Art Booth

Eric decided to rent a booth in Grant Park to display his art pieces. He spent some bucks painting, copying, mounting, and matting them. Then he spent hours in Grant Park, in the heat, watching people pass by. It was a bit discouraging. The good thing is that he got a little education in the process. An education such as: what people look for, how to display, how to encourage folks to 'come on in and look around' even though it was just a 10x10 tent.

Ruth and I went down to check it out. The area used to be a rough part of town but it's coming back.

The art work included some good stuff. Paintings, photography, and welded iron pieces were some of the stuff that attracted me. One booth included some rough yarn sewn into life-sized people and animals. What would I do with it? I don't even know what it is. Is it carpet or wall hangings? I asked a few people. They were clueless, they responded: Who knows?

When I cruise by these booths, I take a glance and make a decision about going inside in about a second. I can tell right away if there is anything in there that would appeal to me. Jewelry? Skate right by. Scarfs? Not interested. And that was a strange one. This lady was selling multi-colored scarfs in 94 degree weather! What is she thinking? She sat alone, with the scratchy thing wrapped around her neck for display.

There was everything there, including booths selling food. I even saw "Genuine Hawaiian Shave Ice" for sale. That's what the booth said. They even had a genuine Hawaiian grass skirt draped across the machine, so it must be true. I was trying to figure out how on earth they'd get the ice here FROM Hawaii. But it was good stuff, not as good as Haleiwa shave ice though.

I remember the last time I was in Hawaii. I took a motorcycle tour around the island. When I stopped in Halaeva I got their shave ice. They put a little real ice cream at the bottom of the cone. It gives the icy treat a creamy taste. THAT'S genuine Hawaiian Shave Ice.

I bought one of Eric's pieces. It's a picture of a shark dressed in a suit sitting at the top of a step ladder. He's holding a briefcase. His dorcel fin rests on his knee. Below him, at the base of the ladder, is a small fish skeleton. I'm going to put it up in my work cube for my boss to see it.

...dave
I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way.. things I had no words for. -Georgia O'Keeffe