When I first rolled in, I found these cool things all over the beach & road. At first glance they looked like a bunch of bowls?! Or helmets? Or something made out of leather? I was seriously intrigued, and wondering what this “mess” on the beach might be?!

After looking a little bit closer, I found out that they were horseshoe crabs stranded on the beach. Now I’m not an expert on horseshoe crabs, but I’m assuming that they come in with the tide but get caught on land when the tide rolls out. They were all piled up. All over the place. Not sure why… but you know I have an odd fascination with roadkill. And this kind of counts!!!

And doesn’t it seem a little odd that so many of them are flipped upside-down?! Why???

Finally, the sun made it over the horizon. Beautifully reflecting off the water. I especially liked the structure of the pier and how it created such great geometric silhouettes.

On the way out of the Little Creek Wildlife Area, I found out that it is also an estuary for shorebirds. Apparently, it’s a destination on the migratory path of many water birds. With lots of swampy, marshy areas for them to hang out in.

My friend Kelly got a couple new wall pocket vases at the Hinsdale Fine Art Festival.
She and her husband Kel couldn’t decide… so they got both!!!
And it’s good to see that she’s already putting them to good use!!!

In the middle of a wheat field, I found a wonderful old cemetery. I’m sure it’s an old family farm plot. From the looks of it, the headstones are pretty old. Unfortunately, the wheat is pretty tall and I didn’t think I should trample my way into it just to take some pictures. Better to admire from afar.

On the way back from my sunrise in Leipsic, I passed a cute little farm… made even cuter with miniature horses!!!
Yep. Not just small ponies. Actual miniature horses!!! They’re adorable. And just for reference… the fence surrounding them is about 5-feet high. Which makes the little ones about the size of a German Shepherd. Precious!!!

So it’s my first chance for a sunrise bike ride while I’m in Dover. We’re staying close to the Dover Downs Speedway. We’re not far from the Delaware Bay… so I knew that I could find a sunrise over the water somewhere?! I decided to pedal over to the town of Leipsic. It’s a little port town on a river that connects to the bay… and then to the ocean!

After the sunrise, I was also treated to beautiful sweeping clouds across the sky!

On the ride back to the hotel, I found some beautiful dogwood trees in bloom. Unfortunately, they look like the flowers are close to the end. And I’m not really sure what’s happening to the bottom ones that are turning pink with spots?!

My cousin Kim grew her own strawberries this year in her garden…
and then made then even yummier by putting them in one of my bowls!

So I arrived in Dover, Delaware today… and no, there are no white cliffs here!
A little tired after the weekend art fair in Hinsdale. To turn around, unpack from the art fair, re-pack for an extended business trip, hop on a plane and make it to Dover to kick-off the Firefly Music Festival. Yes, as part of my side job (which I lovingly refer to as “the glitter gig”), I will be in Dover for the next few weeks setting up the festival. I am the Creative Director for a special events design & production company in Chicago. We were hired again this year to do all of the scenic environments, tents, lounges & gardens at this year’s music festival. Most of our crew arrived last Friday… I’m a couple days late due to the Hinsdale Art Fair. Good to see that some of the tents have already up…

As well as the beginnings of the front entrance arch. The structure is in place, but none of the scenic printed mesh or specialty lighting is installed yet. More to come… gotta make some magic happen all around The Woodlands.

I’m getting ready to head out to Dover, Delaware for the Firefly Music Festival.
I’m the Creative Director for the special events company hired to do all of the fun stuff around the festival – the thematic venues, the decor, the landscaping, the lighting, and so much more. So I found it somewhat ironic that I found this post today online. Perfect timing before my trip to Firefly. And so cool… I need to figure out how “re-create” this effect somehow for next year’s music festival. And maybe even get Yume Cyan to join us there?! Click here for more about the Firefly Music Festival.

Found online at www.thisiscolossal.com…
Photographer Yume Cyan has been shooting some magical long exposure photographs of fireflies in a forested area around Nagoya City, Japan. By keeping the camera’s shutter open at a low aperture Cyan captures every bioluminescent flash of each insect resulting in dotted light trails that criss-cross the frame.

Glad to say I had a very successful weekend in Hinsdale. Thank you everyone!
So much fun spending time with artist friends & engaging customers.

But it’s also fun to see how my art fair booth “trampled” the grass in my space.
You can actually see the traffic patterns… the rounded grass where the tables are, the skinny walk-through between the two back shelves, and the blurred out back are where we do our wrapping & transactions. So funny… and another confirmation that I had a good weekend. It takes a LOT of customers to do all that trampling!!!