Artful Adventures

Day on the Farm

This past Saturday was the annual Day on the Farm event, held at Kele Alpaca.  Farm events around here aren't that uncommon, but this one had a twist-alpacas instead of cows:)  It's also an event for the entire family with free admission, and the proceeds from a silent auction, food sales, and donations, being shared between the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) and ArtBeet.  VIP provides services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Kewaunee County, and ArtBeet is a non-profit group to promote thearts in Kewaunee County.  All for great causes and fun for everyone!  There were demonstrations on spinning the Alpaca fibers-

felting----

and weaving.

There was live music all day--

kids got to take alpaca on a walk--

a lot of walks, all day long!

There was an area where kids got their faces painted, good food & drink, and watching Deb standing like a statue all day-seriously, it was hot, I don't know how she did it!

It also was home for the first ever art fair for ArtBeet!

An obstacle course was on the grounds where folks could walk an alpaca through it.  They kept switching out the alpacas throughout the day to keep them fresh, like I said, it was hot!

All in all, it was a good day!  You can read more about the specifics of the event here and here.  Most important, it was a day that families could do something together and not break the bank, artists & lots of volunteers came together for a worthy cause  making it a beautiful day!  After the event, there was food & drink for all who helped make it happen and after that, it was on to The Flying Pig for a concert-but more about that tomorrow:)  And here's LeAnna, who along with Keith makes it all happen at Kele, taking a quick & much needed break.

Lesson Learned:)

 This frog has a set of lungs, making a noise that sounds like something that's coming out of a good sized critter, but in actuality, he's about the size of a quarter.  Some things in life can be deceiving like that.  For example, when I type a post, it can take forever sometimes because I can edit myself, type, delete, change a word or a phrase until I can make myself sound reasonably intelligent.  Keeping that in mind, backtrack to last week when a local reporter & photographer came out to the house to interview me as part of what we hope will become a weekly series of articles about Kewaunee County artists who belong to ArtBeet, a non profit group formed to promote the arts in Kewaunee County.  So they came out, we spent a pleasant hour or more together chatting, and I patiently waited for the article to come out in the paper, which it did today.  (click here if you'd like to read it)  The facts are there and pretty much correct, but I had to laugh at myself when I realized as I was reading it, that nobody had edited me!  It reads like I talk-open my mouth & the words fall out, blunt & to the point, not much sugar coating:)  And I always assume that everyone has the same sense of humor that I do, in this case I can only hope that they just might.  Lesson learned, read all those marketing books that are laying around, listen to the advice freely given by those that know, such as Alyson Stanfield, and be prepared!   Now keep in mind I know all this stuff, but I didn't practice it and pay closer attention to what I was saying.  So there goes any pretense of being anyone other than what I really am-just me!  I quess that's ok though:) The important thing is that they wrote an article about me (thank you, thank you!) and that I was reminded again that there's always something to learn before you leave that proverbial nest & grow wings strong enough to fly.  One more thing-always remember to look at the camera & smile:)

Kewaunee County Artists Unite!

Last week I attended another ArtBeet meeting, this particular meeting was known as Borscht Night.  Just another name for a mixer, relating to a beet-"a Russian soup usually containing beet juice as a foundation"-gottta hand it to the board for having a good sense of humor!
The meeting was held at Barnsite Art Studio , with about 20 artists from Kewaunee County in attendance.  We did a "show & tell", with most of us bringing artwork to the meeting, so we could get an idea of what we all do, and who we are as artists.  There were some Academy students , some gallery artists , and enough others, that I'm talking about some real talent here, folks!  I did my normal thing of sitting in the back row, and after seeing the work of the other artists, was wanting to crawl under my chair and hide until I'd been skipped over-but that didn't work:)  So I just took a deep breath and showed the 2 collages that I brought with-to my horror, they ended up being passed around so they all got a good close look at them-gulp!  And you know what?  They LIKED them!!  It's that kind of support, encouragement, and validation of what we each do, that's making this group something very special.
On June 30, The Flying Pig is hosting a benefit concert by Dorothy Scott , with all proceeds going to ArtBeet , which has a non profit status.  So if you happen to be in the area, this concert in the garden will be a good way to have some fun, and help fund a new arts organization.
An update on the formation of an an Artist's Colony (Hamachek Village) in Kewaunee was also discussed.  This is so exciting-it's happening!  About a dozen businesses, either have opened or will be shortly, and some artists & their families should be relocating there soon.  The survey for the Artist's Relocation Committee, is still up, in case you want to put your 2 cents worth in about what would make the perfect place for an artist to move to:)