Clifton Arts was a wonderful day

Steve and I arrived a bit later than most of the crowd, but began setting up andquickly had our vehicle unloaded, and the tent up.  (Blessings to you, my friend, for the gift of a new tent… you know who you are and we are forever grateful.)  We had interesting neighbors… to our east was a couple that drove from near erie, pa, with their unusual presentation of Art Prints – Beautiful and popular art prints have been applied to flagstone…. heavy hunks of flagstone.  They were beautiful… i spent the entire festival staring back at the eyes of a wolf in the forest foliage…. and just about everyone would look that direction and stop, frozen in the gaze of this animal’s image.  To our west was a young hispanic couple, and she sells rather high end jewelry, beautifully displayed…. not just another person stinging beads in random fashion…. she carefully plans her work.  We had little exposure or chance to talk through half the show because she had put the sides on her tent, and we were staring at a white wall…. but as we were tearing things down we chatted.  Lovely people.

We were blessed with the surprises of a number of people we know, or have known in past parts of our lives… and that was always a blessing.  The crowd was ever stirring, walking the couple blocks and circling back.  Fun music – salsa band,  caribbean calypso, ethnic music, a guitar strumming gal in cowboy boots…. variety was there, with something for almost everyone.  The vendors were varied, from the traditional photography and watercolor artists, to a chinese woman practicing the ancient art of painting on thin rice paper with sweeping brush strokes.  As i walked by she was spending a bit of time explaining one of her prints, based on an ancient warrior.  Then there was the person who made amazing casts of leaves… big leaves like giant hostas…. they were bird baths, or the decoration for tables… And pottery abounded… unusual pieces, amazing things, different styles, and personalities.

I was crushed when i went to speak with one potter who i have admired for years, and when i had money used to buy a piece or two each year at another show.  This potter brushed me off, not really caring to chit chat… Lesson learned – you never know who might come visit – be ready to smile, listen and talk with anyone.  (I do believe the art business is a people business, and that is actually one of my greatest joys watching the sights, and talking with the people.)  So there i was, feeling like i wondered why i stopped to see her.  Noone was in her tent, but her work was exquisite as always.  I will give her the benefit of the doubt that she was having a bad day, but still feel sad that she didnt want to even talk with me. 

Moving on, there was a sand sculpter working on a large sand statue of a woman.  His work was amazing, detailed and i never got back to see the end product.  I will post pictures of what i did capture.

And there was a human statue… adorable, dressed in a louder colored outfit, and white face, posing, frozen in time.  When we did talk she seemed nice.  It was a fun touch.

What can i say, except Clifton was colorful, fun and we did well.  We saw vendor friends, and caught up on life… and made new friends.  We developed more soap customers.  Yes, being so close to Lakewood we drew a large amount of interest because our soap is vegan.  While there was another vendor of soap, ours was the only cold process soap there.  The other soaper made the melt and pour soap (buy a block at pat catan, melt it, pour in molds, add fragrance and there it is.) and there is nothing wrong with that, but we believe strongly in the cold process method, loving the luxurious lather, and goodness our soap is for skin.  (oops, soapbox time, sorry)

Weather was amazing – sunny and in the high 80s most of the show, with the clouds rolling in around 4p.  The clouds were a welcome relief from the sun. 

Tired and warm from sun exposure for 9 hours we packed up, rolled home, ate dinner , and were in bed by 9pm….. what a day.