A New Year: 2022 & Reflections on 2021

A New Year and hopefully a new beginning for my jewelry business. The last few years have been tough, but last year I felt like I made a strong comeback following 2020’s outbreak of COVID where art shows were cancelled for the entire year.

This year in April, I turned 50. I had wanted to be in a tropical place (this happened later in November) on my birthday, but I decided on my favorite Bavarian Village of Leavenworth, only 100 miles from where I live. They were having perfect spring weather with blue skies and wildflowers everywhere. I brought my bike and biked and hiked and wandered around downtown and had a fabulous time. The highlight was visiting the Reindeer Farm and seeing the baby reindeer for the first time. They were absolutely precious.

My first show of last year, I drove through four states to Vail, Colorado for the first day of the Summer Solstice and had a fantastic show. The weather was perfect, I stayed close at an AirBnB and had a great host who had two very friendly golden retrievers. I went swimming in the small pond just a bike ride away from where I was staying. On Monday, after the show, I drove up the mountain and took a gondola up even farther and hiked for hours in the hot sun and it was fantastic.

Unfortunately, on my way back home from Aspen, I was driving through Utah, with the heat so extreme that I felt suffocated. I was beginning to feel as if I would collapse and be sick. I drove into the gas station outside of Salt Lake City and almost was sick in the parking lot. It was only about 2pm, but I had to get to a cool place to lie down. I booked a hotel in Brigham City and went straight to my room and was sick and slept for the next 16 hours. It was so uncomfortable Whether these were COVID symptoms, heat stroke or food poisoning, I don’t know, but I felt much better the next day but extremely weak. It took me longer to get home.

My second show of the season, I drove back to Colorado again, a few miles closer to the small alpine village of Aspen. I took a wrong turn on my way and arrived, sweating and almost hyperventilating because I was only 1 minute away from checkin time. Not a great way to start a show, but I was able to set up my booth until it was too dark and drove along a very dark road to an unknown destination that was my AirBnB. As exciting as it can be to drive to these new locations, it still can fill me with extreme anxiety. I arrived at my place and it was the cleanest place I had ever been in. When I woke in the morning, I could see just what a beautiful place I had chosen. This show was great also, albeit only a 2-day show. Afterwards, on my way home, I decided to stop at Rifle Falls State Park and walked up to some beautiful waterfalls. It was so much cooler near the water and amongst the trees of this park. Down the road was a huge reservoir and the temperatures were soaring into the 90’s, so I walked along the rocky shoreline and soaked in the cool water before heading north, back home.

My third and fourth shows were back to back in the beginning of August. The weather was extremely hot once again, but the horrible air quality was worse because of all the forest fires in Washington, Idaho and Montana. It was so hot during Art on The Green, I saw one woman just fall over from heat exhaustion. I walked into Lake Coeur d’Alene to cool off several times during the show, wearing my dress, dripping wet and back to my booth. I was cooled for a very short while. The temperatures soared again on Sunday and I closed my business and put a sign on the front that I was too hot. This was a first for me. It was absolutely horrible.

After the show in Coeur d’Alene, I took my time driving towards Bozeman, Montana. I decided at the last second to pull over and drive up a forest service road and drove as far up the mountain as possible. It was breathtaking. The sweeping views of the mountains rolling one behind the other was exactly what I wanted to see.

The Sweet Pea Festival in Bozeman was very fun. We were under the shade of trees, so it felt much cooler than it actually was. My grandparents lived up in Cottonwood Canyon, about 15 miles from downtown Bozeman. It felt comforting to be back in Bozeman after so many years and my grandparents graves were next to the park where the art festival was being held.

Summer 2021 was a very busy one for me but I was happy to be back doing what I love to do. During August, I had two local shows in downtown Everett (my hometown) at the Marina, then on to Edmonds, just 15 miles away and followed up with the Bellevue Art Show which was held on Labor Day weekend, instead of the usual last weekend in July. It wasn’t that great, but it was good to be back in Bellevue again. I had a show in Troutdale, Oregon in September which was cancelled because of the high number of COVID cases.

No shows were booked during the month of October and I was able to replenish my jewelry after the busy summer season. My next show was 1,500 miles south in sunny Sacramento, California. It was held in the convention center. We were wearing masks and had to show our vaccination cards before we could set up our booths. The sales were not great and I thought that many people were still staying home and away from large gatherings during COVID. All guests entering the building had to show their vaccination cards or a negative COVID test. I felt like this might have had an impact on the number of sales and attendees. It felt like a ghost-town the last few hours on Sunday. When this happens, I am able to wander about the show and talk to my fellow artists. I tried to not let the low sales dampen my spirits because the following day, on Monday, I had a ticket to Maui first thing in the morning!

I spent 9 wonderful days on the island of Maui with my sister Kathy. We had a fantastic time. The weather was perfect. The water was refreshing. Every day, I woke up before sunrise to walk a mile along the beach. My Dad and I had walked this beach in 2017 together and now I walked it alone. Watching the sun rise each morning was a precious gift I still hold in my heart. The color shifted from indigo to purple to gold as the minutes approached the sun peaking out over Haleakala. What a great time we had together.

When I returned from Maui, it was back to work to get some more items made for ScanFest in Portland, Oregon. A much shorter drive to Oregon than the other shows earlier in the year.

Now, I am making jewelry every day in anticipation for the first two shows of 2022: Indio, California in three weeks and Tubac, Arizona in 5 weeks. I am looking forward to meeting new people, seeing new places and in 2022.

Keep checking my show calendar as I add them when I get accepted. My calendar will be more full in 2022.

My sister and I will be flying to Sweden (hopefully) in late May and early June to bring my Father’s ashes back to his home village. He passed away in August 2019 and the last few years, we were not able to travel to Sweden because of the restrictions of COVID. We are hoping that he can finally be laid to rest in his home country.

Thank you for following me and I will make a great effort to post more often this year.

Susie

January 6, 2022