Thoughts on Art Fairs and Old Friends No Longer There

Sitting at   Briggsville Art in the Garden,
my  first time in 38 years -  north of Sturgeon Bay WI
Saturday September 21, 2013


THOUGHTS ON ART FAIRS
AND OLD FRIENDS NO LONGER THERE

It has been a while since I stuck my neck out to face the unknown in this way.  I  am an old Art in the Park  renegade, after trying this in 1975 while living in Fort Dodge, Iowa, I was discouraged with the results,  and instead spent the next 15 years as a co-chair for the event, behind the scenes gal, with the Fort Dodge Area Fine Art Council, I watched the art in the park event morph through several incarnations, from a free- for- all show for anyone (can you say clorox bottle piggy banks?), to a juried show that offered purchase awards and other enticements for the working artist.   I don't know if there is an art fair in Fort Dodge anymore.

Here in Door County, there are any number of public art events, and I have in the past participated in a few Door County Art League shows, but held back this year. and I usually have chosen not to participate in festivals, fairs and special public events, until this year when I was invited to be one of ten artists at a show at Briggsville Gardens. I sold something even before we opened to the public, and then  three more paintings found new homes as a result of this show. My first and only sales of the year.  I have renewed respect for those artists who do this for a living every weekend during the summer, the packing, the displays, the weather, the crowds, all variables in the day and the miles of driving, the promotions, the web sites, the marketing.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.

 I still call myself an artist, but I am not a pro, and I  admire those who can persevere through all things necessary to carry on.

 As a newly arrived senior citizen, I can now enjoy the meager earnings of my social security - that is helping pay for paint and other supplies, but the act of selling an art work, that is a rare moment for me, and it feels like the circle is complete,  saying a proper good bye to the work, it has a new home, I get some money, which helps me feel better about letting something go. Did I mention I hate to let go of my work, my scribbles, even old calendars, my archive of my daily life is  at times a burden, but then I look at a sketchbook or journal from a trip in 1993 and I re-live a moment in Scotland when I ate haggis,  or how the butterflies looked when they landed on the wet pavement...I look at a drawing I did in 2004 for an invitational exhibit, a drawing that I loved and no one bought, I am glad I still have that, even though its sitting in a closet right now. But what a great surprise to realize that I can still do an art fair, and enjoy it... thanks to Briggsville Gardens, and organizer Karen Lee DeNoto, it was a good day.

This has been a difficult year  all things considered, increasing mobility issues and now some vision concerns, plus some muses have passed to the other side, my friend Diane,  most especially, I will miss, and on a recent trip to Iowa and my home turf, I felt that gap that she left.  She was foremost in my mind when I decided to do the art fair this year.  She forged on with a plan for a huge solo show, and a smaller solo show at my art space last year, then passed away a few months later. I now think of this when I have a chance to do something, I think of her when I am making a decision . When I was visiting  in Jefferson last week for an all school reunion I stayed at a friends home, where Diane frequented. On the bathroom wall, this friend has encouraged her house guests to submit graffiti, and there on the wall was something Diane had written, 

"The reason for making art is  that there is no reason for making art"  that was Diane... and it made me smile. 

Diane Foster at Chez Cheryl Art Space in August of 2012, sitting with a few of her works