Perfect

Before I sat down to write this post I kept thinking about the title. Perhaps it should be "Full Circle", or "121", or "Am I Ever Tired!", or "Weekend in Mount Dora." Any and all of those would be appropriate, however, I think the title sums it all up nicely.

As you know I worked for many days preparing for the show, all the while wondering if my efforts would be in vain. I'm happy to report they were not. Although silly me, I did forget to order one of my most popular canvases!

On Thursday, my only play day of last week, the groomer came while I was playing bridge to clean our little Baxter up, giving him a much improved look. She always puts a little holiday kerchief on him and this time was no exception. It's kind of funny how he matches the print somewhat.

The print visible in the twirly thing was the last print sold of the show, or at least nearly the last. Some of the activity tends to run together after 14 hours of selling!

You may recall late last year the wonderful woman named Nancy at the Mount Dora Center for the Arts who contacted me about the festival image. As you know I did not win that competition, however as it turns out, not without a fight from Nancy. I learned from some board members I met in the parking lot that she really fought for me, proclaiming that my story was enough to pick me. How nice is that? Furthermore, she was kind enough to respond to an email Friday morning about my booth number and set up time. The directions were somewhat confusing for a first timer so I thought I'd ask and she took time out of her busy day to answer, for which we were grateful.

Bruce worked from home on Friday, not only his Darden work, but putting wires on 10 baby canvases. As well, we redid the framed price sheet and bio, wanting everything to look top notch. I don't know if it helped, but it sure didn't hurt.

With Nancy's answer in mind, we decided to leave the house at 4 in the afternoon, hoping to make the 33 mile drive, arriving in Mount Dora with enough time to get a bite to eat before our 6:15 set up time. Unfortunately the traffic getting out of Orlando on a Friday night worked against our little two vehicle caravan, turning what should be about a 45 minute drive into well over an hour. Nonetheless, we did arrive, picked up our information packet and found just a little time to get something at this place:

By this time all the downtown streets were closed off to traffic and shortly thereafter Bruce got our vehicle, waiting in a long line to make his way to our spot. And what a spot it was--absolutely perfect in every way. Not only was it a corner space with great visibility, it was on the main street AND it did not face the sun. I have NEVER had a space so great. I have a feeling Nancy had something to do with my good fortune.

Then the fun began. Setting up is always hard, even more so in the half darkness. But set up we did and finally closed the tent up after 9PM. There were still lots of folks working as we made our way back to Orlando. I've called the post "Perfect", however, there is one tiny part that was not so much. Bruce has a favorite singer-songwriter, James McMurtry, the son of Larry McMurtry of Lonesome Dove fame, who was playing at a downtown club Friday night. We worked hard to make it so he could at least catch some of the gig but sadly it did not pan out. Despite driving as fast as we legally could, Bruce hopped off the interstate, made his way to Orange Avenue, only to be dissuaded by the lack of parking. By now it was after 10 and he was concerned that by the time he arrived the show would be over. With disappointment, he came on home. So, that wasn't great, but he promises he's not holding it against me!

Five years ago, six weeks after getting my camera, we strolled the Mount Dora Art Festival to get ideas for a booth set up. That day it rained. It was totally in the back of my mind all the while I prepared. During that visit I took this very same shot:

This time, however, it was just down the alleyway from my booth AND the excellent parking spot we had for the Element. Because this is the 37th year for the show, the folks in Mount Dora know what they are doing! They make everything as easy as possible and the town looks marvelous. The park just down the way from our booth was lit with thousands of lights at night, making for a sparkling spectacular.

Mount Dora relies a lot on tourists from near and far. There are lots of antique stores in the area as well as empty spaces downtown. Unlike the downtown empty stores in downtown Orlando, the folks in Mount Dora spruce theirs up, giving them an inviting, albeit somewhat surreal look after dark.

The festival is not only important to artists but equally so for the area merchants. There were folks from all over enjoying the art AND the PERFECT weather. Despite predictions ranging from 30-50% chance of rain, the weather could not have been better. Cool in the morning, warmer in the afternoon, with a smattering of clouds in the blue, blue sky. No humidity either. It can't be overstated how important a component the weather is to a show. Ah yes, you know that if you've been reading for very long. No real need to drag up the monsoon weekend now is there?

