Draft Horse Classic recap

Okay, well, let's just come right out and say it: this was a pretty bad year at the show.

By some strange miracle, I'd had a really GOOD show last year, so this year seems extra ouchie in comparison to that.  Frickin' economy.

Having gotten that out of the way, let me clarify that I absolutely love this show, so having a bad year doesn't change anything.  I'll be back, and I have a lot of really good ideas!  It's like I've stumbled into some serious art mojo all of a sudden.

I was up in Grass Valley from Wednesday through Sunday.  The booth looked particularly nice this year.  Since the number of exhibitors was down, we were able to spread out a bit, so what's normally a 10x10' cube got to stretch out to about a 10x13' booth, with open arms just waiting to embrace all those customers...  I know I can't count on that in future years, but it looks nice opened up a bit!

It was great to see my artist friends.  I miss the ones who couldn't make it.  It was great to see some of my friends who came to visit too!

I did well in the show.  "Gwen in the Late Fall" won an Honorable Mention in the pencil category, and "Tundra Elegance" got second place in the Miniatures category.

As always, thank goodness for note cards and chicken art!

So I've been away for a while now, I'm FINALLY heading back to Oak Run tomorrow.  I stayed in Wilton a little longer than planned, family stuff...  It sure seems strange that Gwen's not here, sigh...

I'm really pleased with how the birds look, probably the next time I'm down will be to pick them up!  Gotta get that new chicken coop done...

Okay, I'm supposed to be sorting through some old stuff here at Mom's house, I'd better go do that before I get hollered at again.  ;-)

so I went to Atlanta, and now I'm back...

What time zone am I in?  Where am I?  Requires a bit of thought lately.  ;-)  I left for Blade Show in Atlanta GA on Thursday of last week, and got back late last night.  Hmm, actually, it was technically this morning.

I don't do a lot of shows, nor do I particularly want to do a lot of shows.  A few a year is fine by me.  This was my third year at Blade (the biggest knife show in the western hemisphere, I think is what they say).  It's huge, seriously overwhelmingly huge.  And the question everyone asks after the show is "how did it go?"  Well, time will tell, we'll see who actually calls or emails.  :-)  I do find myself wondering if the exposure is worth the expense, and whether I actually *need* to go, but aside from that I know that it's good for me to spend some time around other engravers/scrimshanders.  Seeing friends is good, swapping stories is good, seeing others' work is inspiring.  I haven't committed to be there next year, but I probably will.  I think it all just seemed a little extra crazy and disconnected this year because of the timing, happening in the middle of moving.

After Blade Show I went to the Engrave-In in Monteagle, TN.  This is always lots of fun.  It rained a lot this year, which may have put a damper on people's travel plans, but I think I preferred it to the usual hot and humid weather!  I feel like a real fish out of water down there in the south, for a lot of reasons, but that one evening every year that I eat catfish and alligator for dinner and then sit and watch the fireflies... well that's rather special to me.  :-)  I know some darn good people, and enjoyed meeting a few new ones, and getting to know a few old ones better than I did before.  It's been a good week...

I deliberately did not take photos, I knew I wouldn't have time to go through them any time soon.

Flying makes me long to take a road trip.

So, I'm in Wilton for a couple of days, doing more packing and whatnot around here.  Actually, today I was totally dragging all day and didn't get much done.  I'll go back up to Oak Run in a few days and unpack and try to get settled in.  I need to be in one place for more than a few days...

Well, I think my eyeballs are still on eastern time zone, so I'm going to bed.

Reno recap

Since 2008 (six months after I started dabbling in scrimshaw), I have attended the yearly Firearms Engravers Guild of America show every January in Reno. I was finally able to exhibit for the first time this year. Glory be! The winds of change had started to blow in the guild the last year or so, and with some internal changes a-happenin' it was finally decided that scrimshaw could be exhibited. That was some supremely awesome news when I heard that last summer. So I had a table this year! How strange not to be a wandering nomad. How nice to be able to show my stuff. :-) A lot of long-time exhibitors stopped by the table and told me how happy they were that I was finally able to show there. That means a whole heck of a lot to me...

