Kentucky Music Weekend 2014

Finally getting some much needed rest back in Chicago!  The Kentucky Music Weekend suffered somewhat this year but I had an awesome time none the less!  I got to meet some great people and certainly learned a lot!  I tried my best to keep facebook updated throughout the day Saturday, but a couple facebook posts really don't do the experience justice!

Friday was set up day, after getting in, visiting with some friends, selling some earrings, and of course a nap after the over night bus ride, we got to the park for check in and set up!  My amazing parents pretty much had everything ready to go when I got in.  My dad and I went to the park Friday night and set up our tent, which is pretty much the only thing we could leave out over night.  It was quite interesting trying to figure out the tent after it spent the last year in a box!

As you can see, we got it figured out!  There's my dad!  He wasn't too keen on getting his picture taken.

Saturday stared out amazing, we got there bright and early, got everything set up, met my neighbors and got started!  Ironically the first thing I sold was my father's dulcimer that I was using as a display for one of my necklaces. 

This year, I brought some of my paintings, drawings, and photos in addition to my jewelry, so we had to be a little more creative with the set up.  To keep with the theme of the weekend, my dad (who conveniently had all this stuff at home already) used music stands, mic stands, and instruments to display my work, on top of the jewelry displays he built last year.  

As the day progressed, the temperatures got well into the 90's, but we toughed it out and still had a great day.  I had a few memorable customers;  One woman who bought a necklace and earring set, who went on and on about the jewelry and how much she liked everything, she even stopped back by later in the day with her family!  A gentleman stopped by and asked about one of my new designs, I answered his questions, he thanked me and left, I wasn't sure what to think about it, until he returned wasting no time in pointing out the necklace he had asked about before and said simply that he wanted to buy it!  I like to think he went to all the jewelry booths, decided he liked my necklace the best, and came back to get it.  The most memorable customer of the day was definitely a woman who told me a story about her pink and peacock pearls she got in Florida, and a few years later her home was broken into and her pearls stolen.  She picked out a necklace and bracelet set, (pink and peacock pearls,) handed them to me with a smile and said "these will replace what I have lost."  She purchased them, and then returned later to get the matching earrings.  She reminded me of why I like doing this so much, simply to make people happy.  

I did have several family and friends also make purchases, and of course all my facebook friends showing their support with 'like's throughout the day.  These people are simply invaluable to me, the amazing show of support has been incredibly uplifting!

The day did have it's challenges, the wind was great in keeping the temperatures from feeling as hot as they were, but they also caused some serious issues for us!  The partition was blown over once, thankfully not doing any significant damage to person or merchandise, and one of the jewelry displays was blown over twice, and we almost lost one of my favorite necklaces!  After some intense re-staking and added weights we managed to get everything safely nailed to the ground.  With storms on the forecast for the evening, we took everything down for the evening and went home to recover.  My feet were so swollen from the heat that I couldn't put my sandals back on, and felt like a true Kentuckian walking back across the parking lot in my bare feet!

Sadly, the storms ended up being our downfall.  That evening, the weather got so severe the amphitheater lost power, there was damage to some areas of the park, and a few tents were damaged.  During the evening concert a storm hit and blew rain and debris onto the audience, they had to be pulled up onto the stage out of harms way!  Due to the evenings events, and the forecast of more storms on Sunday, the second day of the weekend was cancelled.  I'm sure it was a hard decision to make, and I believe we were all disappointed, but I had a great Saturday none the less!  I was able to take advantage of my unexpected free time, got my Etsy store up and running, and spent some time with my family.

All things considered, I will most definitely be coming back to the Kentucky Music Weekend again next year!  Despite the storms, I was reminded of why I am doing this.  Getting to hear all the great complements about my work, realizing that I am a pretty good artist, but more than that, I got to make some people happy!  I was able provide a woman with pearls to replace the ones she lost, able to alter pieces on the spot so some amazing ladies could have jewelry that fit them just right, and able to offer many people jewelry and art to bring beauty to their lives.   

 In the mean time, please take a look at my Etsy store, and send me your email if you wish to be put on my email list, where I will send out special announcements and offers!

Geese at the Beach

Have you ever been at the beach and seen Canada Geese?  Well, apparently that's a thing that happens here, but it did make for a great photo taking experience!  It was a beautiful day Friday and the beach was understandably crowded, I'm not really a fan of crowds so I found a little forgotten corner of the beach where the sand turns to rock and climbed up to get my camera set up.  This was my first real chance to use my mono pod!

Not long after I got there this little flock of Canada Geese swam up.  We got along!

