What do you do when you drive through seven states to get to a show and then no one shows up? That’s pretty much how the Cape Cod Fine Arts Festival went. A total bummer! I love meeting new people, engage with them and hear how they experience my art and when you’ve put so much into an art show and don’t get it (organizing, packing, driving, painting new work, etc. etc.) it’s a complete let down. Luckily for us, we have fantastic friends in NYC we got to enjoy on the way and stayed with family while on the Cape. They all made it worth while. And yes, I did get to enjoy some beautiful sunsets! 🙂 

Did you know, the 1,000 miles we drove to and from Cape Cod would have gotten us
to Paris one-way if we left from Stockholm?

Casey and I have actually made this long drive before back in 2005 when we drove to Providence, R.I. for a friend’s wedding. Cape Cod is just another 1.5 hour so we knew what we had in front of us and it wasn’t bad at all… the worst part was of course the DC traffic. Go figure. Why we didn’t fly? Because I had to transport all my booth gear and art. That’s the only downside of the art show industry, you always have to drive, otherwise I would have loved to do shows in Colorado and California as well. How cool would that be?

I’ve been on the Cape a few times but it was Casey’s first time so I was excited to share this time with him. On the way we stayed with our close friends and had a great time just relaxing. Having done most of the exploring in NYC already, we only ventured out to the new Swedish candy store (which totally deserves its own post!). For dinner one night I had requested home-made pizzas because Salih and Jennifer make amazing pizzas, especially their killer potato pizza. OMG. So freaking good.

{good times at a whisky bar and Washington Square to eat some Swedish candy}

{Manhattan skyline as we’re off on our 5 hour drive to the Cape}

After leaving NYC Friday morning, we decided to make a pit-stop in Providence, Rhode Island. Literally it was a 15 minute purchase break at the Providence Place mall before heading back onto I-95 which goes right through the city but when you sit for long hours it’s nice to get a stretch in (it’s funny how I would sit 9 hour straight at work all the time but sitting in the car for several hours feels much longer). If you’ve seen Dumb & Dumber, you may remember the big blue bug along the highway which is just a few minutes down the road from Providence Place mall. 

I actually lived in downtown Providence for a year while attending Johnson & Wales University. This is before my sister and I transferred to George Mason University in Virginia. The city keeps improving and it gets nicer looking each time I visit.

{downtown Providence}

Friday afternoon we finally made it to our destination late afternoon and headed straight to set-up. Sometimes you can set up your booth the day before (or even during the night) which makes for a much easier Saturday morning, which I’m all for. You also don’t have to stress as much since there’s not a rush to get everything done. I did see some homeless people in the park though which threw me off… homeless people in downtown Hyannis? So strange.

If you follow the blog or my facebook page, you know I’ve been working really hard lately to finish some larger pieces to showcase at my shows (Red June, The Pearl and the White Twist). Well, I actually had too many to fit them all in my booth at the same time but luckily the organizer was kind enough to give me a corner spot with means I have a whole outside wall of my booth I can use as well! Woo hoo! This was the first time this happened and usually you have to pay extra for those perks. 🙂

Don’t they look so good hanging on the outside? I was so proud to see Red June and Yellow June together, they really make for a great pair. I received several compliments for them… from the very few people I interacted with. Seriously, I think I met 50 people during this show which was less than at the Gaithersburg show. On a good show, I speak to almost a thousand people.

The bridal bouquet idea was well-received and my White Twist painting was the more popular one. I had this feeling all my latest paintings would be sold by Saturday at Noon and I would have empty spots in my booth… You can’t sell when there are no people around and it’s only a matter of time these pieces find homes. They are amazing, if I say so myself. 🙂

{on the ferry to Nantucket. It was a tad bit windy.}

Each evening we spent with family chatting and eating wonderful food. I always get spoiled rotten by them and I love them very much. When Monday rolled around, Casey and I had a vacation day and took the ferry over to Nantucket. I’ll write a separate post about Nantucket as well because it’s just so beautiful. We had lobster for lunch, walked around in the shops, visited the many art galleries and took a bus tour around the tiny island. More on that another time.

The typical Cape Cod/Nantucket styled houses with the gray and the white is my favorite kind of house ever since my first visit in the late 90’s. I wouldn’t mind a small house like the photo above which is downtown Nantucket but these little shed-sized houses are up in the millions on this little island. Maybe next year. 🙂 

I’m off to do watercoloring for LiveLikeYou today. Jill is launching her Mamma Mia look next week which will be exciting. She’s already previewed it on her blog. 

Have a colorful day!

xo,
Erica