I left the house around 6:30 Saturday morning to finish setting things up. I'll tell you what--the new weatherproof sides Bruce bought are NOT easy to roll up, taking me nearly a half hour just for that. Most importantly though, if we do have a monsoon again, my pieces will stay dry.

Although the show did not open until 10, people began arriving much earlier. In fact, one family was there at 7:30 in the morning! My first sale came around 9:30. Baby, it was SHOWTIME! The sales kept coming, some big, some small. The people were terrific with no haggling whatsoever on Saturday for which I was very grateful. You know how much I hate it when people want to make a deal. Before that first sale I discovered that my watch battery was kaput. Bummer. But not so fast--it turns out there was a clock store just behind me. Knowing how much it would bug me all day, I popped in and had a new one in minutes. Perfect.

This shot of Fifth Avenue was taken in the early morning. Sadly it isn't very good, but it does give you a notion about the set up. Isn't that sign for a gun store weird in the midst of an art show? Unlike the artist sitting beside his booth on the right, my chair sat empty all day long with scads and scads of folks throughout the day. Early on I sold two of my largest canvases which obviously pleased me to no end. More followed, including a canvas of an image that sat dormant in my photo library for nearly three years. A few weeks ago I went back into my library to see exactly how many times it took me to get the decanter shot. Once, twice, twenty shots? I had no recall. (two). When I did so, I came across the original glass I was using to hold corks that prompted me to dump them in said decanter. Although I've sold the decanter about 50 times, I never once put out the glass. I'm glad I did because not only did it sell but I'm proud of it. Duh! This will lead me on a treasure hunt through my library looking for other overlooked gems.

Bruce showed up in the middle of the afternoon looking so handsome. What a pleasant surprise to turn around and find him there. After a brief tutorial on Square usage, he took over some of the transactions. It worked like a charm for most of the time, however, I know I'm not the only one using it, prompting an overload to the network. Taking it outside the tent, and--get this--holding it aloft, seemed to do the trick. People were amazed with the ease.

You know how when you go to a drug or discount store and you buy a bunch of things that don't cost very much, only to be surprised by the high total? That's about how things went. I sold loads and loads of $10 prints. But you know what? They add up over time.The upbeat economic news Friday was welcome, however, people are still watching their dollars as well they should. I am always glad to have the big sales, but small ones are good too. After all, we started this business with the notion of selling prints for small spaces and it still holds true to an extent. Most of the crazy things I shoot are better suited to small in my opinion; I think that's one reason I struggle so with choosing things to make large. In any case, we couldn't have been happier with how things turned out Saturday.

As I drove home I talked to Roger who wanted to know if I needed anything more. After some hemming and hawing, I decided on the glass one again, as well as Lazy Daisy which is the one I meant to show and forgot to order. Don't ask me how he got the canvases to dry, but dry they were when I picked them up from their front porch at 7:30 Sunday morning. Not as busy as Saturday, after all it was Super Bowl Sunday, crowds still came out in abundance, including two of my bridge buddies, Bev and Allison. What a lovely surprise for both them and me. I dare say they liked what they saw.

Sunday afternoon Bruce arrived with a hand cart, planning to tote things to the car after we took down. I wasn't thrilled with that idea, but because he's the project manager of our team, that's what we did. Actually I did very little toting, instead, stayed with the open vehicle. Thank God he is a strong man!

And that was that. We drove our little two car caravan home in the dark, arriving just after 7. He unloaded, I fixed dinner, we ate and watched a little football, including the highly entertaining Madonna halftime show, and finally, during the fourth quarter, gave into our fatigue. We went to bed oh so happy that the show went well.

You would think Bruce is perfect from my descriptions and he pretty much is. Make of it what you will, but he does like to be right. As we went to sleep he said, "I told you I was right when I said five years ago that you might be able to do something with your photographs." By golly, he seems to have been.