I know I've said it every year, but I'll say it again, I love that crowd. That's a lot of good people, and so much fun to be around. I had a great time, though it was a seriously stressful weekend because one of my good buddies had a medical emergency, so I spent 5+ hours of my Saturday night (and into Sunday morning!) in the ER... (he's okay now, whew!)

Business-wise, well... you could hear the crickets chirping sometimes at the show. It was less crowded than other years, I would have to say. There are a number of reasons for that, which is a long topic in itself and not something I have any need to blog about. Again though, the winds of change are blowing, the guild is undergoing some major changes, and I think this show is going to evolve considerably in the next few years. I have already signed up for my table for next year. It will be in Reno, the first weekend in February.

How about some pics?

Here's a view out the window of the bus in the Sierras on Thursday morning. Barely a sprinkling of snow out there, which is quite a contrast from other years. The drive was totally fine that day, and actually no chains were required on the way back either. So yes, I could have driven myself (I waffle about this every year) and I would have taken more "stuff" if I had driven (like my microscope) but considering I slept for half the bus trip, both ways, and it only costs $35/round trip, it's a pretty sweet deal. And there weren't more than about a dozen people on it, so it's pretty nice!

This isn't a great pic because the bus windows are reflecting, but those are some seriously strange clouds I was seeing as the bus approached Reno.

Here's the view out the window of the Nugget on the morning I arrived. It started to snow in the mountains not too long after this. And then there was a huge fire too...

The sunset on Friday, more snow in the mountains that day!

My table, which looks a lot like my table at Blade Show...

Snow! This was Monday late afternoon, taken through the bus window near Boomtown. I fell asleep shortly after crossing the state line, and woke up in Roseville. Yeah... I like the bus. :-)

And I know, just like every other year, you probably think I go to these things just to hang out with a bunch of guys all weekend (pics from last year here). ;-)

John Barraclough, me, Ray Phillips:

Tira Mitchell, Rod Cameron, me:

Tim Wells, me:

upcoming stuff

January 20-22, 2012: I will be exhibiting (yes, exhibiting! FINALLY! Not just a visitor!) at the Firearms Engravers Guild of America show in Reno, Nevada. It's at the Nugget. Hours are as follows:
Friday noon - 9pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm
It's $20/day admission, and I have a few guest passes if you have an inclination to come visit me. If you've ever been to a typical "gun show" this is NOTHING like it, these are finely engraved guns at their best... jaw-dropping incredible work that gets handled with white gloves. It's well worth seeing! And besides, how could you not want to come hang out with me for a while? :-)

January 28, 2012: For the first time in several years I'll be showing birds at the PPBA show in Stockton. Usually this show conflicts with FEGA but this year it doesn't. The show is open from 9am til 5pm at the fairgrounds. There will be probably about 3000 birds there.

the Art at the Classic show

So, as I said in a previous post, I was up in Grass Valley over the weekend at the Draft Horse Classic, showing my art in the "Art at the Classic" show. I don't remember when I first started going there as a visitor, I'm thinking probably when I was in junior high school. I started showing my art there in 1998, and first had a booth in 2002. It's my favorite show, I just love it! After missing the previous two years, I was soooo happy to be back.

I had one piece in the competition, a little scrim called "Waiting for the Boss." It got second place, woo hoo!

The booth turned out pretty nice, though it turned out a little more crowded than I had anticipated when I planned it out on paper. Oh well, it still worked. I don't have quite enough stuff to justify getting a 10x20 booth, but it's a little too much for a 10x10. If I could get a 10x15, that would probably be perfect, but that's not an option! Guess I'll have to have a sale and get rid of some things so I can spread it all out a little more next time! ;-)

Here's the booth:



I spent a fair amount of time sitting at the microscope working on scrimshaw, which is hard in that situation, and of course I didn't get all that much done because I spent a lot of time talking to people, explaining scrim, and selling things! I'm glad I brought that stuff though, people were really fascinated with the scrimshaw, and every person who I manage to educate even a little bit, well... it all helps.

To my extreme delight, this was actually the best show I've ever had. Yay! Maybe there's hope for the economy after all? And again, the chicken art is what brings the people in! Gotta update my website soon and put "sold" on a few originals!

