Expectations Met

The 'Wonder Autumn Night' concert was just that: wonderful. Of my 13 wish list songs, he did 7, so I was happy, as were the thousands of people who were there sharing the experience. Expectations definitely met and exceeded. The audience was multi cultural, multi racial, and ranged in age from teens to seniors. You know you're in the presence of a great artist when he encourages the crowd to sing along, and everyone does because they all know the words to every song! We enjoyed it immensely; it goes on my list of best ever concerts--right up there with seeing Prince in 1996 in Charlotte, and Earth, Wind and Fire in 1976--'wouldn't mind seeing both of them again. If you have the opportunity to catch Stevie's new tour, go! You'll be happy you did.

This weekend I also attended two local art shows, which I expected to be ones which would not be good venues for my work. Again, my expectations were met. The first was held in a private school's gym, and while it was well organized, and staffed with many volunteers, the jumble of artwork among buy/sell items made it difficult to see what was actually there. You know the type of show; they try to cram in everything and everyone who applies (and yes, I can understand the mindset, since they're doing it as a fundraiser), with no regard for the individual artist who's displaying her work. I spent about 20 minutes there, mostly talking with a friend who was exhibiting for the first (and last) time. I left, glad I'd turned down the opportunity to do the show when it was presented to me three months ago.

The second show was in an unusual setting; in a local neighborhood, outdoors, inside homes, in studios, on front porches and lawns. Luckily, the weather cooperated; it wasn't too cold, and the rain held off until after it was over. There was a mix of products and a good crowd. But again, as I expected, it was not a good venue for my work--it appeared that potters, wood workers and jewelry makers were doing well, but others weren't. Since I would've been among those 'others,' I was glad I'd passed this opportunity up as well. We did purchase a lovely raku vase by Martin Stankus, which will be a gift, and admired the wood creations of Bob Batura, as well as the interesting masks by Jane Cluggish.

It was nice to know I was right in my estimations of these two events, and I hope I'll be just as good at assessing opportunities in the coming year.