Sweet Summer
Last weekend was the Brown County Studio and Garden Tour. I suppose in hindsight from a marketing standpoint it would have been better to talk about the tour beforehand, rather than after, but I’m not always about marketing, and hey, I was busy! Eric and I planted, weeded, mulched, raked, painted, cleaned, and polished, and things looked reasonably good. We were in the midst of muggy humid weather with temps in the 90′s- not much we could do about that.
But people gamely got in their cars and drove the windy country roads to find us. Around 130 visitors came and admired the gardens, the art, the chickens and the kitties peering at them from many windows. Old friends and new, neighbors, fellow artists and aspiring artists, animal and nature lovers alike stopped by. There was a couple who was out celebrating the woman’s 60th birthday and they had Eric take their photo in front of our house. There was the man who brought his daughters hoping to spark their inner artists. There were young couples looking for art for their new home together, and old ones strolling around the garden arm in arm, sipping lemonade.
At times it was a busy, bustling place, with people chatting and laughing, other times it was quieter, giving Eric and me a moment to sit on the porch and catch our breaths. Â Though the numbers are down from last year, all in all it was a good tour and I enjoyed meeting all the different people. Â Afterwards I felt both tired and energized- my mind is full of new ideas to get started on.
Now the crowds are gone, the cats have their screened in porch back to themselves, and most of my art is packed back into tubs for the next art fair. The humid weather evaporated, and today is a truly gorgeous day. I puttered around the garden, picked a few yellow squash, a Lemon Boy tomato, and a cucumber, along with a couple onions. Being able to go out to my garden and pick my own produce gives me richest feeling in the world, never mind the toil it took to get to that point. I cut a big bunch of catnip to dry for the cats- they earned a treat too!
It’s time for my hands to get busy with the ideas my mind is turing around- new jewelry, mosaic trivets, a big painting of a winter scene (funny how I always want to paint snow when it’s hot outside). I’ve had many requests for rings that go with my jewelry, so I’ve been experimenting with wire wrapping, using semi-precious stones, or interesting beads or even buttons. And I have new ideas for felted purses I want to try, and soft warm scarves that will be delicious come December… Oh, if I only had an extra pair of hands! Sure, I’d look a little odd, but think of all the things I could do!
Add comment June 30th, 2010
