



Chesterton Art Fair was August 4th and 5th. The only bad thing I can say about it, was that it was HOT. Not their fault by any means. It was held in Dogwood Park which was a dream. We artists could drive up to our spots, unload as fast or slow as we wanted and could keep our vehicle with us until we were done. They had the best volunteers ever! Throughout the whole two day show they were there to booth sit, offer cold water and snacks, all the time, I never had to look for one. Pictured here is Barb, and she purchased my original 5 X 7 of “Flower Pot”. Thank you so much and enjoy.
The week before I start checking the weather to see what I might encounter. It originally said 76 for the high, that would have been heavenly! But not so, I think it topped out at a humid 92, with not a cloud in the sky nor a breeze for Saturday, Sunday was a little better with some breeze and clouds. I thank Ryobi for my two battery powered fans that last 8 hours on high. This lovely lady is Michelle, she purchased the 10 X 10 original of “That’s Life”. She is giving it as an anniversary gift to a relative with four children. Thank you for your purchase and may they love it for years to come.
This weekend on Saturday August 18th I will be at the Satek Winery in Fremont, Indiana. 6208 North Van Guilder Road. It is a sweet, small show with 30 artists. It is held under the trees and as of right now the forecast is sunny and 80 degrees. I am keeping my fingers crossed for that, perfect weather. Come on over, buy some art, buy some wine, have lunch with Shig in Pit. You won’t be disappointed.
I have opened up registration for my new Mixed Media Workshops. The first will be on Sunday October 21 1 pm to 5 pm, and the next is Friday October 26 6 pm to 10 pm. They will be 4 hours and together we will build a painting with different mediums starting with acrylic paint and then we will be using gel medium, wall paper, acrylic ink, oil paintsticks and the list goes on. It’s a laid back, low key, no pressure workshop. Don’t hesitate because you think you have no artistic talent, because none is needed. I will be hands on step by step guiding and the participants will come away with a 5 X 7 or 6 X 6 gallery wrapped completed canvas painting. Each workshop is limited to eleven artists. It would be a good time for friends to get together and do something different or if you just want to get away and come by yourself you will have a good time. I hope to have up to four workshops per month. I already have my first registrant, and I am very excited to meet new people and pass on the fun of mixed media. It is a very forgiving way to paint. We use household items to make texture and marks, like brushes, lids, bubble wrap along with your fingers.
This is a gem of a building, the Pennsy Depot with has been newly restored and was just put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. I have it reserved for our workshops and it is right beside the Decatur Police and fire departments. The address is 111 N. 7th Street, Decatur. The city also has many good restaurants to dine at before or after your workshop. When the time gets closer I will have all that information listed on my website.To register click on over to my website and at the top click on workshop or go into the Here’s My hART shop. Both dates are listed in the dropdown.
This weekend I will be going to a new art fair that I haven’t participated in before. Looking forward to it, and I don’t think it is going to be blazing hot like my last few.
Dogwood Park sounds like a delightful area to have a show at, and it may have a lot of trees. I don’t have my booth assignment yet but will post it on Facebook when I do.
This last weekend we had a family pool party at our house. It was nice to have everyone together and missed the few that were not able to make it. We had a pretty good turnout and some of the out of towners were able to make it. We grabbed the opportunity to have a family picture because it had been at least 5 years or more.
My last art show was a hometown show, so I didn’t have to travel. It was Art in the Park in Freiman Square in Fort Wayne. It was hot, I was under a large shade tree with good foot traffic. I also had my fans with me so I did not melt too bad. They asked if I was happy with my spot, so I should get it next year too.
These two are sisters and spent a lot of time in my booth, they were a delight. Donna and Michele, thank you for your time and I hope to see you again.
Back on May 20th I was in WYOMING Ohio for an art fair. This city is so charming and run their art show well. The artists that were juried in were amazing. An art competition is set up in a community center and I was in awe of all the submissions. We are on a tree lined street and this was the house that was behind my booth. This is what many of the houses are like in this city, so well taken care of. The Wyoming Art Fair is a one day show. I don’t usually like doing one day shows because it is a lot of work to put up and take down in one day. I do this one because my helper Margaret lives in the area. She helps put up, take down and I have a great place to stay. That day, it started getting warm and sticky and had to have everything in order by 10:00 so we were hustling, that is why there are no tent photos. I love talking with the people that stop by, for example since I have a hedgehog in the Awakened painting, a family was telling about their hedgehog that they have for a pet. They got it from a hedgehog rescue and have had it for two years! I had another woman come in and gave me the application to the Vinoklet Winery show. I thought it was interesting and am giving it a go. I would not have known about it otherwise.
