Leaving Ann Arbor behind

What you can't tell by this picture is that it was my most perfect Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair booth, and it may well be my last one. This was taken last year when Jon Hecker was my roadie for the show and he "tricked out" my booth so wonderfully. What you don't see is the fan situated up in the rafters so it was like having air-conditioning in the booth. Or the carpet runners in front covering the holes in the pavement. It was quite the booth!

I knew it was time to take a break from doing the show. For almost 30 summers my entire year was measured by "before Ann Arbor" or "after Ann Arbor" and it was a huge part of my life. The money I made at the show used to be what got me through winter but times have changed and the show has changed as well. It felt like it was time to move on.

 There were high points like the fun I had with all the people who helped me over the years, especially Nancy Martin and Shoaleh Mansour and the awards I won. All the years when we had custom tee shirts made with new job titles on the front and sayings on the backs. The one year Michael Kifer was the poster child for the show and we had tee shirts made that said Michael was next door with arrows pointing to his booth. Three of us crammed into a 10' x 6' booth with the jewelry cases and a couple of chairs but no time to sit down. But I can't forget the year that I fell in the street while helping to lay out the show and broke my leg. During the show Nancy plopped me on a chair outside my booth with my leg up, a fan blowing on me and took over while I was highly medicated and having fun with all the friends who came to visit. Yes, lots of good memories were made at the show.

This years show starts in about 9 hours and for the first time in almost 30 years, I won't be there. I wish all my friends cool, dry weather and great sales. I'll miss seeing them but this was the right decision for me this year. We'll see what next year brings...
 

Best in Show!

Boy, it's not often I get a chance to talk about something that kept a grin on my face for days, but this did. My jewelry won "Best in Show" at the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair on State Street! My first "Best in Show" ever! That award is usually won by fabulous painters or glass blowers, not jewelers.

The fun started early since I wasn't in my booth when they came to give me the award. I had chosen that time to walk around and see some of the show for myself. I got back and started telling Shoaleh what I had seen. What I didn't notice, for quite a while in fact, was that she was wearing this big blue ribbon across her chest! Yes, I did finally notice.

Then came the fun of deciding where to put the ribbon. My initial idea of wearing it as a necklace was quickly vetoed and the ribbon spent it's days moving around the booth. A list of the winners was written up in the local newspaper on Friday so that started the people coming and looking for who won the awards. Not sure it helped sales but it definitely helped keep me grinning!