After “surviving” a weekend in the park, my booth display flowers found
a new home in an adorable oval vase made by potter Suze Lindsay!

After a beautiful Saturday in the park, Sunday was quite different.
I got their early to replenish inventory and put everything back in place…
prepping for another fun day! And then the clouds rolled in… and the storm!
About 10:00am, the rain started, the wind kicked in and everyone closed their
tents back down. We hung out for an hour in the rain… and then miraculously
at 11:00am, the skies cleared and the sun came out!

The day was nice & sunny, with a nice breeze.
The customer flow was pretty good, a typical Sunday.
And so good to see some of my Facebook Fans & loyal customers. Until…

About 5:00pm, the clouds rolled back in, the winds picked up, and the rain started.
So, the second wave of storm effectively closed down the art fair. Luckily, we had the
majority of the day with nice weather. Just cut an hour short. And we had the “privilege”
of packing in the rain yet again!

So now my tent & shelves are strewn all over my storage room…
draped around & leaning against things in an attempt to dry things out… again!

With the Chicago heatwave seeming to break this evening, it looks like the weekend
weather may be perfect for another art fair in the park! So stop by to say hello,
play in the park... and buy some art!

Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival
Saturday, August 6th from 11:00am-6:00pm
Sunday, August 7th from 11:00am-6:00pm

I will once again be bringing a large selection of functional bowls, mugs, vases, soap
dispensers, flower pots, planters and more. Plus more whimsical items like my salt & pepper
shakers, ikebana vases, wall pocket vases, tiled ClayQuilts and the new Relic Rattles!

Located in beautiful Dawes Park along Lake Michigan on Sheridan Road at Church Street.
I will once again be in Booth #43 down on the southeast corner of the pond.
With nice cool breezes and a beautiful view of the lakefront out the back of my tent.

Hope to see some of you there this weekend. Stop by to say “Hi.”

It will be a beautiful Fall weekend in the Wisconsin Northwoods at the peak of Fall color!
There’s a lot of art activity that weekend with Art Tours all around. I’ll be setting up
at Pigeon Road Pottery with a few of My Talented Friends. We’ve got ceramics, metals,
glass beads, paintings and so much more… gourmet s’mores too!

So mark your calendar and start planning a beautiful Fall getaway
to the beautiful Wisconsin Northwoods. Plus, you can follow the planning & activities
on Facebook… www.facebook.com/artdetourwisconsin.

Saturday we woke up very early to get Amy to her art fair. She still had some
setting up to do, and I was apparently her designated assistant. Since we had set up
the tent the day before, Saturday started with setting up tables, shelves and putting
out her wonderful pots. Check out her website for more at Pigeon Road Pottery.

Unfortunately, after only a couple hours, a huge storm came through and effectively
closed down the art fair. But as in true Northwoods style, just an hour after we closed
everything down & packed the cars, the sun came back out! But by then, the customers
and most of the artists were gone for the day! So we went to Dari-Maid for ice cream!!!

Back at the cabin, we again relaxed, and spent a little quality time in the hammock!

Unfortunately, before the sunrise could impress us again, the clouds rolled back in
and covered the sky. So it was time for another boat trip around the lake with my friend
Pam at the helm! Then back to more relaxing… and incredible grilled brats for dinner!!!

One of the highlights at the Art Detour this Fall… besides the fantastic artwork,
incredible fall colors & friendly artists who toot their own horns…
there will also be the gourmet s’mores!

Yes, it’s true. While we would all like to think that our artwork is enough of a draw
to get people to stop by… it’s never a bad idea to “sweeten” the deal and offer up
some marshmallow gooey-ness on the side! So yes, there will be a campfire going
all weekend and all the supplies you’ll need to make your own gourmet s’mores!

In preparation for Art Detour… I’ve decided to do some “product testing” and some
“quality control” to make sure we have some good marshmallows. I know, it’s a tough
job but someone has to do it. So I found these wonderfully HUGE marshmallows
that have a lot more gooey goodness inside. And I tasted them… one after another… until…

That was the last one.
Maybe I need to find another bag?… and do another taste test?… and toast them first?

Looking for beautiful Fall get-away weekend?!
Hoping for perfect Fall colors, crisp cool weather and beautiful art?
And if that’s not enough… can we tempt you with some gourmet s’mores?!

Art Detour is a three-day event in the Northwoods of Wisconsin!
October 7th, 8th & 9th from 10:00am-5:00pm each day.
Hosted at Pigeon Road Pottery in Lake Tomahawk on… you guessed it, Pigeon Road!

It’s a big weekend up in the Northwoods area with lots of tourist activities,
beautiful scenery and a lot of original artwork! So I am currently making new work
and getting excited about my trip up north. Not only to add another show to my schedule
but also to play with these other great artists! I think you should come play with us too!

