Chicago

I'm back from my travels for awhile, and dearly looking forward to resting and spending time in my garden. Chicago was disappointing as far as sales go, but was also one of the loveliest settings I've shown at. This art festival was an Amdur production, and Amy was there in person to make sure everything went smoothly. I was pleasantly shocked to see her in an orange traffic vest directing artists and cars to their assigned spots. She even came around to warn us of high winds for Saturday night so we could buckle down extra tight. This is a woman not afraid to get in there and make sure things are done right!

Before leaving the area, we stopped at the Chicago Botanic Garden - what a treat! 360 some acres of beautifully maintained garden, including a gem of a Japanese garden on its own little island. That alone was worth the trip...

I'll be back in Chicago soon for another of her shows, and hope to see a better return on my investment this time. If not, this sort of thing drives me to improve my work, find better shows, and re-evaluate my direction and how to get where I want to go.

See you on the road,

Jeni

from tornado winds to the windy city

Virginia Beach Boardwalk art show was a blast, if not an interesting collection of weather phenomenon. A tornado touch down near the show late Friday night tested the strength of every tent not to mention the nerves of each artist. This followed by sweltering heat in the 90's on Saturday, and then Sunday's high winds that culminated in a sand storm. Whew!

Smaller crowds and fewer sales surprised the veterans of this show, some who have been coming for over 30 years. Even so, I enjoyed myself completely, meeting new artists and patrons, jumping in the waves after show hours, and trying to body surf, too. I now have sand in places I didn't know were possible!

After restocking a bit, I'm off to Chicago to the Glencoe Festival of the Masters art show. Here's hoping for fewer tornadoes, cooler weather, and no sand in my teeth - am I asking for too much?

Artistically yours,

Jeni

Updates

Show season's in full swing, so my posts will be a bit spotty as I scramble to fill orders, create new pieces, and travel the countryside.

Legacy Village on Cleveland's east side (near Beachwood) went well - and I got to meet so many new people! A special hello goes out to Linda and Lea who both have surprises coming in the mail very soon! Now I'm running around creating, cleaning, and packing for the big Va Beach Boardwalk show. The weather there is warm and sunny, but thunderstorms are a threat every day of the show, and coming off the ocean, sometimes they're pretty freaking violent. Let's see if I come back in one piece or if I have some terrific stories to tell you!

Relax, get yourself a lovely umbrella drink, and enjoy summer...

~Jeni

Q news and art successes

It wasn't good news for our kitty. He has the aggressive kind of cancer that has probably spread throughout his body already, so there's nothing we can do for him. We decided to keep him comfortable as long as we can, but he probably won't make it through the summer. Evidently this kind of cancer can consume everything w/in 3 to 6 months. (sigh) I am glad that we get some time with him; and he's so happy! It feels like we were perfectly placed at the right time to get him from the cat rescue, give him a great home for 3 years, and love him to the very end. When he's gone and the time is right again, we'll give another cat a loving home.

On the art front, my oldest daughter won best of show for her category in a local art show, and my other two daughters placed in theirs! A good day for them, and tomorrow I go to the Ohio Designer Craftsmen exhibition for the artist's reception for a piece of mine that was selected to go on tour for the next year.

Our Q

So many things happen every day that I end up not sharing anything at all. Bad habit - maybe. I try to keep things focused on my work, but sometimes other events just fill up and overflow into every part of my life and end up on here. Today is one of those days.

My sweet kitty Q (named after the Star Trek troublemaker) who just turned 3 has had a rough week. We found him limping around the house Sunday, and figured one of the little critters he tried to hunt must have fought back and scored a few points. I couldn't find any wounds on his foot, so expected him to feel better the next day. On Monday I found a lump on his thigh, and figured it was the source of his limp, called the vet and explained that it was pretty large and hard. I thought it was swollen from a bite or bee sting. Today he had an emergency biopsy, 54 cc's of fluid removed, and a large tumor taken out.

It seems that 1 out of 10,000 cats will react to normal immunizations by growing cancer cells at the site of the injection. Dear, sweet Q was number 10,000. By Friday we'll know if it's the very fast growing aggressive type of cancer or not. If it is, there's nothing we can do. If he narrowly escapes this horrible end, then they'll try to remove his entire leg to save his life.

sweet rewards and encouragment

To pick up the thread hinted at the close of my last post, my hard work last year has really paid off. I'm not sure why I'm so surprised about meeting my goals and reaping the benefits of them - maybe because sometimes life doesn't always give back and play fair. I know that's happened to me before (lots of hard work and no return, or worse, negative return).

Focusing on a few design lines, getting professional photos, and creating a stylish booth were lofty but reachable goals in 2008. Because I stuck to it and did a good job of it, I'm now a happy recipient of too many show acceptances! I have the odd task of turning down shows that I wouldn't dream of missing last year. It's hard to do, too, considering all the application fees that my bank statement reminds of.

So far I've gotten 4 Chicago shows, one in Massachusettes, one in Virginia, two in the Columbus area, and two on the East side of Cleveland. Nearly every show I applied for was accepted! I've even had a piece accepted into "The Best of 2009" exhibition put on by the Ohio Designer Craftsmen. It'll travel for about a year around the state going to different locations until it comes back to me (unless the piece sells). There's a photo of it on my web site. That's a huge step from last year, and I want to encourage anyone else out there. If you're struggling to get somewhere, set your goal and then fill in the baby steps in between. The baby steps really make it do-able. I even put deadlines on each step so I didn't get behind.

Share your goals with people, too! Be crazy and let the whole world know what you're planning to do. Share it here on my blog or on your own - or if you're really nuts, post it on both! It'll hold your feet to the fire to have a little accountability, and when you final get that sweet prize at the end, we can all celebrate!

kisses,

~Jeni

Substance in absence

The last couple of months have been a time for me to take a thoughtful look at who I am and where I'm going. While I'm sorry for the absence on my blog (despite all those helpful New Year's resolutions to post more often), it's been a necessary time to really explore.

A lot of fun and exciting pieces have come out of this rumination vacation, as well as some unexpected changes on a bigger scale (for my life). And not everything culminated in answers; I have new questions and some areas seem even grayer than before. I don't mind that kind of tension though. It's better to ask the questions and not have answers than to make them up, or worse, not even ask the questions at all!

So for now I'll leave you with knowing that I have had a wonderful several weeks discovering what I really want to do and who I am as an artist and person.

Content and very happy,

~Jeni

P.S. My hard work over the last year has paid off; I've already been invited to 4 shows in Chicago this summer!