PALMER PARK art fair was on June 2nd and 3rd. It is a fairly large park north of downtown Detroit. It has a pond and lots of green areas. In fact I looked up from putting the tent up and there was a small deer grazing, didn’t expect that! My husband Tom and son Kevin were attending the Belle Isle Grand Prix so I had their help and hotel roomies. I had the choice of Palmer Park or Winona Art Fair in Indiana for the same weekend. Since I had help I decided to go with Palmer Park. The patrons were sensational, but main problem was the surrounding area was pretty tough. We love Detroit, Tom and I come here often but those are areas that we shy away from. I liked it that the Detroit Mounted Police were just out my back door, that was a comforting presence. The artists that were my neighbors were great. One of them lived in Portland Oregon and was making her way across the country doing art fairs. Her family was from Detroit and she inherited the cottage so she was staying there. But I give her credit, she talked about camping in a tent sometimes and I was totally impressed. What a bold woman!
Since the flooding rain of St. James in Louisville last fall, I decided to always bring along a pair of boots. There was quite a rainstorm one day and I had to break them out from the walk to the booth, the parking lot had turned into a pond. They worked just like they should have. Next year I am going to try for Winona again.
The next two pictures I threw in because I liked them. They are decorations at the Wunderkammer Company in Fort Wayne. This was made out of styrofoam cups.
I don’t know if anyone made this, but the color’s good and bright.
Talbot Street was June 16th and 17th and I had been called off the waitlist for this one. I really wanted to do it and Indianapolis is always good to me. Unfortunately it was one of the hottest weekends so far. Heat index hot of 102 to 105. When I got home, my body didn’t cool down till Wednesday. This was the 63rd year for this show, so they have it pretty well down pat. Everybody has to set up half on the pavement and half on the grass. My helper Margaret was not able to get to the show until it opened Saturday so I set up on my own. I had tried to get a boy scout to help but no one sent a message back when I tried to contact. Disappointing because it was advertised that they would help for a donation to the troop. I thought that was a dandy idea but to no avail. My artist neighbors were very helpful, one was from Birmingham Alabama and the others were from North Carolina. They had a spot with a FABULOUS shade tree, I was a bit jealous!
People were out early to try to beat the heat, by noon the crowds thinned considerably and understandably. This is one of my returning customers, I was just so happy to see Stephanie. She chose one of my new paintings “Don’t be so Serious” to buy for her friend Regina’s birthday. This was her last stop, they were headed back to the air conditioning. The vendors who did the best were the frozen lemonade and artisan Popsicles. Weather is always a factor with the outside art fairs, and I could tell the customers wanted to look and buy but it was just so stinkin hot! By two o’clock each day people just looked like limp rags and they could in no way make a decision about art. I hope to be able to come back again next year, I would do it in a heart beat! I had a woman stop in and ask if I hung my work in any galleries and if I would consider it. She had started a foundation for people with autism and developmental disabilities. This is very near and dear to my heart! In this foundation is a gallery, called the Hope Gallery named after her daughter. The Hope Gallery will be run by individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities with assistance from respite workers, buddies, volunteers and job coaches. I believe it is located in Bargersville, IN, south of Indianapolis. The website is https://www.thealexandalifoundation.com/the-hope-gallery. It was a very interesting talk, they want happy, colorful and uplifting work. I will most likely do it.
ART in the SUN is located in Northville Michigan and was June 23rd and 24th. I love Northville, it is a clean and pretty town north of Detroit, close to Ann Arbor. They were good to me last year and I was so looking forward to going again. Last year it was downtown and had been for a while. Someone got a big idea to move it to a soccer field in a park near a beer tent and a stage. Oh and I tried to get help to set up from Boy Scouts again but that just didn’t work out. It so happened that these two sweeties were helping artists set up and they were a Godsend!!
It was a cooler weekend with a chance of rain for two days. Surprisingly the rain went around us, but not so in other areas. I think that kept people away then others simply did not know where the show was at. More customers came out on Sunday and by the time the show opened many booths had torn down and left. My Sunday was better but it was apparent that the promoters made a big mistake moving the show. Oh and beer tent patrons and art patrons are two different animals, they are there for socializing and not art buying we did not see too many venture into the art area of the 300 tickets sold.
