Show Report: Festival for the Eno

"Kalahari and Nubian Landscape" bamboo bowl wall hangings, now both in private collections.

Last weekend's Festival for the Eno was a good show for us. Weather wise, as always, it was extremely humid, and even though it wasn't the hottest we've been this summer, it certainly felt like it! We got drenched during the end of breakdown on Sunday evening, but the rain held off when the customers were there for the most part, which was great.

It's great to be at a show where people "get it". I received many compliments on my work (and, as I've said before, if I had a dollar for every time someone said "Oh! I just love your colors!" I'd be able to fill up my gas tank at least once, at the price a gallon's going for these days!), and sales were good; the best this year so far. Attendance seemed a bit higher than in years past, though Sunday was extremely slow (made only two sales). People did say they were staying close to home, which meant we benefited from 'stacations' over the holiday weekend due to the high cost of gas. As usual, single mirrors were popular, with the leaf design still a favorite. Best of all, I sold two of the four bamboo bowl wall hangings (Nubian Landscape and Kalahari), to two men who came back to look at them several times before making the final decision to purchase. One of them will commission at least one more; his idea is to have a series of them--a great concept; why didn't I think of that?! So, I'll be working on a series of three for Festival in the Park/Charlotte in September.

I'm heading into the first of two weeks without a show to do, or camps to teach, and I'm looking forward to the "down" time. It's been a busy summer so far. Ideas abound for new designs; we're working on replacing the unfinished wood mirror and clock blanks with MDF, which is less expensive, better for the environment, and best of all, we can design the shapes and sizes we want. More on that as we go farther in the process.