Lewiston-Auburn Mini Maker Faire

Noadi's Art will be participating in this year's Mini Maker Faire in Lewiston, Maine on September 28. I'll have a booth there selling my jewelry and artwork as well as discussing my creative process with anyone who is curious. The Faire runs 10am-4pm at the Bates Mill Atrium/Museum L-A (off Chestnut St).

PortCon Wrap Up

So PortCon has come and gone and it was fantastic! Hands down the best event I've ever participated in as a seller and the folks running the Artists' Alley were fantastic. How well did it go? I sold more in 3 days than I do in an average, non-holiday season, month. I count that as an overwhelming success and it was a lot of fun. I'm a huge geek so being around hundreds of fellow geeks and chatting about Cthulhu and Dr Who with people stopping by my table was fantastic. I'm definitely going to sign up for next year.

The down side? I was around hundreds of people for 3 days and people are walking germ factories. I've got a cold now.

Zombie Fun

Several years ago I worked on this crazy, fun, ultra-low budget zombie movie. Well after many delays it is finally being posted online in several parts. So here is Color of Cannibals - Episode 1. I'll be posting the other parts as they go up.


Color of Cannibals - Episode 1 from Collective Subconscious Producti on Vimeo.

Also, just a reminder that I'll be running a 1/2 off shipping special for Labor Day weekend at Noadi's Art on Etsy, September  4-7.

Norway Sidewalk Art Show Recap

Another week another art show. This is my last one for the near future so I can go back to focusing on making new jewelry and sculpture for a while. This show was a lot of fun here's how it went:
Scroll to the bottom or go here if you just want photos.

Friday night: I was maybe less than smart about this but the James Randi Educational Foundation was streaming the Amazing Meeting live and I had to watch it. I was up until about 2am watching George Hrab perform his Occasional Songs for the Periodic Elements live which was incredibly good. The streaming video had a chat along with it which made it all the more fun to talk with all these other skeptics. The down side of course was that I had to get up at 5:30 in the morning. That's right I did the show on 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

Saturday 5:30 AM: I am up and getting ready for the show. I already had all the boxes packed so it was just a matter of dressing, eating breakfast, and getting everything loaded in the truck.

7:30 AM: Arrive at the show, sign in and drop off my Natural History Cuttlefish Necklace for judging. Setting up the tent went fast but getting the display ready took me until 9 AM.

9:00 AM: The show starts. From here to 4 PM I didn't keep much track of time but this is more or less in chronological order. These are the highlights that stuck out to me. I wish I'd gotten some pictures of a few things but I was so busy the thought just never crossed my mind.

First sale of the day came early, maybe 20-30 minutes in by an adorable little girl of maybe 5 years old. She really wanted a necklace but Daddy said no because $30 is a little too much for something she's likely to break. I do have the tentacle charms that are a dollar and she went for that idea because she got to pay me with her own money. She was so proud of herself, and she paid me with a dollar coin which was cool first of the new presidential ones I've received (William Henry Harrison on it), Daddy pitched in the extra nickel to cover tax.

Around 10 AM or so Danyelle and James came to help me out for the rest of the day. They live in Norway so a nice short drive for them. They were a huge help, the show would be so much harder and longer without them.

Noon was when the winners of judging were announced, I didn't win anything. Too bad but my jewelry is pretty unusual so I can't say I'm surprised. The winner was a beautiful gemstone and wire-wrapped necklace and totally deserved a prize. All the other jewelry was great too and it had to be a really tough job for the judges.

Shortly after lunch (yummy sandwiches made by Danyelle) a family with their kids came by. Little girl really wanted a squid necklace. Mom said "You don't need a squid necklace", little girl relied "Yes I do!" in a totally serious voice. No sale but a good laugh.

Some entertainment was provided by a procession of pro-marijuana protesters. Now I fully support their position and think marijuana should be legal and treated the same as alcohol (but this is about the art show not drug policy). I still had to find the phrase "I smoke pot but I'm not a criminal" incredibly funny and ironic.

I learned it was a very good idea that I brought findings and tools with me just in case. A girl wanted some of my earrings but the price was more than Grandma wanted to pay so I put a couple matching tentacle charms on earrings and charged her $5 for it.

The only sale of one of my big necklaces (sold a lot of tentacle charms and $5 pieces) was to a girl in her late teens who loves squid. The whole day would have been worth it for just this sale because she was so excited about it and took quite a while to pick out the one she wanted to buy. Finally she settled on the gilded steampunk cuttlefish but took some cards so she could get another one later.

Later in the afternoon I see a couple come by with the guy equipped with a baby sling. Only there was no baby human in it but two adorable kittens. They are fostering the kitten for Responsible Pet Care in Norway a no-kill cat shelter until they are of adoptable age (old enough to be spayed or neutered). I really wish I had thought to get a pictures because it was really cute.

