook for his uncle's--I was flattered. Apparently, selling photography wasn't working for him, because he's here this weekend as Lebenson Brushes. They look a lot like his uncle's; I haven't tried one yet for fear it would want to come home with me...