Lots of people came to visit me at the show. Thank you to all of you, you know who you are, you're very special to me. :-) And one of the highlights for me was seeing some faces I hadn't seen for a LONG time. I had been thinking about how much I missed some of the artists who used to show there when I started out in 2002, back when I was a "newbie". Well several of those artists happened to visit the show this year, and it was sooo good to see them!

Here's me and Sheri Greves Neilson, who I hadn't seen for a zillion years. She first gave me the nickname "The Chicken Lady" at Draft Horse Classic way back when. That used to be the name of this blog too...


Here's me and Ruth Deoudes. She was my first booth-neighbor back in 2002 and we instantly struck up a friendship. She still shows there, and even though we only see each other once a year we're great friends!

So yeah, it was a great show, a great weekend. I had a good feeling about things... I was right. ;-)

setting up a booth

Sometimes people are very surprised by the amount of work that goes into setting up a booth at an art show.... all the pre-show prep and packing (not to mention storing all this stuff!), setup, working the booth during the show, tear-down, unpacking... Some people think that an artist can just show up and hang things on the wall. Ha ha, noooo. The booth is not provided. Nor are the lights or the furniture or anything. You get an empty part of the floor, electricity, and some shows will provide a table and chairs if you need them. Here's how it goes:

This is what you see when you arrive:

How did all that crap fit in the minivan anyway?

Setting up the panels:



Setting up the shelves:

And the lights:

I think better when I'm barefoot I guess. ;-)

Hanging the art:

Jan went with me to supervise:

Sometimes things don't work the way they're supposed to:

I can get a little stressed... ;-)

But in the end, even with having to make some changes, it all turns out just fine!

It took a whopping five hours to set up this time, I'm not sure why it was sooo long, maybe because things didn't fit quite as I had anticipated and I had to change some things.

Then I sit in the booth for a few days, and when the show is over I have to take it all down again and load it up. It took two hours to take the whole thing down last night. Needless to say, I slept in today!

shameless self-promotion! (Draft Horse Classic!)

I really can't remember if I've posted all this info already or not, so just to be on the safe side, I'll indulge in some shameless self-promotion.

I'm in an art show!

It's an awesome show!

You should come visit me! You'll get to see my art in person! And buy things that aren't offered on the website! And visit me!

Am I sounding shameless enough yet? ;-)


Okay, in all seriousness, I am exhibiting in the "Art at the Classic" show at the Draft Horse Classic next Thursday through Sunday. That's September 22nd through the 25th. It's at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, CA. This will be my eighth (non-consecutive, I missed the last two shows because I was out of state) year with a booth, and it's a great group of people with some mighty fine art!

Show hours are as follows:
Thursday Sept 22: noon - 5:30pm
Friday Sept 23: noon - 7pm
Saturday Sept 24: 9am - 7pm
Sunday Sept 25: 9am - 5pm

Admission to the fairgrounds and art show is free. Parking is $5. If you want to see the horse shows themselves you do have to buy tickets for those. You can find out a whole lot more info on their website!

art show planning!

Well, I won't have my "official" notice until next week, but I can tell you officially enough that I will have a booth at the Draft Horse Classic again this year, and I'm SOOOO happy about that! I had a booth for seven years, and then in 2009 I was in Kansas, and last year I was in Wyoming. I wouldn't trade either of those opportunities away, but I've REALLY missed DHC and it'll be good to be back. I don't have the art show schedule yet so I'll be posting all that info later, but the Draft Horse Classic is September 22-25 at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley, CA.

So... since in the last couple years I have only done scrimshaw-oriented stuff, I need to start getting my brain in gear for an art show so I don't forget anything. I know I have some things I need to order, and that'll include some new images for note cards. Yeah, I have note cards. I really only tend to sell them at shows, I don't deal with them on line. I used to like to "release" a few new images every year, and since it's been a few years, I may do 6 new cards this year. We'll see... I have been through a number of printing companies since I went into the art biz, and I have one I like now but I'm paying more for it and I think I'll end up having to raise card prices over-all because the new ones are going to cost more to print than what I used to spend on it.

