Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Road Trip...for the Pear

I was able to get the mail on Monday before leaving town, and I was happy to see an envelope from Bead&Button magazine. I had sent in three entries for the Bead Dreams competition; a necklace, a silver bracelet, and the pear. The pear is going to Milwaukee! It was accepted as a finalist for this year's competition. I had planned to bring it here to Las Vegas, but it will make it's own trip.




Bon Voyage, mon poire!
Another wonderful artist who stopped by my booth yesterday:
Judy Belcher. Yes, Judy Belcher! Live and in person. What a sweetie she is. She and her husband tried valiantly to unstick one of my banners that refused to open. She is at the show with the Tamarack Foundation. It is a state organization for craft artists and artisans. Artists are juried into the organization, and can sell their work at the store in West Virginia, and through their on-line store. They are paying to have a booth at the ACRE show to represent the work of twenty artists. How cool is that? The state of West Virginia recognizes the economic value of the arts, and actively supports it. Sadly, there are only a handful of states that have vibrant organizations to support the growth and development of craft. Perhaps it is time for me to do a bit of letter writing in my own state. After looking at the Tamarack site, there certainly is a model that can be followed.
There are other polymer clay artists at the show. I have not had a chance to meet them yet, but hope to at some point this week:
Lauren Van Hemert, Luann Udell, Patricia Kimle, Twocan Clay. I am sure there are others that I just don't know about, yet. If and when they surface, I will post their links.
Time to get ready for the show. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huge congrats on your pear being accepted into Bead Dreams, Judy. Best of luck on the competition. I can't wait to see the pear in person.

Judy said...

Thanks Cat! I thought it was funny that of the three pieces that I submitted, that infamous pear was the one that got in! Of course, now I am going to have to raise the price a bit.... :-)

Jeanne Rhea said...

I read your blog regularly, but don't remember posting. If you see Lauren, tell her that the whole guild in NC knows she is looking fabulous and we are so proud of her and hope she sells a lot.

I have been reading Luann's blog for years it seems. She may not know me, but still tell her we wish her the best in the show.

Hope you continue to do well, too. Thanks for all the time you put into the blog.