Featured Artist for First Friday at Arbor Crest Winery

Last night I had the pleasure of being the "Featured Artist" at Arbor Crest Winery in conjuction with the Spokane Valley First Friday Affair.  It was absolutely fantastic!  I had been almost to the point of cancelling due to the 2 sprained ankles I was contending with BUT I am so glad that I persisted and went...with my elephant sized ankles and all.

The winery is located high atop of a hill overlooking Spokane Valley and is quite a sight in itself.  I had taken along over 40 samples of my work including Marmarino, Venecian Plaster, Frascati, faux brick breakaway, foils, metallics, concrete overlay....just alot of beautiful works.  They were very kind to help pack everything in when they saw me hobbling along, people are so nice. 

This event is quite new to the Spokane Valley, has only been going on for 4 months so they warned me of low attendance and apologized in advance to me and the caterer who had an absolutely fantastic spread for only $10 a plate.  Well, as the evening progressed I think not only my ankles were swelling but also my head!  It was an extremely busy evening, over 40 people came to enjoy the wine, food and art and I knew 24 of them! !

Needless to say, I was blown away by the support I got from my friends and I also have to admit that the group of 12 arriving in the limo to celebrate a birthday did not come just because I invited them however I did happen to know 5 out of the 12 so I think the people at the winery thought I was quite a celebrity with a following!  It was a nice coincidence on that one. 

I received many compliments on my work and it is nice to see people appreciate my creative spirit.  I think that as an artist your work is very personal and as with many art pieces, some will love it while others will not.  However it was just what I needed at this point in my career to hear people appreciate what I do.  I am beginning to realize that at times I may be my worst critic and I need to listen to others more and not my little inner voice.  I am happy that I had this opportunity to show off my work and I will definitely be getting out on the First Friday of each month to visit the other venues involved with this event as everyone was having a wonderful time.