Summer 2023

Every time I get onto my website to post a blog, I am shocked that I have taken so long to write one. It’s been a very busy year so far.

At the Philly Show, I received two orders and I am now in a gallery in Masachusetts, West Bank Gallery. I am also in a gift store called Artifacts in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was quite the experience to be in a large wholesale show.

This year, I skipped my Arizona shows to stay at home and build up new designs and fulfill orders. I missed taking this journey south as I have done for about 10 years now. Hopefully, next year, I will begin the journey south again in January or February.

This was a very big year for travel, internationally that is. My sister and I flew to Sweden to take my Father’s ashes back to his hometown to bury alongside his parents grave. He passed away almost four years ago next month and because of COVID, we weren’t able to return until this year. I left early, at the end of May and decided to visit the island of Gotland for the first time. This island lies in the middle of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Lithuania. I had three nights and 3 1/2 days to drive around in an electric car and visit the ancient city of Visby, drive through quiet farmlands, drive along the rocky coast, walk through charming nature reserves and take the 3-hour ferry back and forth to Sweden’s mainland. The weather was perfect the entire time and I was able to swim in a lake the last few days of my stay.

When I returned from Sweden on Monday June 12th around 7pm, my car was mostly packed for my trip to Colorado the following day! I knew this would be very difficult to arrive from overseas one night and turn around and drive 1,200 + miles to Colorado, but it went quite well. My internal clock was still set to Sweden, so I was up very early in the mornings and went to bed very, very early. The show in Vail didn’t go very well. I attribute that to the extremely cold and wet weather. The temperatures hovered in the low 40’s almost the whole weekend.

After the show, I stayed a few days in the area, Minturn, to be exact, which is only a 10-15 minute drive from Vail. I went on a hike on Monday and a very long, uphill bike ride to Vail on Tuesday, taking many stops and rests along the way. I visited Betty Ford’s Alpine Gardens both days and bought lunch to bring to eat in this peaceful and tranquil garden.

I drove down the pass to Georgetown and stayed there two days and worked on making a few pieces of jewelry while I waited for Friday afternoon when I set up for the Evergreen Art Festival which was only another 45 minutes away. I took advantage of the beautiful area and biked around town and along the river path. I booked a train ride which was one of the highlights of the entire trip.

I’ve been home for several weeks after Colorado, fulfilling special orders. Last weekend, I took the ferry over to the Peninsula and set up my booth for the first time at the Sequim Lavender Festival. This was one of those perfect weather weekends for an art show and I met so many wonderful people.

I will be setting up for the Bellevue Downtown Artist’s Market this evening. It’s so nice to be close to home again. Next week on Thursday, I will be starting my drive towards Montana for the Bigfork Art Festival which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, August 5th-6th. I love Montana!!

That’s it for now and I will try to make a monthly habit of my blogs. Thanks for reading and happy and safe travels to you!

Susie

27 July 2023