So, Saturday, July 6th, turned out to be a little/lot more rockin' at the Festival For The Eno!
I'm not sure why, probably because it had dried out a little, and people realized
"Hey, this a great chance to go enjoy some cool weather at the Festival For The Eno!"
Well, I'm glad you did, because it was a good time had by all!
I took all day Friday to take a careful look at my booth; what was working, what was not, and adjust where it was needed. It was actually really nice to have this breather day in between that this year's schedule afforded!
And going in on Saturday, I felt a lot more ready.
(though I certainly wouldn't have minded having that 3rd day to keep fine tuning).
This year, as I might have mentioned in my "preperations" blog post, I tried adding some painted color to the surface of my designs.
I have found that this is perhaps necessary because I am trying to sell mostly black objects under a shady tent, which tends to render them as snakey shadows, not quite enticing enough to many passer-by.
While I didn't get a good sense of how people were reacting to these colors,
I know that I myself enjoyed their sublime addition to the booth as a whole.
It continues to take on a life of its own, and it is fun to watch its many twists and turns as it continues to distil and mature.
I also added a few more bold and colorful signs to my booth, though I am realizing that I need to keep heading further in that direction....with more direct signage, at the risk of being a little Coney Islandish.
(trust me, I still have a long ways to go, though I maybe am nearing on the circusy)
I also moved my booth space this year, because my regular space was in a flooded area.
A happy accident occurred when all of the water in the mill race behind my tent reflected the sun through the veil like curtain that I often hang from my rear wall. This added a dramatic effect, that helped to create some very nice ambient light in my booth space.
And sure enough, a steady stream of happy Eno Festival goers began to trickle in..
It was fun seeing customers from years past
And I got a special visit from Saxapahaw's Chris Carter, whose talents, inginuity and imagination I admire Greatly!
It was such a joy to watch a river of smiling color flow through my booth.
It reminds me of a poem I once heard (Lawrence Ferlingeti?
"Won't you come into my garden, I want my roses to see you"
This lil mamasita took the cake for the ultimate tredknot ChaCHING! model.
We fixed her up one one of my prize specimine tredknots, and boy did she wear it well!
This fellow really took to a hanging planter design I've been working on. When he proposed a stag horn fern for the center, I knew he knew his stuff (really cool idea actually!).
I hope that we cross paths again some day.
I was able to connect a very nice couple with a cute little tredknot Tirarium planter.
While I thought the fellow looked very striking with this bromiliade,
they settled up on this very quaint drucenea, whose leaves edged with auburn compliment the tredknot's own auburn edging Very tastefully.
They look very happy with their little bambino there,
so I am sure that they chose well for themselves.
I did enjoy making a match of another planter, that this young lady had been eying throughout the course of the day.
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| The delicate purply leaves of this plants found a friend in this collector |
When she came back at the end of the day, as the sun was beginning to set in the sky, she seemed to be waivering a little bit- between the one she had been eyeing (which was perhaps one of the more wild and exotic plantings in my 'portfolio'), and another somewhat more tame pairing of plant and tire.
I tried to be keep from interfering with her decision making process; but seeing her struggling a little, as I often do myself, I felt compelled to gently urge her to go with her original instinct and interest in the wilder planting.
This was all of the encouragement she seemed to need, and she promptly claimed it as her own.
She mentioning that I might have been more astute in this encouragement than I realized..
I was so glad to have affirmed something for her, even if I'll never know quite what it was.
Somehow, it seems like she, and I, and the Festival For The Eno, had perhaps all done our jobs that day..
taken a chance, and appealed to our wilder sides.
This sweet gal bought a tirarium planter, but wanted it with out the plant.
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Why? I wondered..
So she could ship it across the country to the Bay Area she responded.
Curious! This will be at least the second of my designs destined for the Bay Area (that I know of, the first being a 'tredknest' bought at Vaguely Reminiscent by a Bay Area Momma).
Seems these chicken are goin' home to roost!...go figure!
Judy connected with this fine specemine of cactus planted in an elegent tredknot, bearing a nice river motif. This, in my opinion, was one of the more spectacular numbers on the lot, and I'm glad it found a loving home with Judy.
REPTIRE PHAJUN ATIRE
One new feature of my booth was the Reptire Phajun aTire corner,
where I display items from my Reptire fashion collection.
This fellow here was the first person ever to purchase one of my new Urban Artifact key chains, which featured a water motif tire tread that I have selected specifically for the Eno.
I look forward to further developing and sharing this promising new product line, which, at the more simple end of the scale design wise, seems ripe with archeological intrigue.
My new Ouroboros Belts were a hit.
Too bad I just brought the one I was wearing!
(I didn't make many because I didn't want to step on the toes
of my friend Max The Belt Maker
though I never did see him at the festival there this year).
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| Sizing a Scottish friend for a belt. |
My HeLLO Holters were also in short supply, limited to the one I was wearing/test modeling.
However, I hope to develop these for next year, if not for the upcoming CenterFest.
I got a nice visit from an old 'grade' school pal from CFS, Chi Brown.
Chi and I recently reconnected, and I was stoked to discover that Chi is now a pro photographer
(a very talented and accomplished one at that)
I was even more stoked to snap this picture of he himself. Hope you like it Chi!
I also got a special visit from my sister Rachel, just back from Panama, which was a treat!
I also got a very special gift from my good old friends Carrie and Jessica. While seeing them there was just plenty gift for me, they returned out of the blue, at the end of the day, with our friend Aaron Ratcliffe to boot, to help me break down my booth.
Now I have to tell you, at this ending stage in the game, I am usually starting to drag a bit. I have been going for weeks straight, and most of my muscles, especially my social ones are right wore out.
However, I am also very systematic in disassembling my booth, as a big tangled mess does me no good, and is a lot more work to unpack when I get home. For this reason, I, and most exhibitors I have found, are extremely particular in accepting help, prefering to pack things up right, into the wee hours of the night, if that's what it takes.
However, I had a keen sense, that this just might be my Dream Team..
And so, I did a rare thing, and excepted their gracious offer of help.
And boy was I glad that I did...
They took directions very well, which is to say that they asked good questions when they came up.
They were my hands, my legs, my back.
And it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
We just flowed through the work, and before I knew it, it was done!
This quite a gift that these three gave to that evening.
Their quality of attention. Superb.
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| Folding A Giant Blue Booth Scarve In Concert. |
Perfection
In the end, quite at the last minute, this years festival turned out to be a smashing success.
Once again I got to stretch my own artistic envelope just a little further in designing for the festival; got to distill Reptire's vision by one more piquant thimble-full.
And especially come Saturday, the floodgates of commerce and pleasure had released from their gates, and we all seemed to be having a royally good time. I know I did.
My hat remains duly off to the hardworking staff of the Festival For The Eno-
Greg, Paul, Chips, Madeline, Emily, David, Rebecca and all the rest,
who admirably persevered in the face of ongoing torrential downpours and long lasting morrases of mud, to faithfully put this fine festival on, another year, year after year.
I think that this year's festival amply demonstrates that, no matter what lemons the Sky gods hurl at us, the crew can squeeze out a bucket of lemonade. And my oh my was it tasty.
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| A job well done. Photograph by Edie Cohn |