This person was probably new to the art fair scene and these are her weights for her tent….12 pounds, not attached. I was worried that a big wind was going to pick her tent up and throw it into mine. I have about 50 pounds on each leg. Some artists even go higher.
The area, people are not milling around because there were none! Like I said it picked up though. The man in the lower right corner was amazing to watch….since I had some time. He was selling fudge to benefit homeless veterans. He would start fast talking people immediately and holding out a piece of paper so they had to come and get it, not to be rude for the veterans. I would see people opening their wallets all the time. If they didn’t buy fudge they were donating a few dollars. He also had his aging cat with him, so of course I petted Duke.
Sharon bought my little original “Love Your Neighbor”. She walked the whole show and then came back and purchased this sweet picture. One of my favorites!
On Saturday evening, after I got back to the hotel there was a rainbow coming from the clouds. Think is was telling me that all would be ok Sunday? On Monday the artists received an email saying that 2019 would be moved back to downtown. If we would give them a second chance we would be automatically in and have a half price booth. I am giving them another chance, they tried something new and it didn’t work. This show is good to me and I won’t give up on them.
2018 starts my third full year of art fairs. Toward the end of the previous year the art fair applications start opening up. My first I applied for was on September 29th. Going back through my pictures, I think about how I have evolved and how I keep learning with each and every show I do. This picture is from my first show in Roanoke Indiana in October of 2015. I had an inexpensive tent with a blue top, no weights, because I had no idea that I would need then. Thank goodness it was a beautiful day with no wind. We had purchased peg board and hinges to put together something to hang work on. It was so heavy! I brought along a table and had folding chairs and little lights and a rug. We had a pick up truck that I put all of this in and had my art covered in towels. See the pink price tags….I thought they would be easy to see. Amazingly I did make some sales and it was fun and something that I decided to do, but the one thing I decided was I was too old to be climbing in and out of the back of a pick up, something would have to change. This picture is good to remind me at how far I have come and also it makes me laugh at the timing of getting the butt shot of my neighbor.
The second attemp at an art show in Elkart, March 2016. I researched tents and decided on the Flourish Trimline with mesh walls. I made that cute banner, which I have hanging at my dining room window. The paintings are hung up very hodge podgy, they need to be in a gallery style. Very neat and very even. I painted my table in chalk paint and it turned out cute but it was a pain to move all the time. I also invested in directors chairs because they are so much more comfortable to have for very long days. They save your knees from getting up and down.
Here I am with my sister. We were so happy to have the tent up. When I got it, I read the directions and my husband and I put it up in the garage. We labeled the poles and I thought I was good to go. Got there the day before to set up and my brain could not remember how to set this tent up. We had to be out of the venue by 7:00 and it was not close. I slept horribly and then looked at youtube videos on how to set it up again. My sister said that she woke up to me staring at her saying ok….this is what we have to do. We got there, worked through it and put the last painting on the wall 15 minutes before the door opened. Advice…..set your tent up at least three times before you use it for a real show. It will save you sleep!
This is my art van that I ordered. It is a Ford Transit Connect. I love it and it is just the right size. I didn’t want anything larger, it has just two seats and the rest is cargo. It is low, so I don’t have to climb up and down.
After that show, we had a decent weather day in April so I practiced putting up the tent again. It helped, but it would just take practice and each show would get better.
My next show in May of 2016, Wyoming Ohio. Beautiful little town outside of Cincinnati. My helper bee is Margaret who lives just 15 minutes away. This was the first time that I used the full tent, sides, roof, back door so of course, it went better but was not smooth. If you notice my orange ratchets to attach the 40 pound weights on each corner. I was going for inexpensive and did not even think about the color. I used those for two years but this Christmas I received really nice black ones. Just learning where to position the weights, I put them inside now because it is easier for me to zip the tent up. Remembering to lift the tent before the bottom staybars get attached. Notice that the paintings are much more even and neat. I was learning! Just by going and looking at what others do is a great education.
Needing more hints and tips I found this book and it is great. Ideas that I used are putting together a tool box with rope, tools and first aid kit, zip ties, working with customers and her first shows, I could go on but it was a wealth of information. I highly recommend it. She published this in Feb. of 2007 and there is new technology etc. but as she points out this is just a guide, hands on is the best training.
