Before I talk about the market, I just wanted to share a little bit about our afternoon. My youngest son was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been waiting for this day for a long time and is so excited that he gets to serve the Lord. He will be serving for 2 years in the Juiz de Fora, Brazil mission. This momma heart is overjoyed and terrified at the prospect, but I am trusting in the Lord to help, lead, guide, and strengthen him as he willingly serves the Lord.

On to the market. Every spring I get so excited that the local market opportunities are approaching. I plan for the season. I print and paint leading up to the markets. Then I go and do. I find them really enjoyable, regardless of how much I sell, because I get to make connections. These connections often start great friendships. I enjoy seeing all the people that I haven’t seen for a while, and meeting new people.

I have a love hate relationship with outdoor markets. Usually the weather is nice, but once in a while there is a lot of weather to deal with. Watercolor art doesn’t do well in extremely rainy weather, so sometimes I don’t go and sell when it’s raining very hard. I absolutely dislike windy weather. My art is fine, but the tents turn into kites, and this year, even with the weight of my hanging displays, my tent went over, and that’s always frustrating. Plus, my art is light weight enough that it blows off tables and stands even with just a rogue gust on an otherwise beautiful day.

By the end of the season I am ready to be done. Not done with markets, because the season continues on until Christmas, but I am done with being outside. Every year I think I would love to buy a utility trailer and set it up as a shop so I don’t have to worry about things like rain and wind, That is a dream that I still haven’t been able to fund as yet though.

This year has been a great year at the local Willow Farmer’s Market though. We had many tourists from all over the world, along with so many friends from the local area. The last market has it’s perks though. Most people know it’s the last one, so they come to get the items they have been looking at al through the summer. I sell many, many note cards the last week as people want to stock up knowing we won’t see each other for at least a month or two.

I also started attending a market, I think I made it to 3 of them, about 20 miles north of my house at Sheep Creek Lodge. That was a smaller market, and less people stopped by, but it was a great location, and the people who did stop, stopped because they really were interested in looking and purchasing items. It was a very nice market, and profitable each time I was able to be there. This was it’s first year, and I look forward to being there much more next year.

I really enjoy markets, even the grind of setting up and taking down, and yes, mostly I enjoy the weather and being outside. But I do tell people, “I enjoy it when it starts, and I enjoy it when it ends!” This was a great year full of old friends, new friends, good food, and great sales. I am actually looking forward to next year.

The pictures are the last of the paintings I painted while sitting and visiting with people, or during the slow times of each market.