OKC Year Six

It's the end of April, and that means that my studio is a mess, my back is out of whack, and I am recouping from a six-day show in Oklahoma City.  Unlike previous years, I didn't drive around the Monday after the show and take pictures of the town...I just wanted to get home to my Clover (and see the guy I live with, too).  I was invited to attend this year, unlike last year, when I drove down the day of set up without knowing if I was actually going to be in the show--waitlisted up to the last minute!  But it paid off and not only did I get the relief of planning my inventory knowing I'd show, I also get to show next year, too.  

So...here are some pictures of my little spot at booth 23A...

That's a lot of stuff.  I packed it in with both bodies of work.
(The clocks are what people wanted this year, as it turns out.)

My neighbor, roommate, mentor, and friend Laura Nugent.
She is normally not as wind-blown.
(Also, all  photos of me were taken by her.)

 Let's talk about the weather...just kidding.  I think these pictures say enough.

Sold all my heart clocks!  This was the last small one, and it was gone by Thursday.
There is a large cardiac center in OKC, which I forgot to take into account...

I took this while it was raining and water was jumping onto the clocks.
Here's proof that my clocks can take some weather.

Over half-way through the week.

What a business woman I am, unwinding from the day with a laptop and some pistachios!

A repeat customer came and almost cleaned me out of small hearts
 for his macabre dining room.
Repeaters are so wonderful!  He also scored the skeletons above.

I ate many, many, MANY sweets over the week.  The OKC Arts Council makes sure that the artists are full of calories in refined sugar and bleached flour form.  I had a few apples as well, but, you know...when in Oklahoma.

How Long Does it Take?

First thing's first--here's what those two pieces from last time turned into:

This one had the green base.  I added blue vinyl and pink paint,
sanded it to perfection, and here we are.
18" x 7ish" (it's not square, so one end is a bit bigger than the other)
"Blue Hills"

Here's the one with the blue base.  I liked the color and
vinyl combination without an additional layer or paint and sanding.
7" x 17.5"
"Spring Skies"

Now...it's Time time.

At the OKC Festival of the Arts, we are swarmed with school kids visiting the show who talk to artists, eat food, and remind me that being a teenager was the worst.  But lots of the kiddos have a list of questions (same every year--let's update that, teachers!) they're supposed to ask the participants in each category of the show.  I fall firmly into 2D Mixed Media, aka "What IS it?" (Trying to explain vinyl to anyone, young or old, isn't the most clear-cut exercise.)

Anyway, one of the questions is, "How long does it take to complete a project?"

Well...I began by saying something like, "It depends, but....(example of a particular piece and how long it took)..."  This means nothing to them, because they think an hour is a long time if they have to wait for their dad to finish his whatever before they can whatever.  An hour can be nothing when you've monetized it.  Like, LITERALLY NOTHING.  Or a  really long-ass time if you're trying to find your measuring tape.  WHY IS IT ALWAYS MISSING?

So I'm going to start saying 200 years for the new work on wood--which is probably not long enough because that tree had to grow large enough to get milled down, be used in construction of a house in 1900, hang there for a while, then be salvaged by me, who has spent 30+ years living an artful life and learning techniques to make that thing they see.  Not to mention the sanding, de-nailing, cutting, painting, thinking, applying vinyl, cutting vinyl, photographing, uploading, packing, and hanging involved.

For the clocks I don't really have a snarky thing to base my time on, because what does it take to smelt aluminum after it's mined (or whatever?) and turn oil into plastic into vinyl I salvaged?  Fifty million years or something?

I'm looking forward to it!

Tulsa and things

I had a show in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Mayfest!  It was my first time in that city, and I can say that the people there are just as nice as the people in OKC.  And to think I grew up around the jerks I did just three hours north of there!  (KIDDING!  Kansans are a swell group of folks!)

Due to the ridiculous weather in Oklahoma, I decided to rent a tent rather than bank on my flimsy EZUP to withstand whatever happened over the weekend, but I still had plenty to pack:

See also: my brain.

Love my new camper shell!  So much protection!

After set up I walked around a bit.  We were in the Deco District of Tulsa, which is a beautiful area.  The night was mild and I was able to find some ice cream (well, gelato, at Mod's), which is a very important part to getting to know a city.

 After a night's rest, we opened, and I had four days of Tulsa's best coming through to check out my clocks, 8 x 10s, and heart blocks.  

8 x 10s, including originals and new poppy reproductions

Astro Kitty!

State stickers are always a crowd pleaser.

There's always a bit of time on my hands when I'm at a show, and I decided to put those
hands to work.  I brought some scraps and blanks and did what I do.

Finished 5 x 5 made at the show, sold at the show! 

I try to avoid fair food, but this is a deep fried Oreo...I'm weak!

Awesome guy William Franklin, who owns Decopolis (5th and Boston) picked out several
clocks to have in his store!  I'm so thrilled to be represented by this great place!

Paul, an architect from Tulsa who is a fellow KU alum, was a wonderful advocate
for my work and was actuallythe matchmaker between myself and Decopolis.
 Always nice to find new friends at art shows!