4:00 PM: Show finishes. With Danyelle, James, and my dad it didn't take too long to get everything down and packed in the truck. We listened to the Dr Horrible soundtrack on my laptop while working on it. Done and left by 5 PM.

Bethel Art Fair Recap

So Saturday was my first art show of the year. Here's how it went.
(scroll down to the bottom if you just want to see the photos)

Friday
7:00 PM-9:30 PM: Janet threw a party for the Shy, Novice, and Closeted Art Show. I was the graduate this year so they sponsored my booth for the show on the Common.

The party was a lot of fun. There was wonderful food provided by some of the artists in the show and Janet's house looked gorgeous with all the art displayed. The party didn't go totally smooth, shortly after it started a big thunderstorm hit, so we lit candles around the house just in case the power went out.

10:00 PM: I get home and with my dad get the truck packed up to go. I don't get to bed until 12:00 AM.

Saturday
5:30 AM: I get up to get ready for the show. I got maybe 4-4.5 hours of sleep. This was not a good idea. We also had to repack the truck to make sure none of the boxes got wet because it was raining a bit.

7:00 AM: Arrive at the show, check in, start setting up the booth. It was still raining but lightly.

9:00 AM: Show starts. There was a good crowd starting off pretty early and the first half of the day went great. This is when I made the most sales and got a lot of compliments on my work. I sold one of my octopus necklaces to a lady who wanted to give it to her daughter who's a veterinarian and octopus lover which was just great.

Why do so many people break the rules? The show stated very plainly that dogs were not welcome but there were so many there. I have no problem with well trained dogs (and most were wonderful and friendly) but why bring a puppy that isn't even leash trained yet? Luckily I had no mishaps with dogs knocking things over but it was close.

12:00 PM: Friends Danyelle and James come to help me out the rest of the day.

12:30 PM: 10 minute downpour. Unfortunately this is when the show started dwindling in visitors, the rain drove off a lot of them and they didn't return. Still had a good crowd but not as good as in the morning.

There were a ton of kids at the show, a lot more than I've seen at other shows I've done. Most of the kids were great and a lot of fun. There was one boy in particular who was probably about 9 or 10 who loved my squid necklaces. He came and looked at them then ran off and brought his mom back, she said no. About 5 minutes later he was back with his dad who also said no. I'm surprised I didn't see him back with a grandparent. I felt kind of bad for him but I don't blame his parents, the necklace is $30 and while my necklaces are fairly tough I don't think they could survive an active 9 year old boy for too long.

4:00 PM: Show wrapped up and with Danyelle and James' help I got everything packed up pretty quickly except the canopy. It had started to rain again just after 4 so we waited under the canopy until my dad arrived with the truck.

Good:

• There was a great crowd with a lot of enthusiastic people.
• The organizers and other artists there were all incredibly friendly and helpful.
• Sales met my goal, obviously selling more would always be great but the show is about getting my name out more than making a lot of cash.

Bad:

• The weather.
• Visitors did skew to older folks and couples with young kids which are not my best audience.
• I didn't set up my booth in the best way I think. Too much high priced sculpture, next show I'm not bringing so much. Also I should have arrange the tables in an outward face U that people could walk around rather that face in because not enough people could fit inside the area.

Summer Art Shows

I'm working on planning the shows I'll be doing this summer. So far I'm completely registered and paid up do the Bethel Art Fair on July 4th in Bethel, Maine. I'm also planning on doing the Norway Sidewalk Art Show again (in Norway, Maine) which is the next weekend July 11th but I haven't gotten the application in yet.

I also found out that the Western Maine Art Group has spaces for artists at the Oxford County Fair. I'd like to do that for one day (it would be between the 13th-19th of September) but I'm waiting to hear back on some questions I had before I apply.

I'm sure you've noticed a nice big gap between July and September? Well I'm hoping to fill it with one or two more shows but I haven't found the right ones yet. My transportation options are limited because I can't drive (have to recruit family to help me) so it has to be local. Depending on how things go I might do a show or two during the holidays but that's too far in the future right now to know.

Now I have to plan the supplies I need to get. My canopy has worn out so I need a new one (and not so cheap and flimsy this time), another table because 2 wasn't enough space last year, stuff for displays, etc. Shows are fun but they are a whole lot of work.

Norway Sidewalk Art Show Recap

Now that I've had a couple days to recover from the art show it's time for a recap.

I got to the show about 8am, signed in and dropped off Odin's Runesong for judging then headed over to my spot to set up. I have to say that I hate my canopy, it takes forever to set up and it's not as sturdy as I'd like. I got two folding tables for my booth and it became very clear that I need another one next time, I just didn't have quite enough room for everything. Since I do jewelry as well as sculpture my spot was with several other jewelry artists. I had a great time talking to them and swapping ideas.

The show started at 9am and that's about when people started coming by. I have no idea how many people came through during the day but it was quite a crowd. Early in the morning I heard someone at the next jewelry booth talking about eCrater so I popped over to check it out and found out it was another eCrater seller that I know from the forums.