It's Hip to Go Square

Sunday, rain was in the forecast, as in a 60% chance in the afternoon, leading me to wonder how the sales would go. Wait--I'm always wondering--just more so when the weather is predicted to be iffy! The tent was all set up, including rain sides, when I arrived. From there I took over, hanging the pieces, albeit differently than Bruce normally does. I went with sort of a red theme, leaving the turquoise canvases in their box. As well, the take down was already on my mind because Steve and Barb's Christmas party was to be next on our agenda. Festivities were slated for 3:30-7:30 meaning we had to hustle getting out of the market and to their place in Lake Nona.

So, the day began with a blank slate and I mean that almost literally. I keep my sales in notebooks, which I know sounds old fashioned and all, but it's quite helpful for both ordering and as a history lesson. Using my last page of the old notebook, I bought this cute new one at Marshalls.

There it sat in all it's newness, however, not for long! Shortly after setting up a trio of lovely ladies arrived. As she was looking through the baskets, one of them was wild for "Aging Gracefully." Mentioning that I had a 20x30 canvas of it in a box, she said, "May I see it?" I'm no fool--"I'd love to show it to you." And so she bought it. Furthermore, she agreed to be photographed for this very space.

Apparently, the ring on her finger is also something new which her friends insisted I must include in the photo! I used the Square. It worked beautifully, requiring only a few swipes before it took. The thing is, you can swipe and swipe, each time it tells you to re-try. I never know what I'm doing right or wrong, but I will say, later in the day I was getting it to go on the second swipe. I'm here to tell you it is fantastic! Not only do I love it, but people are amazed with the speed and simplicity. I'm still having the customer type in their email address for the receipt as I've not completely mastered touch typing.

I am, on the other hand, getting the hang of my new iPhone 4S, using it to listen to music in the car. I was pretty amazed the other day while doing just that; Bruce called and when I touched the accept button our conversation took place using the car speaker! I'm successfully using the iMessage on occasion AND I used FaceTime with Matt. Pretty quick learner aren't I?

The canvas she bought has been wildly popular, something I can NEVER predict. Within minutes of taking the above I saw this scene and was sure it would be a winner.

Except it wasn't. I had one smallish canvas made of this and it took forever to sell until a man came along and bought it taking it to California. I learned my lesson. It does have what I consider one of my best titles: "Time Shares." Still, it doesn't sell. Oh well, there's plenty more to choose from. While looking at the St. Augustine album, I scanned some other albums from that time. I've never printed this one

however, I think it's pretty intriguing. I never really got the hang of the magnification filter I used on this. Maybe I'll pull them out, giving them another chance?

The Square came in handy a lot yesterday; in fact, it was the best day I've had in nine weeks. Early Christmas present it was. In all the years I've been using PayPal, I thought it was just fine. Sure, it extended each market day and I never knew if a card was good or not, but I dealt with it. Now however, I'm in LOVE with the Square. I can't tell you how good it feels to KNOW that a transaction has cleared at the point of sale. If only I had it back when that lady scammed me for $175. Plus, she took one of my favorite canvases. The meanie.

My last customer yesterday was a sweet young man who recently moved to Orlando. He's bought from me before (God bless those repeat customers), and he bought something again yesterday. This time he had his visiting Mother here. She was down from Saratoga Springs for his birthday. It was so sweet when he told his Mom that I was one of the first people he met in Orlando. Nice, nice folks.

Lisa surprised me with a visit, however, I barely had time to chat. After meeting Sean, my niece Emily's newish boyfriend and his daughter Emma, they all headed to the playground. I must have still been busy when they returned to listen to Joseph Martens, our fantastic entertainer. Early last week, my brother-in-law Danny had a heart catheterization and he's all clear. Very, very good news indeed.

Bruce arrived right around 4 and we took things down at a break-neck speed; within minutes of our arrival home it began to rain. Yeah for small favors! Driving to their home in the rain, we still had time to eat, drink and be merry with friends. Poured all the way home and into the night leaving our world very wet indeed. The skies are gloomy matching my feelings that Bruce will be gone for the week. I'll have no excuse not to have things looking spiffy upon his return Friday evening!

