Rusty Button Studio Fall/Winter Schedule of Events

Rusty Button Studio

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, November 9, 2013                            

Holiday Vendor and Bake Sale                                

St. Joseph's Church                          

Leicester Street Perry, NY                               

10am - 6pm

 Saturday, November 16, 2013                        

Batavia High School 25th Annual Craft & Gift Festival    

Batavia High School                                 

260 State Street Batavia, NY                                

10am - 4pm

 Friday, November 22- Sunday November 24, 2013 

Holiday Bazaar Arts & Craft Sale                 

Rochester Museum and Science Center

Rochester, NY

5pm - 9pm, 9:30am - 5pm, 11am - 4pm

 Friday, November 29 - Sunday, December 1, 2013

2013 Artist Open House 2nd Annual Holiday Sale

Flying Whale Studios

143 William Street

Geneva, NY

5pm - 8pm, 9am - 5pm, 11am – 4pm

Hope to see you there!

 

4:Resurrection and Serendipity

First, I want to tell you that I have a piece,
This piece:

in a show which opens THIS Friday, February 15, 2013 from 6pm-11pm at 464 Gallery @ 464 Ashland Avenue Buffalo, NY. The show is called 4:Resurrection. The 4 is for the gallery's 4 year anniversary, and the Resurrection is for the theme of the show which is basically repurpose and reuse. The Gallery wanted pieces of artwork created from found objects made new again. Right up my alley, right? Right! I'm excited to see what else will be there!!

And now for part deux...

Serendipity, meaning happy accident or pleasant surprise.

Two years ago, I was selling my artwork at a Holiday Bazaar in Rochester, NY. I sold ALOT of artwork that weekend, including a small art doll in a box I called Donatus. It had been one of my favorite pieces, and when the man came up to me with it in his hand, I felt a pang in my heart. To say I was sad to it go would be an understatement. I thought about it often. Sometimes as an artist, we develop a special attachment to the pieces we create, but we know we can't keep them all or we'd starve. This was one of those pieces.

I thought about Donatus alot after that, like I said before, often wishing I had held on to it. Really, it was a small piece, it wouldn't have taken up much space... I could have brought something else to sell instead of that...Why couldn't I have just held on to it?? (These are the things that would go through my head) Well, apparently, the Universe heard me and...

Fast forward to the end of last summer~I had joined a mixed media art group on FB and was contacted by a fellow member. Turns out, she lived in Rochester. Turns out, she knew the man who had purchased Donatus. Turns out, she had Donatus! Turns out, she wants to return it to me! Now, normally that might have offended me, but not in this case. I had actually just been lamenting (again) over my decision to sell Donatus only just a few days before!

M. had said the piece had been purchased for a family member, who's taste in art was quite different than what the purchaser had thought. Donatus then moved into M.'s house, where he stayed quietly on a shelf. Long story short, M. offered to return Donatus to me. I gladly accepted and offered to replace it. M. has never taken me up on my offer, and instead, sent along another gift (as if the return of Donatus wasn't enough!).

How perfect! I just love them! I wore them way past Halloween and around Christmas, decided to put them away for a while, but boy do they make me smile!! Thank you, M.! For everything!!

How serendipitous...

My studio threw up in my work space

AAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

creative in other ways

 

I'm feeling a little "saturated" today. I should be working in my studio, getting work done for my last show of the season. (Rochester Museum & Science Center Holiday Bazaar) But I wasn't feeling "it" this morning. I've been working on these little date magnets for my Advent calendars for the last 4 days now and I'm getting a little burned out. Or saturated.

 

 

So I went out to mow the lawn. Then I broke the mower.

Now what??

On my way back into the house to figure out what to do next, I passed my wagon full of ripening tomatoes plucked from the garden just before the last frost and suddenly knew what I was going to do next!

I would cook up the ripe tomatoes, along with some peppers, including some habeneros I bought last weekend at the farmer's market and then freeze it to use as a chili or soup base. And just like my artwork, this idea evolved.

It tasted wonderful and had quite a spicy kick to it! I only used 1 habenero, but I also used some fresh jalepenos and a tiny hungarian pepper from the garden. I decided instead, to make some black bean dip.

 

After simmering the tomatoes in olive oil with onions and fresh garlic, I added sea salt, some pickled jalepeno juice, and (yes) cinnamon and sugar. Added to that, 3 cans of black beans.

 



 

This delicious concoction is now simmering to perfection and I feel as if I created something today ~in my kitchen, if not in my studio.

 

Now I need to go get some tortilla chips!

 

 

 

 

 



Rochester Museum and Science Center Women's Council Holiday Bazaar

I just got back from a weekend in Rochester, NY. I had been invited to do the Holiday Bazaar at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. I had never heard of this show before, so after I had been invited to participate, I went home and researched it some online. I found out it was a quality show with approximately 175 fine artists and craftspeople. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I got there. The work was exceptional! I immediately called my husband to tell him about it. He asked me if I was flattered or intimidated. I said a little of both. If I had not been invited to this show, and had gone to it first, I'm pretty sure I would have thought I wasn't good enough to participate in it.

All my doubts went away when I heard all the wonderful comments about my work from all the people! The feed back was incredible! I met alot of awesome people, made some great friends, talked to alot of interesting people and made some money, too! I must say, this was by far the friendliest show I have ever done. I want to thank Christine DeTurck for inviting me to do this show!

As promised, I have included some (poor) pictures of my display. I had an odd space. It was 14 ft. long by 3 ft. wide in an entrance hall. It was just enough room for 2 6 ft. tables and my desk. There wasn't even enough room for me to sit in my space! Luckily, the woman next to me let me sit with her in her space. We became fast friends. Hi Kim!

There were some advantages to the space. Being in the entrance hall, everyone had to walk by. We were also located directly across from the restrooms, so all the vendors had to walk by too! It was also convenient, since I was basically by myself, I didn't have to leave my space too long when nature called!

All in all, I had a great show! I was a little nervous doing this show out of town with extra expenses to cover, but it all worked out fanastically and I would definitely do it again!

Getting ready

Well, this is it! This weekend is what I've been working so hard for. Everything is done and packed up. I set up both displays in my foyer, split and packed my inventory and pulled out some hair. Who in their right mind would ever do 2 Holiday Bazaars in the same weekend???? I am obviously NOT in my right mind. (and I have a feeling, if all goes well this year, I'll be doing it again next year.) Thankfully, the one at my church can be handled by my Mom (and kids) while I'm in Rochacha at the Museum and Science Center for 3 days doing the Bazaar there.

Thanks, Mom, for all your help! Thanks, kids, for all your help! (note the hard hats worn in the construction area) Thanks, hubby, for all your help! And thanks, Christmas (my kitty), for your help in rubbing your kittiness on my vintage button flowers!

I'll post pics of my handcrafted wares and display when I get back. This is my second show/sale since I've gotten back in the game and I just need it to be super successful, like the first one was. I have extra expenses with this show being 80 miles away. This is the first one I've done that wasn't local AND 3 days, instead of 2. I'm excited! More when I get back....