Here we are at March of 2017, the same show that I had problems putting up the tent the first time. I probably have 10 or more shows under my belt by this time. I no longer use the rug and have added lights and a new table that is easier to transport because it folds. I keep trying different ways to display price tags and am currently using small strong magnets. My booth has improved greatly.
The last show of the 2017 season, St. James art fair in Louisville. It’s a three day event. Huge amount of people. Went down on thursday and and stayed over sunday night because I don’t want to take the chance of being to tired while driving. It is a large event for the area. Every artist has a different experience at each show. It depends on what their genre is, if they have been doing it awhile, what kind of following they have. This show is put on to benefit the neighborhood. I had been put on the waitlist and was called off of it to my delight. I really wanted to try this show and see what it was all about. Load in was not bad even though they were narrow streets. Were able to park near my spot and it was marked adequately. We had two hours to set up before we had to move the vehicle, which was enough time. What I did not like was that there was no room between the booths, we were right on top of each other. I feel that they just want to get as many artists in to collect the booth fees. All in all there were 750 artists and at times the lines going by your tent were so thick that customers had a hard time looking and stopping and jumping into your booth.
On Sunday the nonstop hurricane rain came through. This was my first experience for this kind of weather since doing fairs. I had downpours but not an all day rain. It was miserable, but we got through it and needless to say my day was a loss. It was raining so hard that the drains were backing up because some hadn’t moved their equipment. The rain of course, was no ones fault. I feel that there were too many artists, and it was not beneficial for us. I did get contacted recently that my street score (whoever did that) was high enough that I could get in without being juried. I don’t know if they don’t feel that they have had enough artists apply or what this is about. I decided to go in a different direction and find a smaller show during that time. But there were many firsts and I was glad to have the opportunity to experience it.
Three shows that I have applied to, for 2018 have juried and they have contacted the artists. In 2017 I was put on the waitlist for Broad Ripple in Indianapolis and then a short period later I was contacted that there was a spot. I really enjoyed doing this show. I felt that the customers were very much art enthusiasts, even when there was a thunderstorm customers were out there. Unfortunately I did not get in, not even the waitlist this year to my chagrin. Every year is different with a different jury. I will try again next year.
At a past show this summer I had a customer as if I had ever tried the Old Town Art Fair in Chicago. I had said that going to Chicago makes me nervous. He said that people are serious about their art in that area and it is a good show. I researched it and applied, I found many good reviews. I did not get selected for it. They give the scores of the three judges and it is a range from one to ten. I had a 1-4-8, so someone liked my work. I will give it a try again next year, because I feel it is worth pursuing.
Talbot Street Art Fair is in Indianapolis in June. I have always heard good feedback on it and wanted to try it. I had applied for the past two years and was not accepted, this year I made the waitlist and I am thrilled. It is in June so I feel there is a good chance that I will be able to get in. It will be on my schedule if I do on my home page. All in all, I have applied to 18 shows. I am trying some new ones and going back to others that I really liked. Music, alcohol and art shows I stay clear away from. It is too much work not to be the focus of attention. I did one and that was enough. I also decided not to go too far south in the summer time, way too hot! My sister almost passed out in Kentucky in May. So I am excited to see what the year brings. Trying to make as much art as possible to get my inventory up. Thanks for reading, I will keep you updated.
On October 6,7 and 8th I participated St. James Court art fair in Louisville. This is a huge (overwhelmingly so) art fair. In fact it has 700 artists. It is on three streets and also the side streets and then there are off shoots like in a church parking lot and such like that. It was in Old Louisville area with large houses like this one. It was behind my tent and for sale.
This house was exactly behind my tent and they made the most of the inconvenience of having their street blocked off for three days, they provided food and bathroom facilities for the artists. I felt very fortunate to be at this spot. This couple has been through many of these shows and just joined in.
The tents were only given a 10 X 10 space and there was no space between the tents whatsoever. Load in went pretty well because you had a time limit of two hours to unload and set up. For the most part we had a good portion of it done and did the rest the next day. Margaret, my helper for this show was fabulous!
All set up and ready to go.
This was before the show actually started and people were out taking walks. There were thousands of people walking the streets, so many that it was not just an easy walk to look in each booth.