I brought along some little bookmarks I'd made with a rubber stamp I'd made from carving an eraser and gave those away to little kids (if you're curious the stamp is of an octopus). That was a big hit. I know a lot of kids like my sculpture (especially the animals) but how many parents are going to get their 5-year-old a $65 Perma-Pet, so the bookmarks I thought were a way to make them a little less disappointed and it worked. Another big hit was the little brochures I printed out aboout my work. I lot of people snagged those so hopefully some will then visit the website and buy something.

I didn't really sell much, just a couple of my small ornaments. Several people were very interested in my sculpture, including one person who said if he wished he had $750 in cash to buy An tEach Uisce (I made sure he left with a business card and brochure, who knows maybe he'll call to buy it).

About 1pm show volunteers went around handing out the announcements for the awards. I just about had a heart attack when I saw that I had won the Honorable Mention award for Odin! Obviously that was the highlight of my day.

About 2pm I had to go up to the gallery for picture taking. I had my picture taken with Odin for myself. For the local paper I had my picture taken with the other winners, US Senator Susan Collins, and some of the show organizers. Afterwards I brought Odin back to my booth and got a round of applause from the booths around me.

The rest of the day went pretty well, and I wrapped things up around 4pm. I'm still recovering a bit, it was a long exhausting day and I got a terrible sunburn even using plenty of sunscreen.

Here's a slide show of the photos I got.

Shy, Novice, and Closeted Art Show Recap

So I've recovered from the show, so now for the recap.

Everything started around 9am Saturday, I arrived with a bunch of flowers to help decorate Janet's house. People started arriving almost as soon as we started. Along with the art we had some very yummy goodies, coffee cake, cookies, and limeade (that was a big hit).

There was so much great art at the show this year, and a nice variety of mediums. We had oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings, photography, metal sculpture, jewelry, polymer clay, paper mache, mixed media. It's amazing the amount of talent in the area!

I got a lot of compliments and great feedback on my artwork even though I didn't sell anything. The consensus was that I should graduate to the big art show on the commons because I'm no longer shy, novice, or closeted. It's a huge compliment and I hope it happens.

Speaking of the Bethel Art Fair on the commons, I took a walk up an looked around. Some great art but definitely lacking in sculpture. Tom White had his bronzes there and they are amazing (and I had a nice chat with his wife who is goign to send me some info on foundries) but that was about it. There were a few jewelry artists but no one doing anything in polymer clay. So I'll definitely stand out if I do the show, whether that would translate to sales is difficult to know.

Overall it was a fun and very exhausting day. Huge, huge, thanks to Janet Willie and everyone else involved with the show!

Here's a slideshow of pictures from the show.



Shy, Novice, and Closeted Artshow on Squidoo

Shy, Novice, and Closeted Art Show Today!

It's currently just before 8am a time when I'm usually quite asleep. I'll be leaving for the art show shortly. It's running from 9am to 4pm though I probably won't be home until well after that. Remember if you're in the Bethel, Maine, area stop by to see my art.

In related news Noadi's Art Shop has been put on hold for the day since some of the items for sale are also at the show. The store is still there and all the items, but the buy now buttons are gone, it'll be back tonight when I return from the show. It will also be on hold next Saturday as I do the Norway Sidewalk Art Show.

Update: I'm home, the store is no longer on hold. I'll write a post about the show tomorrow, right now I'm in desperate need of sleep.

Shy, Novice, and Closeted Art Show 2008

For the 3rd year in a row I'll be participating in the Shy, Novice, and Closeted Art Show at 18 High Street in Bethel, Maine. It will be on July 5th from 9am to 4pm. It's been a lot of fun every time I've done it, so if you are in the Bethel area that day for the big art show on the Commons make sure to drop by this smaller show too.

To help promote the show because I enjoy it so much I put together a Squidoo lens for it, even has a map on how to get there.
Shy, Novice, and Closeted Art Show

Here are some pictures from last year's show:

Odds and Ends

Few interesting tidbits for you today.

First of all the brand new Maine Arts Commission Blog. It's focussed on the arts in Maine but is a good read for any artist.

Second off a great armature tutorial courtesy of Jeff at iSculpt.

Last but not least I've added some handmade sculpting tools to my shop. I make most of my sculpting tools myself and through trial and error have come up with some that I really love. I'm now making these for anyone who would like to buy them.

Giant Sculpture in my Hometown

Nope, this one isn't mine. In 1999 Bethel, Maine, built the world's tallest snow man at just over 118 feet. Now we've built the world's tallest snow woman at 122 feet 1 inch. Here's some photos I took.

The arms are pine trees, her eyelashes are skis, the buttons and eyes are skidder tires (for those not in a forested area skidders are heavy machinery for pulling trees out of the woods), the mouth are car tires painted red. She's been named after Maine's appropriately named senator Olympia Snowe (you just can't make up something that perfect).

Click images to enlarge.