It didn't take me long to set up. I brought a table cloth that just fit perfectly, whipped it over the table, fussed with it for a bit, duct taped it down and laid everything on the table. Still Going Strong, my old ladies sculpture, took front and center position and I hung the purses from the canopy support bar over my head. Looking around, I decided I had the very best spot on the boardwalk! It was only a matter of minutes before two lovely ladies came and chatted with me for quite awhile, then purchased several items. They also took my card for a friend. Great!
In return for dog sitting, I asked the painter to watch my table while I went in search of a bathroom. It wasn't far and on my return I stopped to chat with a very sweet Pakistani lady who was selling lovely treats from her native land, in the middle of the terminal building. I ordered a lentil samosa, and while it was heating up she told me she was 70 years old (she sure didn't look that old!) and was taking the rest of the summer off after this event. The samosa was delicious! When I returned to my booth, and I'm calling it a booth now as I feel very special having the canopy, I'm the envy of the other sellers as they're in full sun. Some have brought large patio umbrellas. Good plan except the wind was picking up. They were beginning to spin at an alarming rate! Then it was calm again. The next few hours were much the same, with occasional gusts that forced me to rearrange my wares and tack some items to the table.
The first disaster of the day happened shortly after 1 pm. The young man across from me walked out from between his table and the pottery table. He tripped over the table leg and caused the pottery to go flying! Oh my goodness; what a tragedy! The casualties were the unique but obviously top heavy sign the potters had made, from pottery, with their shop name on it. Also in pieces were a piece that had been on a wrought iron stand. Such a shame. The look on the boy's face was heartbreaking too, as he clearly wanted to die. I was afraid he might cry, adding further shame to his already shattered inner being. His mother came to his emotional rescue and made things right with the pottery folks. I'm sure they were pissed though. For an artist, each piece is dear to the heart, and we constantly hope to find a home for them where they will have the respect they deserve.
Another drama soon ensued. Two of the sellers from inside, a young man in a red shirt and an older gent in khaki shorts approached the bicycle police in a frenzy. Red Shirt was using some pretty foul language and saying that Khaki had "laid his hands" on him. I heard the part where they were beside each other inside but didn't hear exactly what happened. A couple of the terminal security arrived. Could they not find bigger men? These two giants drew looks from sheer size! Red Shirt slunk off back to his table, leaving Khaki talking to the authorities. Red Shirt had been hanging out at my booth earlier (booth; notice the attitude I've developed over this prime real estate) and he was just plain weird. I was glad when he buggered off. Khaki and the Two Giants headed back inside to have a chat with Red Shirt. I saw them later in the day working in close proximity of each other and successfully ignoring their neighbor's existence, so I guess it all worked out. Khaki had the popcorn stand and Red Shirt was selling God knows what, looked like fridge magnets and key chains but I wasn't going close enough to investigate.
A great gust of wind came up, sending those aforementioned patio umbrellas airborne. The one shading the t-shirt folks landed on the pottery table, sending more precious pottery to the cement. It was hard to look. I really couldn't watch this. My heart broke for the t-shirt family. The potters only stayed for a little while longer, then packed up and left. So did the painters next to me. I stayed until 5:30 pm, then packed up as well. I was among the last to go and there really wasn't a lot of traffic on the boardwalk by then, as everyone was seated at the free concert or the beer garden. I didn't make any great amount of money, but a lot more than I came with, and the entry fee was so low it was really a great day. Lots of cards were given out to sincere people who were genuinely interested. Overall, I was fairly pleased and well attend this show again next year.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I hope you have a wonderful day. That goes to my mom too, who I know will be reading this. Love you Mom.
I'm still playing with the wet felting ... holding off on the handbag project because I just am not yet skilled enough and I really want to make it nice. I'm learning quite a bit about the art just from making these bangles. I've already learned that not all wools like each other and have had a couple of disasters. The black and red number shown fell apart on me early in the wetting process, so after fighting with it for a little while, it wouldn't go the way I wanted it to, so I discarded it.
I've learned that the hotter the water is, the better this works. I'm starting to develop a feel for the process, beginning to understand when to add water and when to add soap. I'm completely amazed by the process and how hard and smooth it becomes. I've been flaming the fuzzy hairs off the damp finished bracelets, before beading them because I love the look. The smell of burned wool disappears once they're dry. I can't find any instructions where this step is mentioned .... so it's not likely recommended. Remember, I don't have the luxury of an instructor. I'm trying to learn all this from internet resources. I can't afford to buy the books either. I've also been sharing this with my talented artist cousin, Deb, on the South Shore. She has made some very pretty unbeaded bangles and has also become obsessed with the process.
The ones shown in this pic have just been flamed and I took them outside to brush the burned bits off. Notice how smooth they look. The more I make, the more I realize I need to learn. This is especially true when something doesn't work out and I then have a need to find out why. So many questions ... so much to learn .. but it wouldn't interest me if there was no challenge.
I'm looking for a list or chart or something to tell me which types of wool work best for needle felting vs. wet felting vs. spinning. So far, I have found no such chart, but lots of info. It looks like I will have to make the list myself based on many different resources. Any helpful hints from my readers are gratefully appreciated.
There are volumes of things I want to know. Like all about wet felting with resists, and how to stick on pieces of prefelt and how to attach ropes for bag handles and the like. I now realize a beret with a resist was a silly thing to do for a beginner project and the fact I was able to save it with so little experience was a pure miracle. This is so much fun and at the same time so difficult. The learning curve will surely take years to master. I now understand so much more about the accomplished artists in this field, and have so much more respect for the time they invested to get to where they are.
