What does a potter do on his day off?

[offcntr]

Go to a art fair, of course!

The graduation party ended at 2-ish, so we went over to St. Paul to take in the St. Anthony Park Arts Festival, a one-day event to benefit the local library. Pretty much everyone was from the Twin Cities--I think the furthest away vendor was from Eau Claire--with lots of beginning potters, though a few really skilled ones as well. Also a couple of bookbinders for Denise to schmooze with, and a painter whose technique I admired greatly.

It's nice being on the other side of the booth, especially when I know I'm way too far away to ever consider doing the fair (I always feel a little like I'm playing hooky walking around at a show where I could be selling). It's interesting, watching how vendors interact--or don't. It could be a Minnesota thing, not greeting or acknowledging people in your booth, but it feels unprofessional to me. And the potter who was to busy talking to his neighbor to even nod in our direction after we looked at and picked up pots for five minutes? Amateur hour.

God, I've become an old, grumpy potter.

We're a little limited in what we can take home with us, but we did collect a few treasures. Prints from the painter, Kat Corrigan, and a charming little sculpture from Dan and Lee Ross.

And yes, we did take the bears with us. It's an art fair. We had to.