I got rained out! (Patreon)

Well, it was a first for me in a lot of ways this weekend.

To celebrate Bastille Day, a local district in Missouri hosts an art festival each year, called "Let Them Eat Art". It's an outdoor festival with a lot of color: some performers dress up in elaborate Victorian outfits, with giant white wigs and paper mache cakes. Someone parades around on stilts, while another juggles fire. I had attended it last year and enjoyed myself a lot!

(There was a magical moment last year where I was entering the main street, gawking at all of the elaborate outfits.. A truck was driving slowly in, the back filled with supplies for vendors. Suddenly from behind me, a performer rides in on a 10-foot tall bicycle, squeaking a painted horn and cheering! It looked awesome----and he immediately ran into the truck, veering slowly to the side to catch himself. No one was hurt! It was a very cinematic epic fail.)

This year, I applied to the event with my nerdy portfolio, as well as some newer traditional artwork I've been making. Look at all these normal things! I can be a serious artist sometimes! 8)

And I got into the event!

It's an outdoor event, and I wasn't expecting to make much money. The connections and experience were more valuable. I did some research on outdoor craft fairs and built up a shopping list of items I'd need to make that jump: LED lights for when the sun set; wind-proof sticker displays; and importantly, the outdoor canopy, to keep the sun and rain out! It was only a four hour event, too, so every moment counted!

My hubby and I arrived two hours before the event to set up. It was a merciless 90F outside.. Within ten minutes of wheeling my supplies over to our designated spot, my vision was already fuzzy and I was feeling faint. I'm sure it looked a little goofy, my twirling around as I tried to figure out how to set up a canopy while trying not to faceplant onto the street. But luckily, I'd purchased some camping fans and brought hydration packs, and thus I survive to tell the tale.

I was in a weird little side street, unlike most other vendors who shared the main street, but I enjoyed this spot immensely! As you can see, there was a sweet craft beer bar behind me, and there was a pair of musicians behind them: the music was attracting curious eyes, and there was a consistent line at the bar for beer and pizzas! On top of that, Elliot the Entertainer, a local fire-juggler set up his performance just across the street from my booth, so we had front row seats!

Pictured above: Elliot entertaining a mass of enthralled children. A chef and his rubber chicken watch intently. One of the young boys sitting cross-legged screams out at the fire juggler: "Do a backflip!"

There were several soft sprinkles of rain, despite a storm being forecasted earlier in the evening. However, around 8pm, the rain came back with a few strong gusts of wind. The event coordinator came walking briskly past. "Did anyone tell you?" she asked. "The event is ending early. Storm's coming by."

What, this little rain? She didn't seem panicked, and so I didn't think anything of it.

Flash forward twenty seconds, when suddenly the wind really picks up and rain begins blowing into the tent. One of my displays topples over, and now Hubby and I are bracing the smaller displays down and grabbing papers to protect them. Within the next twenty minutes, there would be a torrential downpour of epic proportions...and with us being down a side street (with a decline!), the road began to flood!

(I don't have any pictures because I was fighting for my life.)

In ankle-deep water, we hurriedly packed everything into the single waterproof box I'd brought. My cardboard boxes didn't stand a chance! Honestly, with how crazy it felt, I'm surprised we made it out as well as we did. Thank goodness for the canopy. The rain wasn't blowing sideways either, so everything tucked underneath the canopy survived.

A few of my stickers had fallen into the water; they're all waterproof stickers, fortunately! But the paper backings have dark water spots, so I've set them aside into my Reject pile. RIP, my last Twilight decals.

The worst loss was my Ballpark Village painting, which dribbled ink from scattered rainfall. And even that is salvageable!

It was certainly an experience. Hubby and I were soaking wet, shoes and all, as if we had just jumped into a pool. And now I need to figure out how to dry out and deep clean wet car seats...

For the event, vendors were encouraged to have some kind of live demonstration at their booth -- so I snapped photos of my customers' hands, and began to draw and Mod-Podge them onto a canvas! It got cut short with the rainfall, so I've still got a handful of, well, hands to draw. I'm not sure where to go with the piece..should I paint over the hands, and make them blend in a bit more with the background; make them bright and colorful; or just leave them white? I'm taking suggestions!

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Let Them Eat Art AAR (After-Action Review). It was a very fun event! I liked the organizer, and the crowds of people were all very kind and welcoming. I would do this event again if given the opportunity.

Favorite thing(s): Placement was great. I was very pleased with how close I was to each event, to the restrooms, and parking lot.

Least favorite thing(s): I'm used to longer hours and multiple-day events, so I'd spring for a 6-hour day instead of 4. After all, it took 2 hours just to set up!

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OH also the best part of the storm ----- the craft beer bar had cooked a bunch of pizzas to sell, and with the storm canceling the event early, they had a bunch leftover. So we got a free pizza. Yusssssssss. Worth it.

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That's that! I hope this was insightful, or entertaining. Stay hydrated, everyone!