Art in the Gardens, continued....

Arts in the Gardens Show, Sonnenburg Gardens,Canandaigua, NY continued….

Saturday the Sonnenburg show opened to a hot sunny day- and I do mean hot.  But there was intermittent shade from the beautiful old trees that were in the show area.  I had paid extra to have electricity available at my booth, and was very thankful for it as I ran my 2 big fans. Some of the booths seemed like steam baths, but I was comparatively comfortable- although still hot and sweaty.

The coolest place in the show was the porta potties.  No kidding!  

Here is what they looked like from the outside.

And this was the inside!  They were air conditioned for crying out loud!!!  It felt like the bathrooms in a high class hotel.

Oh yeh, there was also a fireplace that they ran in colder weather:

The crowd was steady all day and I had good sales.  It sort of felt like a garden party on the front lawn of the old mansion, ladies shopping in their big hats. .  All day, volunteers checked in the booths to ask if they could get us water, or sit in the booth to give us a break. 

There was some really nice prize money given out.  One of the things I appreciated was that when the judges came around, they were identified by tags.  So I knew they actually came to my booth and looked at my things.  I was also able to explain briefly to them how my jewelry is made.  I wasn’t awarded any prizes, but the work that won was well deserving! The quality of work exhibited at this show was all outstanding.

Sat. night they held a reception for the artists with lots of food and free wine on the porches of the mansion.  It was a nice end for a long hot day, a chance to visit and relax.

Sat. night and early morning it rained hard.  Our tent was buttoned down well, and everything remained dry.  As an indication of how well we were treated, the “management” came around in the morning to greet us with a roll of paper towels, offering them to anyone who may have had rain leak in their booths.  Oh yes, and free coffee and donuts each morning.

It cleared up for most of the day, but later in the afternoon it began to really pour- which virtually ended the show.  The customers from there on out were few and far between.  I looked across the way, and my neighboring artists were catching up on the news.

The weather cleared in time for us to pack up, so all it all, it was a pleasant and profitable show.  I will be returning for sure next year, as long as they will have me!

The sun just peeking through the clouds as we were leaving.