Fayetteville, TX - A Well Kept Secret

Art show number three took place in Fayetteville, a very quaint little town in east Texas (near La Grange).

This is our second year to do this show. It takes place on the town square. Because of that setting, it is very easy to set up and tear down the display. The folks who put on the show do a great job and work hard to take care of the artists. Lots of "Houstonites" have second homes in Fayetteville and they come to the show. Visitors from Austin and other towns near Houston, come as well. Their is usually a bike race early on Saturday morning. The riders come to the show once they are back from riding.

Last year, we spent Friday and Saturday night at the very old, local hotel. It was right above a restaurant, so we were awakened by the smell of coffee and bacon early in the morning. Unfortunately, thast hotel burned during the year, so this time we spent our nights in a great little bed and breakfast. The house was quaint, and well maintained. However, things were a little on the small side. Philip banged his head often on the low door frames!

All of the buildings around the town square, as well as many houses in the community have colorful trim or bright background color. Here are just a few pictures.

Our Second Show - The King William Faire

On April 16th, we were a part of the once day show in san Antonio at the King William Faire. This is always a great show. Great because it is one day, great because it is part of the San Antonio Fiesta Celebration and great because lots of people come to the show and buy bells! You can go to this link to see pictures of the show from this year and a few past years as well.

http://www.kwfair.org/index.php/photo-gallery

The parade is a hoot. Always late in starting. Lots of homemade floats. Lots of dog dressed in all sorts of costumes. And finally, King Rea Feo (the Ugly King).

This is the official logo of the show for the 2011 year.

Philip working hard to sell a bell to everyone!

Spring '11 Art Shows

The first show this spring was in The Woodlands near Houston.

Like any show that occurs in a crowded "town" area, navigating your vehicle into loading spaces is never something one looks forward to. And since this show is ON the waterway in The Woodlands and our booth space backs up to the Marriott, one can imagine the difficulty unloading and reloading might present. But, two things helped this year. Philip managed to get everything into the back (and front)of the truck, so we did not need the trailer. AND.. the art show folks had a good system in place so that artists could get as close as possible to their booth space, they had staff driving golf carts around to assit you and finally, the security folks were great about helping you problem solve difficult situations.

This show has a dinner and auction (of artists' donated pieces)on Friday night, held at the Marriott. As usual, the food was great. PD donated two samller bells as one gift and then a 6dot as another. We were happy to see that the bells were chosen pretty early in the auction process!

Overall, the show was great. Sales were very good and you always meet interesting people in Houston. Customers were from everywhere - Texas,of course, but also England, Scotland, Brazil, Mexico and Canada!

Across the waterway from our booth is a condominium complex. It's always interesting to watch people come out onto their patios and eat, entertain, etc. It is also nice to see the two residents who have purchased bells from us and hung them out on those patios.

Our friend, Dave Piper, was exhibiting as were many other artist buddies. For us, this was a good start to the 2011 season.
We also had a great vew of a little duck family in the water. We watched mama duck keep her eye on her babies,then finally she and Papa got in the water with them and take a little journey down the waterway and back.

What's Up?

This blog is going to be a support to the Windsongs business and to the website Windsongs.com. While Philip is the person who does so much of the talking in regards to Windsongs, I, Judy, am going to manage this blog. I think there are so many things we get to see as we travel from art show to art show that Philip and I would like to share with you all. So, I chose this venue in which to share this information with anyone who might be interested.