What a way to get around!
Last weekend, Karyn and I did the Guild show at Crocker Park in Westlake, Ohio. Friday night, we arrived under darkening skies, and waited about 45 minutes for a spot to load in. Just as we got the rig situated near our booth spot, it started to pour. Lighting and thunder all around. Nothing like putting up a metal tent in the middle of a thunderstorm. We did manage to get the canopy up and dried the interior by the hand before unloading the panels, the art and all the other show paraphernalia. We left hanging the art for Saturday morning. The two of us were completely soaked to the bone. Luckily, we weren’t far from the hotel, a warm meal and sleep.
Saturday, the weather turned out much nicer than the weathermen had forecast. By noon, the sun and the patrons were out in full force. Sales were moderate, but we did manage to send some nice images to new homes. Some friends that we met in Florida came by the booth, and bought some new work. Saturday night my cousin Troy and his wife and daughter came by, and we had dinner at a great little Lebanese spot in the area — Aladdin’s.
Sunday, the weather was even nicer, if you can believe it. Sales were slow in the morning, as most people were in church. After lunch, the crowds started to pick up, and Karyn made a couple of trips to the trailer to frame up some prints. She has her own transportation, which makes getting back and forth to the stockroom a little quicker when the parking lot is a ways away. The second time she came back, she was sporting a massive shiner!
Seems as if she got in a tussle with a roll of shrink wrap. We use rolls of 6″ stretch wrap to keep frame corners attached to the work when shipping, and the way Karyn tells it, the roll just up and smacked her in the eye. I know, I know, you think I did it. Not so. There are lots of other hazards in this business, who knew that shrink wrap could be so dangerous? At least the artwork was safe. No lightning injuries, no tent blowdowns, no tornadoes, no power outages. Just a black eye. A day in the life of the itinerant artist!!
So, just for those folks out there who are saying, yea, right it was a roll of saran wrap, you really can’t make that stuff up. Four days later and I’m still sporting a lovely shiner in the most beautiful shade of bluish-purpley-black. And, I’m staying away from the reynolds wrap…if I’m this good at clubbing myself with plastic wrap, there’s no telling what I could do with tin foil! 🙂