Amy Higgason : Pigeon Road Pottery
Amy makes incredible pots with a lot of texture (my favorite) and imagery. She’s
currently making two different pottery lines. One with a lot of carving, sprigging &
textures. The other is more brown & black sgraffito imagery. Amy is the host of
Art Detour – so we will all be setting up our tents on her front yard next to her studio.
And not too far from the campfire & s’mores!
For more of Amy’s work, click on Pigeon Road Pottery.

Sarah Chapman : Sarah C. Chapman Jewelry
Sarah’s work is primarily sterling silver that has been oxidized to give it that wonderful
patina. She has an uncanny ability to mix her metalsmithing with semi-precious stones,
seashells, buttons & other objects. Her designs & textures are incredible, frequently
two-sided… and I already have quite a collection of Sarah’s wonderful pieces!!!
There’s a good chance I’ll need to add another piece of Chapman-wear during Art Detour?!
For more of Sarah’s work, click on Sarah C. Chapman Jewelry.

Kathy Furda : Northern Light Glass
Kathy does her own glass flamework & beadmaking. She then combines the pieces into these
incredible collections of colors & textures. Her aesthetic choices & combinations make these
wonderful “treasures” you can wear everyday! She also makes wonderful stained glass
creations with beautiful imagery, colorful combinations with a few unexpected additions.
For more of Kathy’s work… click on Northern Light Glass.

Wendy Powalisz : Back 40 Arts
Wendy captures the spirit of the Northwoods in her visual artwork. Her watercolor
paintings reflect the imagery, textures and colors of her surroundings. Her color palette
is vibrant and unexpected. Wendy also makes colorful beaded jewelry that will put
a smile on your face every time you wear it!

So there’s five of us displaying our work during the Art Detour… Gary Jackson (me),
Amy Higgason, Sarah Chapman, Kathy Furda & Wendy Powalisz.

“Coincidentally”, there will also be a of of “other artists” in the Northwoods area
also showing their work that weekend. “Alledgedly”, there “may” be another art event
going on that weekend?! “Maybe.” There is a very good “chance” you “might” find
some other artist studios to visit while you’re up North for Art Detour. I can’t promise
anything “specifically”… but I’m just saying that we’ll be “just off the beaten map.”

And we’ll have gourmet s’mores.. and THEY won’t!!!

For more information, follow Art Detour on Facebook for regular updates & photos!
www.facebook.com/artdetourwisconsin

Well… I had much better telephone reception in Hinsdale than in Schaumburg.
Plus the weather was better… colder, but at least we didn’t have flash floods!
So I had a good chance to actually use the “Square” for my credit card processing.
And now I have a few more things to point out in my ongoing “review”…

1. Yes, indeed it is too good to be true!

2. It was so simple to put the “Square” apparatus into the the headphone jack
of my iPhone, click on the App and process the transaction. Very simple…
especially once I figured out how to set up the sales tax percentage.

3. People get a kick out of signing right on the iPhone screen… especially when they
find out that they can just shake the phone to erase it and sign again!

4. No one even questioned the process… I though people might find it all a little odd
that they were doing things on my phone, and not “really” receiving a receipt
until they get home to check their e-mail or text message.

5. After a full day Sunday, with a lot of credit card transactions, the battery level
on my iPhone was still only half-way used. Plenty of power for the day!

6. When I got home, all of my credit card transactions were right their in my e-mail.
Simple… easy… done.

But here’s my question for anyone who is also loving their “Square.”
Is there a way to list multiple items in one transaction? It seems to me that you can
only take a picture once, and type in a description for one item. That there’s only one
line available to type a description. But what do I do if I want to shoot a picture and add
a description for more than one item on more than one line with more than one photo?

Also… is there a easy way to print out some sort of “ledger sheet” or list of transactions
from the day? Something for the files… short of printing out every e-mail confirmation
that came to my e-mail?

Anyone?… Anyone?… Bueller?… Bueller?…

I woke up this morning, rolled over and saw sun outside my window.
Already a better day than Day One. Time to head back to Hinsdale for another day of fun!

Sunday in the park was so much better than Saturday.
The skies were clear with no rain in the forecast. Everyone’s moods were much higher.
And there were customers milling about even before the show was to start at 10:00am.
With better weather and more customers… Sunday was a much better day for everyone!
Even the park itself looked prettier…

Okay, so I woke up early to drive out to Hinsdale…
and it was foggy & cold. But I figured it was early and it would burn off, right?!
Wrong! Instead, as I got closer to Hinsdale it actual seemed to get colder and
and the fog turned into mist… and then drizzle. Did I mention cold?

So I got all of the finishing touches done in my booth set-up. And put on a second shirt.
The about an hour into the show… I put on my sweatshirt – never to come off again.
Luckily, the drizzle finally stopped and and some customers came out to shop…
but there’s something wrong when you want to wear gloves in the middle of June!