I'd really like to be able to do something with scrimshaw other than have original work. That's so hard. It's not like you can make a print of it. Nothing compares with holding an original, so I've held off on putting images onto cards or postcards or anything. Any thoughts? I know someone who sells baseball-card size prints of engravings... maybe something like that? They are so SMALL though, I really don't want to have to enlarge an image a zillion percent for a good photo, that kind of defeats the novelty of how tiny the original work is!

I'd also like to be a little better set up for working/demonstrating something during the show this year. I always do work on something (a drawing), but it's difficult for people to see what I'm doing, and it's fairly uncomfortable to sit there on those tall chairs and work. I like to be up at customer-level though, I'll have to think about that. I'd love to demo scrimshaw, but then I'd need to bring the scope and a sturdy table. Oh there are just so many options!

Feel free to throw some ideas at me, I'm pretty scatterbrained right now but I don't have very long to get this all sorted out! :-)

I guess I needed a reminder

Years ago I swore off ever showing art at a "craft show" or an outdoor venue ever again. Years went past, and my resolve slipped a bit, and I decided to have a booth at the Corn Festival. It was local and easy and didn't require a whole lot of prep work. And I only brought the "cheap stuff" (prints, cards, and old work that is heavily marked down to absurd clearance prices). It was a nice festival, please don't think I'm dissing the festival or the people involved, and I'm grateful for the people who came to visit me there and helped pass the time, but I was reminded of the many many many reasons why I chose not to ever show work at craft fairs or outdoor venues. It's a bad fit for an "artist" being in a sea of aprons and pot-holders and insanely cheap garden art, nobody is there looking for fine art! And stuff gets dirty, damp, and things that are made out of paper (like my really nice sign!) warp and now have to be replaced.

So yeah, I hereby swear to never again show art at anything that is not an ART SHOW and that doesn't have four solid walls, temperature controls, a roof, and a floor that can be vacuumed!

Picky? Yes. Well, one-day partial-outdoor shows might be negotiable, but nothing that requires leaving anything overnight!!!

Anyway it's not bad to be picky. :-)

Jan and I hanging out at the booth:

Art at the Davis Ranch Corn Festival

Heads up! I'm showing a little art at the Davis Ranch Corn Festival in Sloughhouse this weekend! That's 9am til 4pm Saturday and Sunday at the Davis Ranch on Jackson Road, you know, the infamous sweet corn and Christmas tree place!

I will have lots of small things available; note cards, prints, little paintings, etc. Come on out and say hi! And get some corn! And buy some art! :-)

Here is their website!

Blade Show and the Engrave-In

For reference, the things I talk about in this post happen in the following places:


It really didn't seem like a year had passed since I was last at Blade Show. Time flies! The trip had a whole different flavor this year, since I flew instead of drove, since the Engrave-In was beforehand instead of afterwards, since I was on my own this time, and since I wasn't a first-timer this year. Could it be that I've gotten so used to travel and shows that they barely make me nervous anymore? Wow. :-)

The day I left, I awoke to a foggy morning. I went out to feed in jeans and a sweatshirt that morning. That will be the last cool weather I'll see for a while, I'm sure.



I flew out last Tuesday afternoon. Miraculously, I fit everything into one carry-on suitcase and a backpack. Of course I'd shipped a suitcase-sized box ahead with my display stuff, but all the original scrimshaw and all my clothing and multitude of shoes went with me. I'm still not sure how I managed that. I friend of mine told me that I packed lighter than any woman he's ever known. I'm flattered. Packing light is not my strong point....

I have mixed feelings about flying. I love to look the out the window. I do that in a car or a bus too, but flying gives a pretty cool view of how the terrain changes, and no matter how many times I see the tops of the clouds, it amazes me every time. But I hate the crowds and the hassle and the uncomfortable seats. I took Southwest on the way there and Delta on the way back and I have to say Southwest is way more comfortable. If it wasn't for the pain-in-the-butt factor of flying, I'd enjoy it more. A private jet would be nice. Especially if it includes some handsome feller on board to rub my feet after I wear stupid high heels all day. Mmm yes.

