I've always loved Waxhaw. The streets are lined with wonderful shops (many chock full of antiques), historic buildings & homes, charming restaurants and a railroad track that runs right through the middle of it all. As the banner attests, Waxhaw is a welcoming town. The sky behind the street lamp wasn't as hospitable. Rain was in the forecast for both days. Nonetheless, John & I set up our displays and hoped for the best.
John always brings Clayworks brochures to these sales in case passersby are interested in taking pottery classes. He posts them prominently on his table which - this weekend - fairly groaned under the weight of his many pieces. (That's weight as in numbers of pieces, not weight as in heavy pieces) John not only throws really well, he can throw pretty big. And he had a huge selection to choose from. My birds, on the other hand, are pretty small. I'm not sure they present so well because of their size. Display suggestions are welcome.
I take a select few parietal pieces with me, though perhaps I shouldn't since the style is so very different from the simplicity of the flock. I definitely need to work up a better method for displaying the cave art, including labeling that identifies each of the images. It hasn't been an issue yet as I have a small inventory of parietal pieces. But it's something I'm pondering. I'm not entirely sure it's a good idea to mix the birds with the beasts.
Being a vendor at a street festival is new to me. From our folding chairs, John & I were treated to so many colourful things to see, so many delicious scents to savour (we were close to the food vendors) and strains of music from the main stage. Particularly enjoyable was the people-watching. You don't see a Confederate soldier on the streets of Waxhaw everyday.
But you do at Springest following the first ever Battle Of Wilson's Store Reenactment. Held on the grounds of the Museum of the Waxhaws on Saturday, the original battle was held March 1, 1865 as Sherman marched from Columbia, SC to NC.
This "battle" took place just a few booths beyond us. It was colourful and it was l-o-u-d. I realized this Saturday just how "jumpy" I really am.
Along with people-watching, pooch-watching was an amusing way to pass the time. A woman in one of the booths across from ours sold colourful net tutus. I'd figured they were crafted for young girls. But it turned out she has a broader clientele.
We met a lot of nice people, visited with friends and family too. Thanks to Susan and Amy from Clayworks for dropping by on Saturday. And on Sunday, Sis & Mottie came up from Columbia to spend some time.
We braved a short shower on Saturday, which it turned was merely a practice drill for mid-afternoon on Sunday when the wind kicked up and the heavens opened, causing the event officials to close the festival two hours early. The rain didn't dampen John's enthusiasm for "blue" ice cream. (He was less than enthusiastic about the whimsical umbrella I loaned him to go get said "blue" ice cream.)
While we didn't bring home a boatload of greenbacks, we did cover the space rental plus some...made some valuable contacts for future work...and just generally had a good time. John took some incredibly fun pix which I'm sure will be on his blog. (A big thanks, John, for inviting me to share the space and for loading and unloading everything into your car!)
Another show is coming up at University Place in mid-June. At least four Clayworks artists - Elaine, Amy, Cindy and myself - will be there. More on that as the event draws closer.
