1.06.2010

Big News Number Two and a *Humility Block...

... and so my other announcement is this...



My original hymn collage, This Is My Father's World, will be one of the art pieces available in the silent auction at Mountain State Health Alliance's Spirit Gala: An Evening in Paris on January 30th at the Millennium Center in Johnson City, TN. This black-tie event is a benefit for the new Niswonger Children's Hospital at the Johnson City Medical Center. So, if you've got lots of money and want to benefit a worthy cause (and have a chance at winning this piece!), be sure to order your tickets today!

If you can't make it to the event (or don't win the original in the auction!) , I have prints of this collage (as well as others) available on my website! Click here to shop!

* Incidentally, whenever I am in danger of getting my head inflated, I have something like the following incident occur...

by Beth Stone

The setting: last farmer's market in which I participated  last year
The weather: miserably cold
The crowd: painfully small
Paying customers: DOA
Grand total in sales: ZIPPO

Net loss:
$5 - booth fee
$.75 - two peanut butter cookies for consolement purposes
3 extra hours of sleep on a cold Saturday
30 minutes of treadmill time due to aforementioned peanut butter cookies
1 big chunk of pride
____________________
= *sigh*

So, I am standing by my booth, stamping my feet to keep warm, waiting for customers who never came... wondering why exactly the farmer's market decided to extend WAY past the growing season when no one is thinking about shopping for local produce or art or anything else... and the following conversation happens:

Me: Hi! How are you today?

Elderly Lady - the Only Promising-looking Customer of the Day (hereafter, ELOPCD): Oh, fine, how are you? (flipping through my prints - always a good sign...)

Me: If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them for you. These are all prints of my original artwork and photography.

ELOPCD: (Pulling out a print - YES!) How much is this?

Me: That size is $25. (haha! My first sale of the day - cha-ching!)

ELOPCD: (Inspecting it over.... things are looking promising.) What size frame would this fit in? (All right, she's frame shopping already! This is a done deal!)

Me: You'll need an 11"x14" frame for that.

ELOPCD: (Pointing to the area inside the mat) What size is this part?

Me: That's 8"x10."

ELOPCD: (Pointing to the mat) What's this part called?

Me: That's called the matting.

ELOPCD: I have a picture of my son that I cut too small - I need some of this matting so that it will fit in the frame. I guess I could take this out... (Pointing to my print! OUCH!) Could I do that?

Me: (Errk. POP. Phhhhbbbbbbbbt... - that's somebody sticking a pin in my red birthday balloon, it popping, and all the air leaking out) Well....you could buy a mat by itself much cheaper at WalMart or Michael's or somewhere like that... then you wouldn't have to pay for the print you wouldn't be using...

ELOPCD: (Stuffing the print back in my rack) Oh, okay... thank you. (Walks off)

Me: * Sigh*


God has a sense of humor, doesn't He? Oddly enough, this was the same day this incident happened, so all in all, I think the two peanut butter cookies were well-justified.

6 comments:

  1. LOL Oh, Beth. I have had the same such moments. LOL Some people are truly clueless as to what they are doing. Probably I am, too. :P

    OK, I just clicked the link to the weird tree ladies. LOL I am also familiar with your deer in the headlights look. I took Bob Ross painting classes from a "Christian" lady. Only after several classes, it became obvious her idea of Christianity was merely 'spirituality' and she had a lot of really weird ideas.

    I loved the billboard. So cool! It's too bad they had to eliminate part of your artwork, because the whole thing worked together so well and the piece of it on the billboard misses so much of your beautiful work. But it's wonderful to have it displayed so prominently. I love the whole poster especially.

    ~Faith

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  2. Beth, congratulations on both of your recent accomplishments! God certainly won't let us get the big head!

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  3. I just found you via Life As Mom's book list link, and I must say this post left me feeling sad for you as well as laughing because you seem to have taken it so well. Thanks for sharing a cute story; we all have to keep humble and God provides those moments to ensure that, hmm?

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  4. Thanks for the empathy, Rebecca... just another day in the life of a starving artist. :o) I actually kind of enjoy the irony of moments like this - it's like looking at the stars and realizing we are actually very small. It's good to be able to laugh at yourself, and believe me, I get a lot of opportunities! Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

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  5. Thanks for the laugh - even though I can most definitely feel for you too. When Dad and I did all of our craft fairs and shows some of the questions were unbelievable. But the stories and laugh that show up later are Great!! Congrads on your pic at the auction!

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  6. Yes, it's always entertaining, Debbie! Thank you...

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