I sort of lived with this while Nancy was here, and in truth, I could use her presence again. Sitting down in the sun room just now I noticed my glass tables are lacking shine. Dust, perhaps?

Time to go unload a bit of my car from yesterday. Because we were in such a hurry, not to mention the rain, we left it as is. I must clear at least a bit of space for this week's shopping!

Happy Monday,
Gail

It Must Have Been the Hair

 I have very thick hair which I did nothing to deserve. My mom gave it to me many years ago. People often remark how lucky I am to still have thick hair at my age and I suppose they are right, however, thick hair is not necessarily all it's cracked up to be. Mine definitely has a mind of it's own as evidenced by how it behaved on Saturday. Badly.

I meant to get up earlier to wash my hair and fix it before Matt and I went to the Winter Garden market. 6:00 came and went and I was still snuggled with Bruce. 6:30 and I knew I was sunk. Although I did get it washed, the drying process was left to chance. Not a good idea Gail. Not at all. As such, by the time my hair was completely air-dried, some three hours later, it went every which way, none of which were good.

So, I told you we got the iPhone 4S on Wednesday afternoon. I say we, although it really was Matt; my role was merely handing over my debit card! My reason for finally caving was to use the latest device for taking credit cards called Square. Forgive the coloring on this photo--I took it this morning while it is still dark outside, merely to show you what it looks like.

Matt accompanied me to the market to not only see what it was like, but to assist me with the Square. We began the day with some practice rounds sliding his card. Fortunately they have a screen that allows you to do just that, with check marks given when you are successful. I'd heard from other vendors that it takes a bit to get proficient and that was certainly the case with my practice rounds! Sadly, however, Matt's services went unused as I had NO sales. Nada. We did, on the other hand, have a pleasant day visiting and enjoying the atmosphere and fantastic weather. Once we arrived home and I saw my hair in the mirror I was convinced that was my problem. Always good to find a place to lay blame!

The rest of Saturday was fairly uneventful except for the Florida State vs. Florida game. It was not pretty, in fact it was an ugly win, but we'll take it.

 Sunday Matt finally got an opportunity to sleep in a bit while Bruce set me up at the market. He and Bruce spent the day together, going to see The Muppets and having lunch at Tijuana Flats before joining me later. I was thrilled to report that I got to use the Square and did just fine on my own. It helped immensely that the couple were young and actually said they were thrilled to be my guinea pigs! Here they are looking at the email receipt that I can send:

Aren't they sweet looking? The receipt comes with my company name, picture and even a map where they purchased from me. Pretty cool huh?

Once again, the weather was spectacular--seriously perfect! Some wonderful repeat customers helped make the day.

 Lake Eola looking very nice indeed. And here's Matt enjoying the view from my booth chair:

Another quiet evening at home, this time watching the Food Network. Bruce and I both were hoping we weren't boring Matthew, who pretty much lives a jet setter type life at home, however, he kept assuring us he was just fine relaxing for the most part.

Monday morning, Matt's dearest friend Liza came over with Clara. It had been a year since last she visited our home and boy has she changed. Of course, you knew she would--that's what babies do! She's an adorable toddler now, full of curiosity. Amazingly she talks up a storm and is super smart and cute. We drove over to Cypress Grove Park for a little playtime, taking bubbles with us. 

Matt, the bubble master is giving Clara a chance to try it for herself. Swinging was another big hit. I even had a go at it myself!

Brains and beauty--a powerful combination. I came across this article which is So interesting! Heddy Lamar as inventor? Brains + Beauty= Amazing; I know a few folks like that.

Lunch and a quick trip to Big Lots and it was time for Matt to leave. By this time a cold front made it's way to Florida via some rain. Bruce was working at home so he did the driving and we sadly went to the airport.

Bruce insisted he take our picture together. I joked with him once I saw the pictures--a few of his favorite things all in one shot--his wife, his son and his CAR!

Handing the camera back to me, I took this shot, which although it is blurry, does just what a good photograph should do--makes you feel the moment...

There are few things that make me any happier than knowing that all of our sons LOVE their dad.

And that's all I have to say for today....
Gail