All's Fair That's Art Fair

Last weekend I participated in my first art fair. It was the inaugural Village Market, a monthly fair arranged by the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council. I had just returned from a trip to the coast to see my incredible nephew and my wonderful friends Candice and Marc (and Poppy the schnauzer too). Instead of driving back on the freeways, I took a state highway, Route 74, that is a single road from San Juan Capistrano to Palm Desert. It passes through the Cleveland National Forest, Lake Elsinore and eventually becomes the gorgeous Pines to Palms Highway that climbs high on the St. Jacinto range, passes an alpine town called Idylwild and then plunges into the desert.





However, I digress. The fair was held at Roadside Attraction, a local gallery that shares frontage with an insurance brokerage. Yes, the sign says "Art and Insurance". It was held in conjunction with a postcard benefit and silent auction for the MBCAC, into which I donated a set of four postcards. The fair was small, the weather was hot and the crowd was eclectic. I set up with flowers, mandarins, yogurt pretzels, gummy bears and, oh yes, art. My works were the prints I had created at the 29 Palms Creative Center and I displayed them in bags I had purchased at an art supply store in Laguna Beach. People stopped by to grab a munchie and I received one great compliment - on the flowers. However, I had one fan who kept eying a large collage and monoprint entitled 'Crazy World'. By the end of the evening, and with a little gentle persuasion by my friend John Luckett, the deal was sealed. The identity of my first collector is being withheld at her request. I am very grateful for her patronage.







I ended the day at a benefit evening for Sky's the Limit, the new observatory being built in 29 Palms. Music, friends, food, star-gazing - no, not LA-style - desert style through a huge telescope.