Back from Artfest 2008!

I had a great time at Artfest 2008!! This year was very mellow, hanging out with my best friend Maya. I got to her house at 9:30 AM and loaded up the car. We stopped by the library turn in some books, and Kinko's so I could make a few transparencies. We then drove to the University Village Apple store for a replacement phone charger and lunch at a noodle restaurant.

We made it to Fort Worden just after 3 pm. While we were in line, I bumped into last year's FestMates, Ellen, Lani, Julie and Kim. It was nice to see that everyone was able to make it back. On the way out of registration, we made a new and memorable friend, Andrea. Andrea managed to snag a spot 10 days before the start of Artfest, and had been feeling overwhelmed. We received a couple of hugs, gave out some words of encouragement, and went to check out our room in dorm 225.

Dorm 225 was soooo much nicer than 202. It had regular bathrooms - no banging knees on the stall doors. It also had two individual shower stalls. There was no having to sign up for a time slot to take a shower in the morning.

We made jewelry with gut (sausage casings) the first day. The instructor Melissa Manley said all the gut tended to make the room smell like wet dog. I didn't smell wet dog, but I did think the classroom smelled like brine. I stuck some gut against a window, and made parchment.

On the second day, I took Michael DeMeng's transparency class. The class was held in the Art Asylum. I burned some transparencies with a lighter, and made a shadowbox that holds a photo of my grandfather, my father, and myself.

Our last day was taught by Susan Lenart-Kazmer, another jewelry class. The class was difficult for me, but Maya took to it like a fish in water. She was truly in her element. What I loved about Susan, was her friendliness and willingness to help all of us that are new to jewelry.

We took a nap after class and almost missed dinner. We then headed for a brief tour through the crowded and stuffy Show and Tell. I dropped Maya and her luggage at the front of her doorstep, and drove home so I could see Jeremy play in the midnight draw of the April Spiel.