This little seagull did not seem too pleased about the geese being there, they even ran him off a couple times, but he seems to have claimed this spot of beach for himself, and knew the geese wouldn't be staying for very long, just a stop on their migration.  They spent time cleaning themselves, eating, and swimming.  They knew I was there, they would look over at me every few minutes, but they never seemed to mind my presence.  It occurred to me that these birds are probably the largest wild animals I will see in the city.  Birds are fascinating, they have a freedom that we will never know, they can go anywhere, fly anywhere, and they are so incredibly beautiful while doing it.  I get to admire these animals , and maybe somehow imitate them.  I'm embarking on a new journey in life, maybe this is my chance to fly to freedom?  Since I have no idea how to be an entrepreneur so I've been reading books about it, they all talk about the freedom of working for yourself, despite the downsides of it, I want to be like these birds.  

I love the experience of being tucked away in a forgotten nook in the rocks, being the silent observer while life happens in front of me.  I get to capture quiet moments that happen when no one else is looking.  Photography is different from painting in that way.  Painting, is about creating an image from the world around you, communicating some idea or point.  Painting is deep in a different way, photos capture one moment in time, while painting is an expression of many moments rolled into one image.  I love what I do, in moments like these I am so happy with my decision to get an art degree, instead of choosing a more secure path.  Maybe at the very least, I will be able to grow old without the regret of never taking this chance.  

Well, back to the geese!  Something that is equally interesting and frustrating about photography, is that you can take a zillion pictures and think that a certain shot is "the shot" and then when you go back through the pictures, you find one you don't even remember taking, and inevitably, it's one of the best pictures in the roll.  For this outing, this is that picture:

I love the colors in the water, the fluidity of it.  On top of all of the beautiful, sinuous, undulating waves, is this one creature, just floating.  For whatever reason, I find this beautiful, peaceful, and wonderful.  There is something really special in capturing one singe moment.

The Rebel Entrepreneur...Me

Today was a first for me.  A kind of tough first.  Today, Jon and I went to the library, although I've been to the library many times, it was the first time I went and did not visit the adult fiction section.

Now that I have realized my dream of being an entrepreneur I'm trying to figure out how to go about chasing this dream of mine.  Simply figuring out that I wanted to do this with my life was a two year long process.  Since graduating collage with a BFA, I have been searching for a job, and been wholly unsuccessful.  There is a specific way I was taught how to be an artist.  Which involves writing press releases, somehow convincing galleries to show my work and then getting collectors to buy the work and giving the gallery 50% of your profit, all while continuing to create work around whatever job you have to do to pay your bills.  It all sounded so horrible to me.  But there is a really wonderful thing about our culture today, there are no rules when it comes to making a way for yourself in the world.  I don't have to be content with a 9-5 job, I don't have to write a business plan and get a loan, or open a storefront.  I don't have to go to business school to run a business.

To tell you the truth, I never thought I would choose this.  When I was in high school I had a class on economics, it was taught by this older man with white hair, a large belly, and coke bottle glasses.  It was always the goal of us students to get the teacher going on a rant about some unrelated topic so we would get out of doing any actual work.  Often he would tell us about the businesses he and his wife owned, on top of his part time teaching job.  He would tell us how many hours he worked, how hard it was to run these businesses.  It sounded awful.  Why would I not want to just get a job that came with benefits?  I was very disenchanted with entrepreneurship.  What I've realized in my research thus far, is that I don't have to do business the way my high school teacher did.  I can go about it in a way that works for me, and even if I have to work those long hours, I will be doing exactly what I want to do.  I choose this work and I enjoy it.  What more could I want from a career?

So as it turns out, the book I've been reading, called "The $100 Start Up", was put on hold by another library patron so, I had to return it.  I did however, find several books that look promising in helping to guide me through running my business.  One called "The Rebel Entrepreneur, Rewriting the Business Rulebook"  I'm particularly excited about!  That's how I'm really viewing myself, as a Rebel Entrepreneur, and I couldn't be more excited about this new chapter in my life!

Going for the Dream

Jim Carrey is one of my husbands favorite comedians, recently he spoke at a graduation and said this: "So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality.  What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect that we never dare to ask the universe for it.  I'm saying, I'm the proof that you can ask the universe for it... You can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance and do what you love."

I don't really believe in asking the universe, I believe in prayer, and God, and His sovereignty.  What I am learning in my life, or maybe what God is teaching me in this experience, is that maybe I'm not meant to work a day job.  I have always thought that I had to get a job, somehow, I needed to figure out what job I could do to support myself and my family.  I never thought I could live off my talents.  I'm not sure what in my life has taught me this.  I grew up with a mother who always told me that I could do what ever I wanted to do, as long as I could pay my bills of course!  My parents are so amazing!  I haven't really realized just how amazing until I became an adult.  So many people I went to school with, other artists, did not have the full support of their parents.  They had to fight to do what they loved, they had to justify the years and the money  spent learning and developing their craft.  I didn't.  I had parents who were fully supporting my decisions, they loved me, fed me, housed me, my mother worked at the school I attended so I could get my tuition covered.  While the University of Louisville has many more lucrative degrees to pursue, and my mothers job would only pay for one degree, my mother never once questioned my choice to major in fine arts.  Her only issue was with how late I stayed on campus working, but it wouldn't have mattered what I studied, she wanted me safe!   My parents have even bought and commissioned work from me, they are my greatest patrons.

