June Means Wonderful Art Shows

The first weekend in June belongs to Columbia, MO. The Columbia Art League (CAL) presents Art in the Park at Stephens Lake Park. We had to miss this show last year and we are so pleased that we were juried in this year. Diana Moxon is the CAL Director and she is an absolutely amazing bundle of energy who puts forth 200% effort to take care of "her" artists. She recruits a wonderful volunteer staff, generates tons of publicity for the show, enlists an abundance of community support, and dedicates her heart and soul to this show. Thank you, Diana, and CAL and Columbia for another great show!

The third weekend in June belongs to Town Center Plaza and the Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland for the Town Art Show in Leawood, KS. This show took 2009 off, but we are delighted that it is back this year and excited to once again be an accepted artist. In 2008, under threat of severe storms Sunday morning, the show director visited each booth and urged us to tear down before the storms hit. THAT is true concern for the artists! Mall occupants support and encourage the artists, the people of Leawood support the artists, and the Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland benefits.

The fourth weekend in June will find us at a new-to-us venue, Artfest Midwest "the Other Art Show" in Des Moines, IA. We did a holiday show in Des Moines a couple of years ago and we're excited to once again visit with the supportive people of Des Moines.

Hummingbird fact for today: A hummingbird's irisdescent colors are artifacts of the moment, changing with the relative positions of feather, viewer, and light source. This is especially true of the highly specialized metallic colors.

Online Shopping and Holiday Gifts

I saw a report on the news this week that more and more people are shopping online. For someone like me, this is a good thing. Think about the doors the internet has opened. If you're not close to one of the shows I'm doing, or if you are but can't get there, now you can view and/or purchase my functional garden art. Through the magic of the internet, I can learn of your order, package it, arrange online for it to be shipped, and you receive it - and we never meet. Wow. It truly is amazing. And speaking of that, I hope you will stop by my Etsy store. We have several nice pieces that would make terrific gifts for the people on your list :-)

The Metro Arts Two Rivers Expo in Des Moines was a fun show to do. There were fewer people attending than I had anticipated, but those who came out in the cold and spitting snow liked my items. The organizers were very good to the artists, too, and that always adds to the experience. We hope to do more shows in that area.

It's been a sad week here. Our yellow tabby cat, George, suddenly got sick. He failed to respond to any of the medications and just kept getting worse. We lost him on Thursday. George was more like a little dog - he'd follow us from room to room, sleep on the bed, jump up on the chair and talk to us. We rescued him from the animal shelter and we are very appreciative of the time we had with him. We miss the little guy. Our black cat, Ozzie, also feels the loss.

Hummingbird fact for today: It is not necessary for a hummingbird feeder to be red. A new feeder or a feeder in a new location can be accented with a red bow or red ribbons to attract the birds. Once they have located the feeder, the red can be removed as it is no longer necessary.