After a wonderful weekend with nice weather and almost no rain, I walked around downtown on Monday a bit before heading home.  It was a little windy...

This is supposed to be straight up, but wind won this battle.
Image the bits of dirt hitting my skin as I walked around.  Tons of fun.

But luckily the buildings withstood what Mother Nature had to offer and I was rewarded with peeping some beautiful Art Deco architecture (and some other stuff thrown in, too).

View from my hotel room.

William's store and hangout place.  Go there if you can!

I just liked the fire escape here.

Saw this on my way to Braum's.  Adorable.

Upon returning home (and resting for a day), Elsie decided to try and help me unload the truck.
She was worthless.

So, Tulsa!  Thanks for everything!

Don't forget to check out Decopolis at 607 S Boston.

I have a couple weeks before a one day showing at a bike race in KC...many bike themed things to come!  I've been trying to stock up my Etsy store and work on inventory for the Des Moines show at the end of the month.  

Until next time...

Oklahoma City Gamble

Last week I spent six days outside, eating flying dirt from gusty winds, in the heart of Oklahoma City during the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts.  This was my fifth year in the show, and I feel very lucky to have participated even once, let alone five times in this massive, marathon of a festival.  I didn't know I was going to be in, though, until right before the show started...like, twelve hours before it started.

Alright, so, if you don't know, nearly all art shows are juried.  This means that an artist submits an application with images of their work, info about their process, and a small(ish) fee.  The organizers keep this fee regardless of acceptance into the show.  A person will be informed if they are in, waitlisted, or rejected.  For this show, I was put on the waitlist, as I was last year.  In 2013, however, I was called the Friday before the show began (so, three days before the show began) off the "limbo list" and asked to participate.  Luckily, I was plugging away all winter with the hopes that this would happen.  Some people are called months before the show, some right at the end.

This year, I wasn't called on Friday...or Saturday...or Sunday.  This made me very sad.  I decided to just pack my truck (because I have a new camper shell!) and go down to OKC the day of set up and wait for artists to drop out.  Normally, I am highly risk-averse and would never do this kind of thing.  But a fellow artist friend of mine encouraged me, as did my lovely husband, and I bit the bullet and drove five-and-a-half hours south on I-35.  I arrived at the festival grounds around 3:30, checked in with the volunteers who were coordinating to let them know I was there and ready to go, and had myself a margarita down the block.  As usual, Oklahoma weather is unpredictable, and as I was going back to the truck to plug the meter, a shower popped up.

Lovely view of Reno Ave. during a deluge

By this time I just knew I wasn't going to be in the show and had started thinking about what I'd do for the  next couple days as a tourist.  I had friends in the show and in town, so I knew I would have some fun if Plan B was my fate. 

After the shower stopped, I walked back to the festival to sit in the group of stand-bys.  That's when I got the call.  I was in!  I had mixed emotions at this point, and the margarita didn't help.  It was 7 p.m.  The show officially opened at 7: 30 a.m. the next day.  I threw my stuff up on the walls, tried to get my space in decent shape, and headed to my hotel (I was staying with my encouraging friend) by 10 p.m.

On with the show!

Bright and early Tuesday morning, I managed to get my clocks up and organized.

I had been working on new sizes for the season between small and large
 (let's call them medium, okay?) and seeing them all together the first time was pretty cool.

I also added some small art blocks of anatomical hearts made from
 wood, paint, paper, and vinyl.  I used this opportunity to
focus group this new line of work, and I was pleased with the way my audience
responded to them, and the fun things they said about them I never would have thought of.

My old (new) friend, The Devon Tower, keeping watch over the show.

Last minute large clock I made before heading down, this is 24" x 24".
Many people loved it, but no one adopted this one.  I'll make some
smaller versions for future shows.

 My neighbors, who endured wind and heat and sun and wind and dirt and wind:

Holly Sue Foss, serigraphy artist and one of the happiest women I've never met.

Darren Olson, photographer, ice cream enthusiast (like me!) and stand up guy.

Steve Palmer, glass artist with a great tolerance for my late-in-show salty language and
general good-time-haver.

Doesn't hurt that they're all from the Minneapolis area, either.  Nice folks!

That's me on Day 6 of the show.  You can see my superior engineering skills in
rigging a way to keep my work from flying off the wall during the extensive
wind happenings.  "Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain," FOR REALZ.

 I packed it all up on Sunday, got some delightful Braum's ice cream, and made it home to Kansas City by Monday at 4.  I'm still exhausted, but excited to make more work to replace what sold. 

This festival pulled me not only because it is generally a good business opportunity, but also because I have made real friends surrounding the event, including volunteers, artists, and buyers.  I had a great time and hopefully will get in again next year, just a little sooner!

I get to head back down to Oklahoma for Tulsa International Mayfest, May 15-18.  This is my first year in the show and first time ever in Tulsa, so it will be fun to see the difference a few miles makes between crowds.  

In the meantime, I'll be trying to fluff my Etsy shop and update my website, along with making work and doing all the things a normal human does.  I'm a lucky gal.