Sat. May 3 and Sun. May 4, 2014 – Art in Action, Mack’s Apples Farm Stand, Londonderry, NH
A working art show featuring two-dimensional art. Come support our local artists! They will be creating and selling original works all weekend. What a great event to bring your family too! Hours: 10 to 4 both days and it’s FREE
“What’s Your Topic This Week?”
Usually I have a topic and a title waiting to Go! You’ve seen pictures of my piles of notes and little pieces of paper that I collect during the week so that I can tell you all about my Road. I think the possibility of a sunny day, rain free and a warmer temperature is making it hard for me to come up with just one topic or theme. Since 5 am this morning I have TYPED, TOSSED and DELETED more than I have ever before. Now how strange is this….. Just seconds ago I received an unexpected message from a reader who typed just that “What’s Your Topic This Week?” Thank Goodness for their early morning thoughts!
Well let’s just get started and see where we end up….
One of the Topics I had started to write to you about was May Day. Years ago, and still in some places, May 1st was quite a big event. Great celebrations were had in honor of the beauty of Spring and the closeness of Summer. At one point and in some countries still it’s considered a holiday. It is also known as International Workers Day. My earliest memories of May 1st were of great fun May Day Fairs that happened in our local schools. The one that I always think of, this time of year is one that took place at South Range School in Derry. I remember the candy, art, homemade fudge, music and games. It was just simply a happy happy day for everyone. Maybe you remember it too. This year in our house May Day had an entirely different meaning, May 1st was the official opening of our own Mack’s Apple Ice Cream Stand! I think many of us have been waiting for this event. Once our Ice Cream Stand is opened it kind of lets us know that winter is behind us and there are good things to come.
I know our plan for today, will be to attend the art show, and remember this is just not a walk around art show, it’s a working one. I just love these! Watching an artist create, viewing finished art, meeting the artist, then shopping at our own Farm Stand and topping it all off with a delicious in my case Mouse Tracks Ice Cream Cone, with the sun shining too. Just think of the people we will see, out and about for the first time in ages. Bring your little ones, they can have a little freedom, a little art and a little treat too.
Now continuing with beauty and art I have a special Thank You to someone that represents all of these unexpected topics here… Alex Slosek.
I’ve had some beautiful prints by another local artist Marion Maney but I have been putting off having them framed. Now that I’m thinking of it maybe I should have just called this week’s story “Mack’s”. The three prints that I wanted to have framed are all of Mack’s Apple Orchids. So strange that Mack’s keeps coming up this week for me.
Framing is something that scares me a little, I really don’t know anything about it, but I do know that very quickly the price can jump from very low to horribly high it seems in seconds.
A couple weeks ago I needed a very large poster framed. Imagine the cost, the size was something odd like 33 x 44. We went into one typical framing store and a nice girl who spoke with confidence told us we would need this, that and this and the cost to frame my $40 poster would be $160 dollars minimum. Of course that included the “glass”, pads, “wood” etc.… Thank goodness it just wasn’t in our budget to do that. We left very impressed with her knowledge, but disappointed with the price. John can be much better than me with that “well let’s try somewhere else” “let’s move forward” attitude. I thought why bother, she’s an expert, I’ll just put it back in the closet for now.
John drove us to Michael’s Arts & Crafts; by now it was almost closing time. We brought in my oversized poster to the back of the store and there waiting for us was this nice young man. It was like looking at that picture of the glass… is it half full or half empty. Without us even mentioning what we had just been told Aaron, started to explain to us what he would do and why. First he explained that wood and glass could be a problem because it could be dangerous given the weight that it would create. Wow, now that’s a different perspective. He asked good questions about where and how I wanted to display it. Remember it was almost closing! In 5 minutes, Aaron had a plan, a safe plan too, and a price that I could afford, and it was pennies compared to the numbers I had just heard.
That night I didn’t mention my On The Road With Sherry Story to him and I really wished I had, especially when we picked up the finished product This week I brought in three more pieces not knowing who would be there and as luck would have it, there was Aaron again. It was 8:45 pm again too! This time I had to ask if I could take his picture and tell this story. I assumed that this was a full time job for Aaron, but I found out it is not. He has been working at Michaels for two years part-time.
This is a great story too… and it really brings everything together, or full circle I should say. Aaron is a Senior at NHIA, New Hampshire Institute of Art… in a few weeks he will graduate with his degree in “Illustration” and he will be part of a an art showing being held at the school on May 18th. How great is that! This also brings me back to the idea of International Workers Day. It was an honor to meet a young man today that represents his company so well, is kind, professional, and knowledgeable, there to help all of us. I have a feeling that Aaron will be an artist to watch in the future and a future businessman too!
With A Grateful Heart… for the Sun, Mack’s Apples, Artists, Frames and especially Aaron
Sherry
