Recovery NOW!

What is exhausting, I've discovered, is standing in one place for hours during a show.  A week later, despite good shoes, despite sleeping with feet raised, and despite being off salt for years, my otherwise skinny ankles are still a bit puffy.

The Ann Arbor show ran 4 days, opening at 10 am each day; closing at 9 pm but for the last day, when it closed at 6 pm.  That's four 11-hour days (not counting partial setup and takedown each day.)  It also doesn't count the heat and humidity and the RAIN!  [Mercifully, when we had a deluge overnight, my neighbor had a sump pump.  He used it to bail out the backs of both of our booths.  Apparently, we were in the lowest part of the street, and the water rolled downhill right into our booths.  So glad I'd picked up the carpet!]

Nonetheless, it was a very successful show from many perspectives.  My work was validated and valued by my colleague artists, which is most gratifying.  Sales were better than they've been for at least the last 18 months (but then, again, so were the crowds, probably since it's a free show of very long standing).

And Ann Arbor is a GREAT town!  Stucci's ice cream (so fresh, such unusual flavors, so MELTED!).  The pilgrimage to Zingerman's  deli where they serve corned beef that is the next closest to New York City's that I've ever had. Wonderful dinners at great restaurants -- including two meals I received in boxes after John went to dinner with our midwest relatives who visited.  Clam pie from Mani Osteria was particularly remarkable --even tepid/cold!  And we met the most incredible, friendly and wonderful people, whether other artists or locals.

I must say, the shows really know how to make it comfortable (relatively, given that we're talking an outdoor 4-day show) for the artists.  Breakfast is available for us in the morning -- coffee, bagels, muffins and other goodies.  Staff bring around ice cold bottled water during the day without asking.  Booth sitting is readily available and the (ahem) facilities are very clean and tidy --and include sinks and recycling, too.

What you see to the right is the view I had from the BACK of my booth. It's the University of Michigan "Diag"(I assume, short for "diagonal.")  Out front, in addition to my wonderful "across the street" neighboring artists, is a stunning old church (barely visible in one of the pictures).  How much better could it get?!  Not much!

I do hope to return next year.....perhaps at a different place to lay my head.  The B&B was nice, but the large dogs, turn-of-the-century AC (and I mean 1800 to 1900!), shared bath, and the fact that I left before breakfast made it just OK. [That, plus the fact that being accepted late meant we wound up sharing a double bed.  We're small, but it was small for even us!!] But all of that is a year away......
In the meantime, I continue to rest my sore tootsies and stretch my seriously compressed spine, a problem that I can't afford at only 5' tall!

Hot, humid,rain at Ann Arbor show, but GREAT

Sitting in B&B early in the a.m.on Thursday. Been rained on a bit on the first day, but nothing could keep down the positive vibe...first piece out the door was my fossilized coral...you can see it on the website. It's coral colored and aone of the studiesmin assymetru. It's a one of a kind high end piece! Does this auger well? I sure hope so!

Today is slated for rain, rain, rain. Brought my Wellies. I do believe that outdoor shows are a bear, to say the least! BUT the traffic is amazing, the environment energizing, and the humidity close to 100%.

Heading out shortly! Wish me luck in the thunderstorms!

BEAUUUUUUUUTIFUL NEW PIX.....

My most fabulous and creative photographer (a rare combination for a man whose daily life is as a nuclear engineer!) has beautified some of my latest work into magnificent photos.  They're so new that I haven't put them up on the website yet!

When I get back from my travels to Ann Arbor, MI, for the 4-in-1 series of shows that run from next Wednesday through Saturday (with 11-hour days in the booth for the first 3 days!), I'll probably be putting a new area up on the website for items that are "hot off the beading table," such as these pretties.  Wait until you see my latest "under the sea" creation with an all-bead ammonite!  I haven't gotten a picture take of it yet; I only hope it doesn't sell before I do. [No, that's not true.  At its high-end price, I sure DO hope it sells and fast!!]

I'll be blogging from my perch on State Street (booth C04) in Ann Arbor.  That is, I'll be doing it IF the weather (yes, both heat and thunderstorms are in the forecast, gulp) and the crowd (yes, let there be a large crowd) permit, and my level of exhaustion doesn't catch up to me too quickly-- a big ask at my advancing age, LOL.  If you're in the area, stop by -- but you MUST bring me a cold drink if you do so.  I wilt very rapidly in warmth, particularly when combined with humidity.  [No pictures of the artist are allowed under such circumstances; the appearance is much like someone emerging after 15 minutes in a warm sauna!

Let's all keep fingers crossed that the weather holds, the crowds are legion, and we have a bang-up successful show.

Stay tuned.

Happy US Independence Day!

To everyone who reads this blog -- and to those who just scan it in passing -- I wish you a happy US Independence Day.

In the spirit of the Founding Fathers, I wish life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everyone, here and around the world.   In the US, may the coming months mark an end to the partisanship that has been clouding our democracy.  May we usher in a real, humane and inclusive health care system--the Affordable Care Act--that will finally show the world that the US is better than a public health backwater when it comes to caring for its own. And may the coming elections at the national, state and local levels yield a new degree of comity and collegiality instead of invective and innuendo between our political parties

On a more personal note, may the coming months be filled with creativity, love, family and health.  I'll continue to share my beading journey.  But for now,

 FIREWORKS!!!!!

We have a WINNER

And the winner is.................
    The Reef.  NOTHING else ran close....

Since the product is a bracelet, we MAY expand the name to "A Reef Around the Wrist"

Why did I want the BEST name possible?  I'm going to be submitting the bracelet for possible publication in a beading mag.  The better it sounds, I think the better my chances.  I've been published in scientific journals, in women's mags (ghostly wonder who I am), and in books.  I've even edited a few.  But NEVER before have I even tried to get my beading designs published.  So, fingers crossed and wish me luck.

AND COUNTLESS THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR SUGGESTING WONDERFUL NAMES!
We shall see if the winning name gets published as the moniker for this unusual bracelet!!!  Of course you all will be the first to know (well, at least right after my mother and husband are told!)

Oh, and another bracelet in the Under the Sea line -- my sea urchin bracelet -- is being put together as a kit for those of you with an interest in DIY.  Keep an eye out on my website and here on the blog!  I should have it up (with a few different kit colors) later this summer!!