It's Fall Already - Where did my summer go?

The leaves here in lower Michigan are later than usual and have just started to pop. By next week I think we will be in a full blaze of glory.  It's like God has His own box of crayons and dailey adds new touches to the scenery.

With the weather being in the high 70's  the past few weeks, it just doesn't feel like fall.  That's fine with me cause warm is good, considering what is next to come on mother natures agenda - "WINTER", oh my!!!

However, winter provides me with time to plan new designs for the coming year, work on new techniques and plan out my summer show and teaching schedule.
I attended a few new shows this year and I had a great time and will add them to my 2017 line up.

BEFORE MAKEOVER

Summer 2016 was full of new adventures. Good changes, and not so good alike.  They made my summer season a challenge to say the least.

AFTER MAKEOVER 

I started the summer out with a new booth and a new look.  My old EZ up had been hammered by the wind one time to many the year prior and the cost of repairs outweighed the purchase of a new used tent. Those bright white walls and small banner just had to go!  So, it was time to make new table covers and make some changes.  It was time well spent and if I have to say so myself, the new booth below looks great and I love how it feels now. The new booth feels so spacious and I believe its the open domed top without all the cross beams like my old EZ up.  I just love the new tent and its getting easier each show to put up.                                                                              
The addition of a corner stand made a great change in the booth also and gave me more room to display my dichroic glass pendant designs. The sun hits them and they just glisten now.

Of coarse this new stand, also took up more space in my little HHR, but by gosh, I got it all in there.  I have one more item that I want to add to the wall on the right side, if I can figure out how to get in the car! No one tells you that once you start doing art shows you also need to be a master packer, a body builder to lug it in and out and a fashion designer to make it appealing.

Then in my spare time I make incredible jewelry to fill it up and walla, you have Magdalena Moon Jewelry Designs!



Along with the good comes the bad!  Two of the gallerys that carried my jewelry designs closed their doors this summer, it was unexpected and so sad to see both of these beautiful stores close.
D2E in Crown Point and Nido Bianco in Three Oaks were two fantastic stores,and their owners were both genius in the field of store merchandising.  I will miss them both so much!

D2E Artist Gallery Crown Point, IN

Looking back over the summer its hard to say which show is my favorite, but two shows come to mind right away, and they are the Chesterton Art Show and Oakwood Fine Art Show.  These two shows brought new friends and new experiences for sure.
I was hesitant to do the Chesterton Show since they were moving to a new location.  That is not always a good thing for a show, but in this case, it was a great move.  The new park is lovely and I really like the new location. I liked the new booth  layout, and as usual set up and take down was a breeze. Another plus was the addition of a food truck, this got a big thumbs up from us.  By the way, it wasn't just any ole' food truck, it was Reddamak's and the burgers were oh so good! I'm thankful that Kathy M. encouraged me over and over to come back and give the Chesterton Art Show another try, I'm glad I did!  I WILL be back next year.

The other show that really is at the top of my list is the Oakwood Fine Art Festival in Syracuse, IN .  It was the most memorable of all!
This one day event is held on the beautiful ground of the Oakwood Resort.  The setting could not be nicer.  The staff was increbile and helped in any way they could to make our experience great.  The photo on the left was the view out of the back of my booth. The lake and a mass of lily pads and a few swans every now and then, beautiful.  What a nice change from the concrete streets at other shows.
You would know that the rain came in buckets that day, wave afer wave.  That usually is the death of a show but these people waited in their cars till the rain slowed, just to support the artists that had come.

They came out in rain coats with their umbrellas and they didn't let the rain stop them from shopping and talking to the artists. It was such an enjoyable show but that wasn't the best part for me.  Mid-afternoon a group of about 8 ladies ascended on the booth, I thought they were all together, but I learned later they were not.  They asked how things were made, complimented me on my work and were just a joy to interact with. One of the ladies commented that she loved an angel neckace I'd made.  The women next to her then took the necklace, stand and all and handed it to me and said, "I'd like to buy this".  I first thought how rude, to take it from another customer!  Then I thought, no, they all came in at the same time, they must be friends.  

The women purchased the angel necklace and asked me to be sure to take off the price tag, which I do anyhow.  Then she turned to the other women and said, "here I want you to have this, you liked it so much".  The look on the other women's face was priceless as she said, WHY?  I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU!  The lady who purchase it just smiled and put the necklace around her neck and said, it was meant for you!   The other ladies in the booth stood awestruck at this act of generosity and kindess.  It was all I could do to keep from crying!  It was the highlight of my summer and renewed my faith that there are wonderful people out there.
I have one more show to do in November and then I will take a few weeks off before I start to work on new vintage designs for a new show I"ll be doing in Kalamazoo in February.  So stay tuned, come back often to see what's new and what I"m up to.

 HAPPY FALL EVERYONE