Working the Shows Wednesday

I told y’all we went to the Patuxent River Appreciation Days event on Sunday and, while it was not a huge show - only about 35 artists and crafters, it did have some fantastic work available!!

As this event is definitely associated with life along the Maryland waterways, the dominant theme of the artwork is related to the sea. Dozens of crabs were featured (yes, pun was intended!), great blue herons which abound along our waterways, fish images, marshland critters and artwork reflecting the life of working watermen. I can’t say that I noted some unique new trend in artwork or predominant “new” colors or techniques. There was such an abundance of high quality work in so many mediums and techniques I can just stress that this was top-notch work all the way. These folks weren’t even made to compete with any buy/sell trinkets! I was so impressed by so many of the artists and fine craftsmen that it is hard to pinpoint just a few of interest.

One of the few mediums I have not worked with over the years (besides art class) is pottery. For this reason, I am often drawn to and fascinated by this work. The work of Sarah Houde drew me like a magnet, especially a large Raku jellyfish wall hanging. Much of her work is functional in nature, flounder shaped platters, large coffee mugs, and various shaped urns. The earthy tones with watery blue highlights of so much of her work struck me as not only beautiful but also soothing. See Sarah’s work for yourself here.



Then there were the realistic sculptures of Mary Ida Rolape‘s Creek Side Art. She learned woodcarving as a teen from an uncle and has worked at developing her talents ever since. She also does castings of her original carvings. Mary also began a wildlife habitat in 2002 and some proceeds from her art go toward developing and supporting that habitat. You can read more about the habitat and see her work here on her site.



About a third of the exhibitors were two-dimensional artists using various mediums Rose M. Beitzell of Studio R is one of those folks. Rose paints and draws, carves, wood burns, and more. What a talented lady!! Again, the marshland theme is predominant. Take a gander at her work here.
Finally, there was Tammy Vitale. Another multi-talented artist and crafter, Tammy creates some absolutely tantalizing jewelry but what attracts people most is her personality. This gal has it going on! When I come in from visiting a show, I always sit down and go over my notes. I take time to pull up a website or two and when I pulled up Tammy’s site, I fell in love with her blog. The 9/21/09 post was entitled 3 things to remember after the art show. I found myself smiling and nodding my head. Check it out here!! I’m sure you’ll be nodding along with us. (Oh, yeah, take time to check out her work, too.)

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One thing I do want to call your attention to -

Do your business cards really get your customers back to you? Are you sure?

Once again, I gathered a number of cards while walking the show. Late Sunday night, I sat down and attempted to pull up the various websites noted on the cards. A full 20% listed bad or totally inactive sites. In one case, I wasn’t just browsing, I wanted to make a purchase. (I couldn’t buy it at the show as the person I wanted to gift with it was with me.) It was frustrating to have to resort to e-mailing the crafter who, incidentally, had proudly announced that she had a website. This is Wednesday and I haven’t heard back from her , yet.

This is a problem I’ve found after visiting many a craft show this year. Please pick up your card and try it out. Be sure your customers can find you using it. Otherwise, why waste the paper the card is printed on?

Enjoying the Southern Maryland life...

So, today we headed to Southern Maryland to Solomon’s Island for Patuxent River Appreciation Days(or at least one of them).
It was a spectacularly beautiful day. The two hour drive went smoothly and we only missed one turn by a single block! (We’ve taken more than one round-about route to this destination in the past.)

Actually there was a second wrong turn but it actually turned out to be a shortcut. I should have been in one of the two left-turn lanes but found myself in the far right lane where I needed to exit unless I wanted to travel on across the river and have to make a u-turn and come back across the bridge. (Yep, been there, done that before.) Turns out the “wrong” turn dropped me within a block of the parking lot entrance with only one car ahead of me. Those who made the left, ended up merging into one lane and creeping for about a mile to the same driveway entrance. The sweet traffic policeman let us into the lot after only waiting for about 5 of those “left laners”! Saved us lots of time!
The first interesting sight we came across was this Colonial couple. Who knew our forefathers drove hybrids? I guess even then they were concerned about our natural resources!
This event is held on the property of the Calvert Marine Museum and includes maritime displays and hands-on exhibits by the museum, the Coast Guard, numerous state agencies that deal with the waterways and the marshland critters, etc. The museum is open and there is an actual, historic lighthouse (The Drum Point Lighthouse) that has been moved to this location for visitors to see up close and personal. There are a number of make-it take-it activities for children. About 30-35 artists and craftsmen display their work and a number of food vendors are present. There is live music throughout the festival and this year even featured wine tastings from a local winery. We arrived just as folks were starting to stake out their claims to seats along the parade route.
It has been a few years since we’ve been to this event. It has decreased in size, taking up a lot less acreage. There used to be about twice the number of craft booths and lots more food vendors. I also remember the food as being a bit more unique compared to other festivals. The food was somewhat limited today and definitely run-of-the-mill. (We only grabbed a nibble there and then picked up a pizza on the way home - definitely unusual for us.) We’ve always enjoyed watching some of the water contests and demos but they took place yesterday, replaced by the parade today.

The crafts were well juried, of excellent quality and originality. More on these in another post. Suffice it to say, it was the place to shop for anything featuring the Chesapeake blue crab, Great Blue Herons or any other local aquatic life.

One of the most popular activities was boat building. Little folk and Granddads, too, could make their own little wooden boats! There was a crowd at this work area!



In another tented area, kids (and a few adults) were given the opportunity to decorate pottery by painting terracotta flower pots with designs limited only by their own imaginations.
We left while the parade was still going on, scooting across the street just a block or so ahead of them before pedestrians were blocked from crossing. Our normal exit was blocked by the parade so we were forced to cross the bridge, make a u-turn and come back on the upper roadway. (As I stated earlier, we’ve been across that bridge before, but not intentionally!) That didn’t hurt our feelings in the least. The view from the bridge is spectacular. I simply pointed the camera out the open window and clicked repeatedly. It’s hard not to catch a beautiful scene there! The 1 1/2 mile long Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge crosses the lower portion of the Patuxent River and rises 135 feet in the air. It is both a beam bridge and an arch bridge.


On the way down there, we discussed the fact that we used to go to this event each year and wondered why we hadn’t been in a while. We spent two hours driving to the event, two hours coming home and only about an hour wandering the event. On the upside, admission was free, we only spent about $25 on food and beers for each of us and used about $10 in gas. I guess we may go back again - in 5 or 6 years.









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I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I ate something different at yesterday's Grilling Competition. The anything-on-a-stick category featured an entry of goat meat on a skewer! I liked the flavor but, unfortunately, it was overcooked to the point of toughness. (Another judge who was familiar with goat meat advised it is normally a tender meat with a pork-like texture. ) I also learned that goat is the most eaten red meat in the world!