We were very close to the airport and I was not able to get the lower planes. They were so close though that you could hear them throttling down and hear the landing gear come down. The first few times it was disconcerting.
Sunday was a bust. Hurricane Nate made his way up and kept dropping rain. When it rained harder, this is what my tent looked like. They finally found the blockage and it helped, but this was the most rain that I had experienced. Thankfully it let up by the time tear down came. I have to say it was a great experience, I saw my cousin, met some really nice people and Margaret and I had a good time. I won’t go back though, I feel that smaller shows are more beneficial to the artist.
A the Satek Winery show, I was asked if I ever did paintings with sunflowers. Since it was almost fall I thought that it would be a perfect time to do one and I was looking for an idea for my next painting. I chose to start the background with cool colors.
I knew I wanted to do different sunflowers because variety is the spice of life. Here I was choosing the placement of them on the canvas.
This is one of the sunflowers that I depicted in the painting.
Another one, I love this puffy sunflower!
I used molding paste with acrylic paint with a skewer as the tool to get the texture. Note that the goldfinch has wallpaper wings.
Adding in the leaves, deciding how I would tone down the background. In the upper right corner is the sun and I eventually add a yellow circle in the middle for another layer.
I eventually decided not to do the usual leaves and stems but to add geometric shapes, to be fun and funky. Then a gentle all white butterfly.
The completed painting. This was really fun to do. I finished the painting on Thursday and it was purchased on Saturday by a lovely woman for her daughter.
This is my tent at Art at the Riverside in Leo Indiana, September 23rd. The painting is on the back wall and is showing quite nicely. That is a wonderful art show that is growing every year. This year I was told that 10 more artists were added. The only downside was the unusual heat wave, it was kinda crazy. Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year if you are in the area.
This past weekend I participated in the Arts and Apple Art Fair in Rochester Michigan north of Detroit. It is put on by Paint Creek Center for the Arts. This is Paint Creek and it was behind my booth.
It was held in the Municipal Park and my tent is the one with the rounded top on the curve of the sidewalk. I was in the area of trees and had to wear a jacket often.
I brought this painting along with me to work on in my room. I plan to have this it done for the Art at the Riverside show in Leo, IN on Sept. 23rd. I did this 3 day show solo and I missed my helpers, but it is always good to know that one can get the job done alone. I did have help from a neighboring artist to bring down my tent roof though.
Felicia from housekeeping left a note for me, that she liked my painting. I really appreciated that.
I am so happy to say that our kittens are growing nicely. They are the sweetest little creatures! We have forever homes for every one of them, makes my heart sing.
Beautiful sunset to end our day before we are supposed to get some rain. We do need some. Thinking of all the people who have been affected by the recent hurricanes, what an event!
My husband Tom and I are preparing to leave for Maine this weekend for some soul rejuvenation. I feel that nature does that, I also think that a painting is in the future with some wording like that. It has been a busy few months. I have done art shows in Indianapolis, Northville Michigan, La Grange Kentucky and Fort Wayne, IN. There is much preparation for shows and I always feel very stressed the week of the show and now we are going to have some well needed down time. I have found that no matter how much I sell at a show I always come away with more than that. I meet many people, who get introduced to my work. I get a lot of good feedback which means so much. My helpers are top notch and I enjoy spending time with them. It’s fun and hard work growing my art business. This painting is a print of my “In the Pines” and my sister Linda had it framed. It just looks so lovely.
This was taken on the Fourth of July from my back porch of the downtown Fort Wayne fireworks. I couldn’t see all of them but the tall ones were bright.
The video above, I took from my booth at Three Rivers Art Fair in Fort Wayne. Our booth was tucked behind the statue of Anthony Wayne on his horse, which drew a lot of folks to it but I feel that our placement didn’t draw the crowds like others. I have asked for a different spot next year. The kids loved climbing on it, many had their picture taken with it and the horse was anatomically correct with the 10-12 year old boys laughing and pointing at it. This cat painting was a hit and my sister Linda purchased it, she loved it so much. What a complement. I have prints though in my http://etsy.com/shop/heresmyhart etsy shop, and which a few purchased at the show. .
My customer that purchased the original In The Pines sent a picture showing where she put it. I was quite thrilled to get it!
Such fun it was to carve new stamps for my note cards! So connect to my facebook page and instagram because I will be posting pictures of our trip along the way. I’m so excited!!