Thursday, June 24, 2010

Summer Breeze...

Future purses:

I took advantage of a beautiful summer day to let my fabric hang on the line. Walking by, I saw it blowing in the breeze, and wanted to share the peaceful feeling it gave me.


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Allegany Artisan Picnic


Last night, I went to my first Allegany Artisans picnic. It was a blast. There were so many people to meet. Remembering all of their names will be impossible. One of the artisans there was Marsha Van Vlack. She and I were talking, and I happened to have a camera in my hand, so I clicked a picture... hope she didn't mind! :) Doesn't she have a special glow to her? She makes gorgeous ceramic tiles that are artistically designed with trees and birds and scenes from nature. Her website can be found here. I was really excited to meet her because I was already familiar with her work, and I felt like I was meeting a famous artist... I was starstruck. Hee hee.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Big plans ahead!

I have been incredibly busy with my business, Casey Was Here. There are now 5 retail locations with my items for sale! A year ago, there were ZERO. And, this year, I will be on the Allegany Artisans studio tour! Let me tell you why I am so excited about this!

The Allegany Artisans is a group of artists of all sorts from Allegany County, NY. There are potters and woodworkers, jewelry makers, blacksmiths, doll makers... on and on! Before we moved here, I was researching the area and I was so excited that this group existed, because to me, that meant there was an artistic culture where we were going. The house we bought has a studio with its own entrance, and in the back of my mind, I thought "Someday when my studio is in the Allegany Artisan's tour.... It will be perfect..." :) The studio tour is an annual event where all of these artisans open their studios to the public. There is a map with all of the studio locations, and people do a driving tour of the county while they visit the different studios.

In April, I submitted my work to the board for evaluation. I knew they would be meeting in May, and I was extremely nervous about their critique of my work. After all, this was a dream of mine, and it meant so much to me to be part of this. They were to meet May 1, and I was a nervous nellie all morning.

Well, that morning, we were at my daughter's T-ball game, and I received an email to my blackberry. I was accepted! Hooray!! I ran around to my friends at the game and whispered to them my exciting news.

Next week, all of the Artisans are getting together for a picnic, and I will see if I can get some good pictures. It has been fun getting to know them, and I am very excited for this October when I will be participating in my first Studio Tour.