And you think Simon is tough?

I made a comment over at Doctor Anonymous last night. Like me he is no fan of American Idol even though just about everyone else in the universe is addicted to watching some untalented howler attack our ocular innards with their rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama" (for the 400th time I might add) just to have Simon destroy (rightly so) any sense of purpose this poser might have remaining in this life.

I guess the idea is not that foreign to me. This time of year we art carnies are busy filling out and mailing applications to the shows we want to participate in later on this year. In fact the applications for the best Spring shows were actually mailed at the end of last summer and early in the fall. I've gotten my share of rejection letters intermingled with the Christmas cards. Somehow we regret to inform you that you failed again to make the grade outweighs good tidings of great joy.

So the second wave of entry packages are currently being shipped out each carrying the four to five slides requested, the application form filled out in it's entirety, a $25 jury fee, a $225 booth fee, an artist statement, and a SASE with enough postage to return your slides and perhaps one those aforementioned rejection notices. Yes, it's true! We art carnies actually pay others to destroy our self-worth and belief in our talents!

When all was said and done last fall I had participated in nearly 30 festivals that began exactly one year ago this weekend in Florida. I have yet to add up the miles for the tax return but I'll be anxious to see how many miles I put on that van. It was hard work - the hardest I've ever done in my life but I loved almost every minute of it. The hardest part was being away from family for so many days and nights, all on the weekends. I now appreciate cell phones more, campfires after a poor selling day, and the brother and sisterhood of the artists and crafters making the same sacrifices for their talents.

When you don't have much to do this Spring and Summer take a weekend afternoon and attend one of your local art festivals. I promise you won't be disappointed. In fact I will guarantee you'll walk away from the experience with a new appreciation for a newly discovered craft, that is if you take time to talk to that artisan about what they do. Oh, and tell them Bennie sent you!