Edmonds Art Fair

This is how it all begins. We drive for hours. We check in to our motel. We drive to the location and with a little help given and taken (thank you Rick, Nancy, and Lewis!) we eventually get the booth set up. Then we repair to a nearby restaurant for food and libations. Here is our compadre viejo, Ricardo and the lovely Amy-from-Missoula telling road stories and comparing show experiences. Amy teaches the language of signing to deaf students and talks beautifully with her hands and heart. It is wonderful to watch and I wish I knew how to do it. I have written about Rick before. He is mi tesoro. See how he looks at me? That is how to win my heart.
This is Amy's very clever booth that allows you to sell in any kind of weather. It was raining when I took this picture and very cold and yet she was having a happy little party in her play house. If you are buying a booth be sure to get one like she has.

This is an overview of the Edmonds Art Fair with the ferries going back and forth in the distant waters. A most beautiful setting.

Oh, heart, here is the fabulous Diane Culhane in front of her magnificent paintings. I love the way she gives me little noogies on the head to show her affection; she is pure delight. I have marvelled over her paintings since the first day I saw them (at the Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair). No one paints anything like Diane. She paints the feeling of being in love. Her little universes swirl with energy and color. She paints little heavens.

And I got one!! The photo above shows the painting we traded for (thank you, Diane, I LOVE it!) and a box of salt caramel chocolates from my precious friends from Bellevue. Three generations of beautiful women came to visit me; I have known one of them since she was a babe in a stroller. Now she is newly in love and all grown up. What a joy to her family. What a pleasure it has been to follow this family over the years and to learn from each other as all of us grew older and changed. Yes.

And look! A catfish tatoo and I didn't even have to ask this lady to disrobe; she offered! Soft, beautiful and designed by the wearer. I lost the name of the tatoo artist; I'm so sorry.

Hey, all my crafty friends. Wouldn't you love to make a skirt like this out of old levis and lace? We could start by spot dyeing it, cut it, embellish it ... okay, I'm starting to think about class proposals all the time now. But I think making this skirt would be FUN.

These "shoes" were made by Kathlyn Leighton and were part of the indoor show associated with the art fair. Thought you'd enjoy seeing them.

And now for the dessert, this whimsical painting by one of the children that was hanging in the hallway of the school. Oh, I wish I had gotten the name but I shot many photos of the childrens' art and just picked this one at random to share. The little vase. The earrings. The do of the hair. Makes my toes curl under in delight. Children are our sages when it comes to art. I bow my head in humility before their inventiveness and wisdom.

I told one of the fairgoers that I felt like (curls fingers to make the quotes sign) "Judy Wise: Girl Reporter". She commented on following my blog and I tried to explain how important it is for me to share my life. That I always wanted to be a journalist or a writer and that now I feel like I am bringing news from the front to all of you who might be planning on selling at art fairs some day or just curious about what goes on. I don't need to write "that book" any more. This is my book and my gift to anyone who wants it.

And by the way, the fair was cold, wet, miserable, profitable, thrilling, joyful, tiring, energizing and long. I made new friends, appreciated old friends more deeply and got paid for doing what I would do whether I got paid or not. Several people took home big paintings that will pay my bills and help me help others. One really feels connected to all of humanity when one is in a precarious lifestyle as this one is. We share and go on. I live in the heart of a vast miracle.