ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL - APRIL 25, 2008

Went to the Asparagus Festival in Stockton today. Went last year for the first time and loved it so went again. Nice day, warm but not too hot. Got there early so got close parking, not in the dirt like last year. Not crowded around all the craft booths and no long lines for food. Had the deep fried asparagus and it was pretty good and the asparagus burrito which was mediocre. Vic had chinese and he said it was good. Heard an all girl band called the Cover Girls, the instrument playing was good but their voices not as good. Very large library of songs, mostly 70's. Got another pin from the lady who does stiffened fabric jewelry "Fabrications" and a henna tatoo on my ankle. It was a different lady from last year and it isn't as dark, don't know why as it was the same group and she apparently used the same stuff.

WASHINGTON - APRIL 7-10 2008

April 7 - Monday went to Port Angeles and got a room at the Red Lion and directions at the Visitor Center. Went to Lake Crescent in the Olympic Park and walked around a little bit, saw lots of deer, didn't make it to Marymere Falls because it was raining all day and too muddy for regular shoes, but went to another waterfall that was beautiful and on a paved path, Madison Falls. Mostly drove around all day and looked at the scenery as it was raining all day. Spent Monday night and got the ferry in the a.m. to Victoria.
April 8 - Victoria, BC. - what a nice place and the weather turned out great. Walked all around downtown and to Chinatown which was surprisingly small for the oldest Chinatown in the west. I'm used to San Francisco which is very large and very Chinese!!! Victoria seemed so yuppiefied, only a couple of blocks seemed to be traditional chinese stores and markets and most of the people there were white or southeast asian. Got the ferry back to Pt. Angeles at 4 p.m.and drove down to Tacoma arriving around 8 p.m. Found a hotel and went to an Indian casino called the Emerald Queen, the place was huge, way bigger than any of the indian casinos we have here, more on the par of Reno or Lake Tahoe but not as large as Vegas.
April 9 - Went to the Glass Museum in Tacoma and saw some pretty stuff and headed to Seattle. Went to the Space Needle and did the Underground Tour in Pioneer Square, went to Pikes Place Market and saw them throw the fish, don't know if I caught the throw on my camera or not.

ARTFEST - APRIL 2 - 6, 2008


My dorm room
I'm tired, tired, tired. Artfest was great.
April 2 - Flew out of Sacramento, plane left one hour late. Ran into Karen Brooks and her Mom at the airport. I didn't know she was going so that was great. Met up with the shuttle riders at the Seattle airport but only had a half hour to kill before getting the shuttle because the plane was so late, so shoved down part of a chicken caesar and off we went to catch the shuttle. Took exactly two hours to Port Townsend. Weather was nice, pretty scenery. Arrived around 4:30 at the commons and checked in and got my goodie bag. Off to check out my dorm room, yikes it's tiny. I only bought lunches so got a sandwich at the the cafe at the commons for dinner and coffee and some bottles of water. Shopped and bought a long sleeved t-shirt with the owl logo on the front and a messenger bag and a few collage sheets. Went to the welcome kick off meeting in the pavilion and all the teachers introduced themselves which was nice.
The Pavilion
The fat books were distributed and look great. Wish I had done the ATC book also as it was nice. I like the way it was bound so all the ATC's slipped into a pocket so were not punched or damaged in any way. After the meeting the art asylum opened and boy what a mess of stuff. Tables all around the room loaded with stuff, so much it's impossible to imagine, fabric, books, tins, paper, embellishments of all sorts.
So crowded I didn't even attempt to do anything. Went to my room and got my stuff organized for the first class tomorrow and off to sleep on the rock they called a mattress.
April 3 - My first class was "Creative Outlets" with Michael DeMeng.
My outlet from Michael DeMeng's class
The class was held in the Art Asylum which was perfect for his classes as he uses so much rusty stuff and found objects. We decorated electric outlets and painted and embellished. It was fun, not something that it very useful, but fun. Tonight was the beach bonfire. I made a smore's, my first ever. Looked at a bunch of people's journals and want to make one but don't seem to have the energy or enough to say to do one. A lady played the violin on the beach and it was nice and lots of smores and hot dogs were roasted. If I had remembered they were having hot dogs I wouldn't have bought dinner, oh well. Caught a ride to the beach with Nelda, we were both lost so it worked out for both of us. Another lady and I caught a ride back to the dorms from a lady who was going to her hotel in town. It was cold but ok by the fire and in the kitchen shelter with the wood burning stove going.
April 4 - Today's class was Linda and Opie O'Briens "Flat to Stacked" which was a copper, brass and nickel bracelet. It was all put together with eyelets or rivets. I think I'd like to make more but make pendants and pins as they will be less work, less holes and less jump rings. Jamie Sells and I went to Art Asylum after class so we could finish our bracelets as we needed to do the jump rings.
My bracelet from Linda and Opie O'Brien's class
Tonight was vendor night. So much stuff, so crowded. I bought a polymer clay pendant from Kathy Martin, a paper pack from Anahata Katkin, some cards from Mary Beth Shaw, a collage sheet from Karen O'Brien and copper letters from Katherine England, and a blank notebook and scrabble piece pendant from Urban Bird Girl, Jennifer Cabezas. I really like her stuff. Saw so much I would love to have, but too spendy for me. Great to talk to the vendors and see their work. Love Tracy Bautista's journals, and Janette Schuster's metal collage jewelry. Janette was on the shuttle with me and I really like her a lot, very talented and a nice lady. She has a book coming out in August which I will buy for sure. Would like to have bought Susan Lenart Kazmer's book but too expensive for me. Of course Keith LoBou's stuff was awesome as was Michael DeMeng's, also liked Dorit Elisha's book but she was already out by the time I got to her booth.
April 5 - Today's class was the "Joy of Cardboard" with Sas Colby. Nice lady, but not much of a class, no instruction to speak of. The saving grace was that I liked what I produced and was done early.
My collage from Sas Colby's Joy of Cardboard class
Tonight was show and tell. What an awesome display of everyone's art work. It helped as I now know which teachers I would like to take classes from and what classes I would like if offered in the future. I wanted Anahata's Funky Wallpaper People this time and really, really, really want it if offered next year.
April 6 - Checked out, hitched a ride into town with Jamie where she dropped me at the Bishop where I was to leave my bags until my room was ready at the Swan. Walked around town and hit a few stores, very cold and windy. Went to Salal for breakfast, had to wait as it was crowded. Yummy food and really excellent coffee, it was from Sunrise Coffee Company which was local and it was the Salal blend. I bought a bag. The lady from the Bishop called while I was eating and said my room was ready early and a few minutes later Vic called, he was in the rental car and heading to Port Townsend. I finished breakfast and went to the Swan and got into my room. Pretty nice for the price. Relaxed a little and saw my first TV in 5 days. Went out and took a few pictures and walked around a little again but so cold and windy right on the water. Vic arrived around 2 p.m. and we drove over to the fort and I showed him where I had been and we looked in the bunkers at the beach and took pictures, went back into town for dinner and that was the end of the day. Tomorrow off to Port Angeles.