The First State for a Great Show
This weekend (July 31 – Aug. 1) I will be exhibiting and selling my work with the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen in Wilmington, Delaware. Held at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, this is one of my favorite shows of the year! It’s a great location which draws patrons from all surrounding states.
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Kutztown Folk Festival – Day 7
Day 7 exhibited much more moderate and even comfortable temperatures. The rain missed the fairgrounds completely as well. I had several return customers who selected new pieces. One was a woman who had a very simple test for making her choice, the image had to make her happy.
Today’s first sale was of a print selected by a 6 year old boy with his mother. I’ve had a few other sales like this during the week and they always make me happy. What’s better than to introduce young kids to original works purchased directly from the maker. This new collector selected my image titled Wicked Wren, it is of a male Carolina Wren showing some attitude.
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Kutztown Folk Festival – Day 6
I think I’m getting used to the heat. Even 90 degrees feels cool to me now. Many more visitors to the festival today.
The first print I sold was a framed “Over the Rocks” an image of a male cardinal after an ice storm.
Over the Rocks
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Kutztown Folk Festival – Day 5
I’d say the fairgrounds were a good 2 degrees cooler than surrounding towns. Never quite hit 100 where I was (though my car told me the parking lot was 107!!!). Actually, several people purchased a print from me and had me keep it for them to pick up later in the day. They spent most of the day at the festival drinking, eating and enjoying some fine music and looked non-the-worse for wear at the end. Really enjoyed themselves. I also was asked by a young girl to critique her horse drawings which were quite good and to pet a small boys dog. All in all, not a bad day.
My first sale was of a print titled “The Gathering”. It’s an image I made at the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
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Kutztown Folk Festival – Day3
No really, day 3? I’m getting some ice cream after I finish this entry. We were checking today’s temps for the 100 degree mark like fans cheering a pitcher to hit 100 mph. No that’s not something normal people do. Visitors were gravitating toward my winter scenes today, hmmm.
Anyway, today’s first print sold was “The Gate”, framed to 16×20. This is an image I made during a spring visit to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. This particular garden is my favorite in the restoration area.
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Kutztown Folk Festival – Day 2
Kutztown Day 2 – July 4th: Another hot day, but tomorrow will be hotter still. A woman from Japan chose a couple prints to take back to Tokyo. Although her English was fine, she needed a bit of help with the money. She got the paper money right, but the sales tax was a bit of a challenge for her. She was not quite sure what our quarters looked like. Not surprising, our quarters have had so many designs over the last 10 years with all the state varieties. I believe this will be the first work that I’ll have in a private home in Japan.
Todays first print sold was of a young red fox fascinated by a fly not far over its head. Its title is “L’il Bugger”.
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Kutztown Folk Festival – Day 1
The crowd came early today and so did my first sale. I have several new pieces offered so it was good to get some feedback from folk as they came through and commented on my work. This is day 1 of 9 days during which I will be wearing suspenders. It won’t happen again until next year’s show. Work I sold included 3 pieces for 3 boy’s rooms and a birthday gift.
Today’s first print to sell was of a wolf, an image I made at Lakota Wolf Preserve in NJ. The image is titled “Eye Contact”.
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Dance of the Fireflies
I’ve always been enamored with fireflies, or lightning bugs if you prefer. These little beacons of summer have always held a childlike fascination for me. My memories of them as a kid and of time spent with my own kid, catching, releasing and just being bewildered by their glow and maneuvering, are among my favorite. In years past I’ve made efforts to create images of them with a camera to little success. As I’ve learned more and new tools have lent themselves more to exploring these little bugs (beetles really), I’ve begun again to try to make images that represent their almost mystical nature.
My most recent attempts were enlightening (sorry), but I have other approaches I want to try. The image below was one I made this week using a 30 second exposure. I think is has elements that convey some of the magic of the firefly. I have more work to do…..
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Last Prep before Kutztown Folk Festival
Heading into the home stretch before the 9-day marathon called the Kutztown Folk Festival. From Saturday July3-Sunday July 11 and from 9am-6pm each day, I will be in Building “A” talking with and selling my work to people from around the country. This is the half way mark for the calendar year, but really the beginning of the my biggest show period (July-November).
This is a fun show with lots to see, hear and taste. It is a sensory overload of experience and an institution of entertainment in this area. There is also a fine array of art and quality craft to choose from.
Hannah enjoying a lemon treat at Kutztown
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Red-Spotted Purple
One subject that I never seem to spend enough time with are butterflies. We have them of course here in Bucks County, but I don’t see them often. Even more rare is coming across one that is willing to model for me.
On this occasion I seemed to have a very willing subject and quite a beauty at that. It was very content seemingly, to just rest on the ground of a bridge I was working from. It is a Red-Spotted Purple butterfly, a not-uncommon variety that has magnificent color on both sides of its wings. In this posture below, it is the blues and purples that dominate, the undersides of its wings have the red spots.
I worked from above with a macro lens making sure I was as parallel to its wingspan as possible so that I would keep all of it in focus. the warm tones of the ground add tonal contrast and a textural contrast to the delicate scales of its wings. Composing to maximize symmetry both simplifies and balances the image.
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