Leaving the Sacramento valley:


Somewhere between Sacramento and Phoenix:


Somewhere between Phoenix and Nashville::


I got into Nashville at the absurdly late hour of midnight. Why did I do that? Simple answer, the flight was WAY cheaper, and my sweet and wonderful friend Emily said she didn't mind picking me up. What would life be without wonderful friends?? I guess mine was the only flight getting in that late, the plane was half empty (a whole row of seats to myself! I tried to stretch out and sleep but that's impossible for a leggy person to do on an airplane no matter how many seats one has!) and the airport was utterly deserted. We took a bit of a, um, scenic detour on the way back to where Emily lives (her family hosts the Engrave-In) so we rolled into the driveway around 3am. Getting up a few hours later was a challenge.

But there's nothing like some cannon-shooting to liven up one's morning! Yup, a real cannon. You see (and eat) things in Tennessee that you don't find in California.


Here's Emily shooting the cannon:


What else happens at the Engrave-In? There are a few educational seminars, people show off their work, there's a lot of sitting around talking, I took a nap, people play music (these engraver people are very musical), and we eat a lot of extremely delicious food. On Wednesday night for dinner we were served shrimp, fried catfish, alligator (yeah I ate alligator!), hushpuppies, coleslaw, watermelon, and lots of dessert. OMG yum! And then I sat and watched fireflies over the pond. Fireflies! What a novelty! (We don't have those here). It's really an excuse for a social thing, that to me is what it's about. Last year it was after the Blade Show, but this year due to their family schedule it ended up beforehand. I much prefer it to be afterwards, I'd rather do my work first and then go party, but nevertheless I had a great time and am glad I was able to attend.

Emily brought her horse Rebel under the shade tarps to meet people (and eat watermelon!)


Sam, the orange cat, on the jeep. That cat gets into everything! He was just a kitten last year.


Emily and Forrest picking blue raspberries and mulberries. I gotta give props to Tennessee, it grows good berries. I've never had blueberries like the wild ones I ate last year, and our mulberry trees here and bland and boring compared to those!



After lunch on Thursday I hitched a ride with another engraver to Atlanta, which is about three hours away. I checked in at the show and checked in at the hotel and hit the hay as early as I could!

This was the view from my hotel room, the Cobb Galleria is where I would be set up for Blade Show for the next three days:


This is my table. You may recognize the arrangement from the way I had it set up at the Western Visions show in Wyoming last fall. I liked how that looked so I sewed a new tablecloth this year and set it up the same way. It was just me this year, I did not share a table. Now let me just say, because people often ask, yes it is hard doing all this alone. More than once I heard "I can't believe you're here by yourself!" Well... thanks? It's not like I have a choice. If the day ever comes when I get to share all this fun stuff with some else, that would be swell! Anyway... in the mean time I say again thank goodness I have the best friends on the planet. :-)



I said something on Facebook recently about how the world would be a better place if all the drivers who are too rude or stupid to move the #$%& over and not nearly run me over when I'm out walking Angus would vanish off the earth. I was told I need to carry some sort of sharp object. I found the perfect thing at Blade Show. It was a tad out of budget and therefore I did not buy it, but hello is that badass or what??? I really would need to wear the Xena outfit to get away with that though. I think I know a few guys who could make me one of these.


And the weekend flew past. I made some sales. I got some orders. I made some important connections with some very important people. I liked my table location better this year, I felt like I was more a part of the action, and having been there before it seemed like my work got more attention this year, more noticed. Heck I even got interviewed, which means I made an absolute nerd of myself and someone recorded it, oh dread! It was a good show! I nearly finished a drawing that I'd brought to work on (note to self, do this again! Drawing there is a very good thing to do!). I had a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. I could hardly believe how quickly it went by.

Before I knew it I was back on an airplane. Flying west in the evening is like watching the longest sunset you can imagine. It wasn't too colorful but every time I'd close my eyes for a bit and then look out the window, it was the same state of "almost darkness"... for hours. Seeing the sun glint pinkish gold off the TOPS of the clouds is something everyone should experience in life. That said, I preferred the cross-country drive last year. I couldn't have done it this year, it wasn't practical, but I'll do it again some year for sure. Even if I have to do it alone. ;-)




I came home to hot weather, eggs hatching, things to do, and life as usual...

And I may never catch up on blogging!