Salem, day 1

[offcntr]

First off, Jen's bells are fine. I was a little concerned during load in, because strings of bells and metal prayer flags make a lot of noise as they come out of the box and up on the walls. On actual selling days, they make the occasional ding and clonk as people handle them (or buy them), and a pleasant tinkling in the occasional breeze. Lovely, in fact.

The day starts with a parade, a high school pep band and a good hundred pre-schoolers, all in tie-dye, marching and dancing and, in one case, cartwheeling along the path. The bears and we are out watching, dancing and waving, and getting a lot of "Hi Bears!" waves in return. Afterwards, it's quiet, for a longish while.

People finally start coming through around 11:30, and we make some sales, mainly in the $20 range. Lots of people recognize us from the Silverton show, some from the Eugene Saturday Market, and one actually picked up our card at Ceramic Showcase in Portland. We meet the owners of the Off Center Cafe in Salem, whose establishment is decorated in chickens, and totally fail to sell them anything. (Though they promise to come back tomorrow after they've looked what space they have to display in.) I also have at least three visits from a woman who really likes the bunnies platter, but can't decide if the colors match her kitchen remodel, and though she's brought samples of the cabinets, curtains and floor, hasn't remembered the counter tiles.

Best moment of the day: a little boy, five or six years old, tows his mom into the booth to show her the hummingbird pasta bowl he's spotted. When she asks him his favorite animal, he devotes a good ten minutes to examining everything in the booth in his sight line before deciding he really likes the snowy owl batter bowl, and asks if she'll buy it. She says they have to ask Daddy, which probably means no, but I give her a card before they leave anyway. I love when kids like my work.

Next best moment: I ask two little girls with their dad what their favorite animal is, and they don't hear me, but the twenty-something fellow in the booth does, turns around and we have a nice conversation (he thinks bear, though wasn't sure). He wound up buying a fox mug.

Late in the day, I get a visit from a member of the jury that selected artists for the fair. Says he liked my work in the slides, but it really has a presence in person. Though he didn't vote me in--he's a painter, and so only reviewed oil and acrylics--he did wind up buying a coffee mug. With a bear.

To sum up:

Sales. Respectable, about $100 less than Friday in Edmonds or Roseburg.
Weather. Gorgeous, sunny but not too hot, though that may change tomorrow. Think we're gonna appreciate our shade tree.
Owl attacks. None so far.