My husband is another great supporter.  I came to Chicago with Jonathan to support him in his acting career.  I came to a place I never really wanted to go,  because I loved my husband, and I believe that God has a plan for him and I believe Gods plan for me was to come here with him.  Yet I haven't been able to figure out what God has here for me.  I've been trying to figure out what I want to do for the past 2 years.  I was recently asked what my dream job is, I had no answer.  I know that the artists who can live off their work are rare, so, have I been trying to find a job because my dream seems so impossible?

In short...yes.  I never thought I could run my own art business, so I've never dared to go after it.  I never dreamed that my dream could become a reality.  So I've been trying to find a different career.  A safe career.

Jonathan checked out a book from the library about starting a microbusiness.  I'm reading it, I didn't want to at first, but Jon insisted.  He told me that he always thought I could do this, he's always thought I had what it took to be an entrepreneur.  He quoted Jim Carrey to me, he said, "I know it sounds cheesy, but you can do what you love."

So here goes, I'm going to try.  I'm going to do this.  I am going to 'ask the universe' for my dream.  I've been trying to do this my own way for the past two years, I have no idea what God has in store for me, but I can no longer ignore the direction my life is going in.  God has a plan for me, and maybe this is it, so I'm going for it, and praying for God to guide me as I go.

It is my prayer and my hope that you will go on this journey with me.

The Newest Painting!

Seagulls 4

Finally after several weeks of struggling with this image, I finally have a new painting!

This is a 12inx14in oil painting on panel.  It will be available for purchase at the Ky Music weekend in 2 weeks along with several of my other works, photos, and of course, jewelry!

If you're interested in this piece, or any of my other pieces, you can either find me at the park, (I'll be there!) or get in touch with me by commenting on the blog or through : facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LaPetitePearls?ref=hl

Painting is a Dirty Job!

I've been watching a lot of the show "Dirty Jobs" (I think it's on Animal Planet, for a few hours during the day, not that this show is really about animals but its better at least than some of their other shows that have nothing whatsoever to do with animals...but that's not something I'll get into tonight!)  I've never really considered painting to be that dirty, it's practically spotless when put next to some of the stuff Mike Rowe has done!  Yet tonight while trying to finish a painting, I'm reminded of just how messy it can get.

I got up from my easel to wash my hands before getting something to eat (oil paint is toxic, not like kill you toxic, but its at least make you really sick toxic, the fumes alone will make you crazy if you breathe it enough over a long enough period) so I go into the bathroom, washed the big paint streak off my arm, then found this...

...Nice.  At least I didn't walk out in public!  I'm reminded of being in art school and for us in the painting suite, it was pretty much assumed that we all had paint on us all the time.  We just ignored it, there was no use in trying to keep ourselves clean.  But we did at least try to warn each other before we left the studios.  One day, I was sitting outside the building when a fellow painter come out with paint of her face, I told her, and she thanked me said that she thought we had gotten so used to seeing paint on our faces that we just stopped noticing!  

I think that's true...and I have no idea how I got this on my chin!

The Kentucky Music Weekend!

I am officially going to be a part of the Kentucky Music Weekend's Arts and Crafts at Iroquois!  (It's a good thing too, because I bought my non-refundable bus ticket for this like a month ago!)

For those of who have never heard of this, the Kentucky Music Weekend is a music festival at Iroquois Park in Louisville, Kentucky.  It's bluegrass and folk music, which despite how annoyed some former co-workers have gotten over it, is my favorite kind of music!  There are so many amazing musicians that the world is missing out on because they can't enjoy the twang of a banjo!  I love it!  My dad is a musician and songwriter, he plays a number of different instruments, primarily guitar but also the banjo, mandolin, 2 kinds of dulcimers, and piano, and probably some others that I'm forgetting.  I spent quite a bit of my time as a kid in my parents basement with my dad listening to him play and trying to copy him.  Of course, he taught me all the basics, I know how to read music and can play (not well) the guitar.  I guess folk and bluegrass remind me of home, but more than that, I truly love the sound!

Last July I went to my first arts and crafts fair at this festival, and I'm going back again!  In case you missed last year, here's what I did:

The displays, are all thanks to my awesome dad!  He made just about everything!  My mom, who is in a few of these pictures, pretty much hung out with me the whole weekend, going on food runs, keeping me company, and of course being a constant source of encouragement!  

This year, on July 26th and 27th I'll be doing it again, this time I'll be bringing some of my paintings, drawings and photos!  Oh yeah, and new business cards!  (You can come get one of these for free!)

For more information about the festival, check out their website: http://www.kentuckymusicweekend.com/

and of course come check out the awesome art and other crafts!  We will be located at Iroquois Park near the amphitheater!