This last Saturday was the Art Festival at the Taylor Brooke Winery (https://www.taylorbrookewinery.com/) in Woodstock, CT. Sadly, it was plagued with rain and cold weather that kept most of the folks away.
The day started off with me loading up everything (almost) into the flat bed trailer as it won’t all fit into our corolla. I then covered it all with a tarp and headed out in the rain. Half a mile down the road I was pulling off to add zip ties to the tarp to better keep it in place (the ratchet tie downs just weren’t enough.)
I get to the Winery and I have to admit that even in the rain it was a rather beautiful spot. A lot of beautiful scenery on the way there too!
I wasn’t sure what to expect as this was only my second outdoor show and the first with it raining and I was surprised to see quite a few folks already there and setting up. After figuring out where I would be I started the process of unloading all of my equipment. As I got the tent up it slowly dawned on me that the walls were no where to be found. Apparently I had set them aside the night before when I needed to add something to one of the bins and didn’t put it back on top where I would have remembered to bring it.
I only slightly panicked when I realized that my youngest had already headed into work and I would have to go back to the house to get the walls. A good 45 minutes wasted for the round trip (lots of little roads at slower speeds – especially with the rain.) I was slightly encouraged back at home as the rain had now stopped only to find that it didn’t stop back at the Winery.
So I get the walls up and start putting paintings in place as time comes closer to the start. I ignore my well laid out plans and only set up two of the three walls along with the table. Everything simply takes far more effort when you are wet and cold! I left the remaining paintings in the bin to let people browse through them as well.
We had a number of people come by, but the rain and cold resulted in people quickly walking by and heading into the winery for a glass of wine. I can’t say that I blame them, I wouldn’t want to be out in the rain. If not for the weather I think it would have been a fantastic show with the way things were set up. I talked to one of the organizers later on and they are already trying to work out plans to see what they can do to avoid the weather in the future (as much as possible anyway.)
Thankfully the tent kept me relatively dry and held up quite well in the rain. There wasn’t a lot of wind so that was a big plus for the day. My only panic from the wind was looking up and realizing my banner was no longer there. The magnets I used weren’t strong enough, but I managed to find the banner back behind the setup so no loss there. My only casualties were a roll of paper towels and a blank canvas that both ended up being blown into a big puddle of water.
By the end of the day I was able to fully open up the front of the canopy and enjoyed a drier and chilly afternoon!
Even with the weather I managed to make the best of it and still found the hours pass by amazingly quickly. While I didn’t sell anything, I got a lot of good feedback and was able to get to know some of the fellow vendors! Even better was the fact that I talked to two others about the upcoming Virtu Art Fest in Westerly, RI this weekend and they will both be there as well.
Packing up was relatively uneventful except for the momentary concern that I got the car stuck in the mud. It took me about 5 minutes to rock it out of position and thankfully I was able to avoid having to call someone to tow me out!
In the meantime, despite all of the drama and the exhaustion of Saturday, I still managed to make progress on a couple of paintings:
I’d love to have these ready for this weekend, but even if I finish them today it will take days before they will be dry enough to varnish.
One last project I’m working on is an experiment that I hope to have ready for this weekend’s show in Westerly, RI. My youngest, Finley, had the great idea to paint the back of the fishing vest I wear to the festivals (It’s light weight and full of pockets for everything you want to keep handy during the show.) Anyway, I’m attempting to use acrylics to paint a picture on the back and so far I’d have to say it’s turning out better than I expected!
I still don’t know if it will hold up, but I’m hoping being on my back it shouldn’t have much movement except when I lean back in a chair. I’ll probably add a varnish to it for a little better protection, but I’m trying to keep it as light as I can (it’s tough avoiding adding texture to it as I normally love to do.)
I’ve based it on one of my favorite paintings that I’ve done and will be sure to post pictures of me wearing it at the festival this weekend. If you are in the area, be sure to stop by and say hi! I’ll be in booth 100!
May 25th and 26th, 2024 (Saturday & Sunday)
28th Annual Virtu Art Festival
Westerly, RI
From the Ocean Chamber website:
The Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce is proud to host the
28th Annual ‘Virtu’ Outdoor Arts Festival
The event will take place in beautiful Wilcox Park in downtown Westerly, and will feature the fine selected works of professional artists and crafts persons. Virtu will be held rain or shine and admission is free.
10 AM – 5 PM – Saturday
10 AM – 4PM – Sunday
Wilcox Park – 44 Broad Street, Westerly, RI 02891
https://www.facebook.com/p/Virtu-Art-Festival-100057631742156
Discover more from JaNoBa Studios
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.