Winter and the Winter Arts Festival

Today is the closing day for the first ever Winter Arts Festival in the Jersey Shore Arts Center.  The plan for today called for a brunch and Open Studio tour, plus some performances of music, dance, etc.  That the forecast called for possible snow should not be surprising for two reasons- this winter being what it has been, and Belmar scheduled their annual St Patrick's Day parade today.  On parade day, you have a better than average chance of getting winter precipitation, snow, sleet, hail, freezing rain.  Don't know why, it just works out that way.  Going out this morning it was cloudy and cold.  Looking out my window as I was getting ready to drive to Ocean Grove, the same.  As I reached my front door, snow flurries.  Reached my car, heavier flurries.  Stopping for gas, snow starting to stick a bit.

I reached the Studio about a half hour before noon, getting a spot in the parking lot.  Inside, the building was getting ready.  Tables and chairs (above) had been set up in the main hall, with microphones and speakers by Molly's art for a later performance.

Food was being prepared in the lunchroom, which would eventually be served in the vacant classroom #4.  Eggs and sausages in steam trays, along with bagels, muffins, danishes, plus juice and coffee.  Something about steam trays of eggs and sausage seemed familiar.  Oh yeah, I made a print about it a few years ago.

Brunch done, I headed down to my space.  Moved the last few boxes off my table and got to work.  I brought with me the current supermarket block.  Had my tools as well, but never got to use them.  I decided that I should fix the parts of the drawing that I wasn't satisfied with before I cut anything else.  Also, I actually had some visitors.  Around 15 people, arriving in groups of 1 to 3, wandered in over the two hours I was in my space.  Lots of questions about the process.  Everyone seemed impressed.

I had been told that performances would be going until around 3 pm, so I figured that was also a good time for me to leave.  Changes made to the block include redrawing the female figure in the upper left corner, making her a little smaller so as to look a little further back.  I also completely reworked one of the shopping carts on the right side, creating a needed gap in the long diagonal line from the cart corral to the painted parking lot line.  Not necessarily done with either part, but the above photo shows the progress.

Thanks to the large windows installed in the Studio a few years ago, as I worked and talked to visitors I could monitor the weather situation.  Over the course of the event, the flurries had become a steady accumulating snow, leaving about an inch of white on top of everything. By 2 pm it had started shifting over to sleet and freezing rain.  Plows and salt trucks had time to clean up the roads a bit, so I put away my stuff and headed home around 3:00.  Brendan was estimating the overall number of visitors at maybe 150, no doubt boosted by families of the performers, but still pretty good for a day like this.  I believe they were satisfied with the festival, but I made a recommendation for next time.  Maybe go with a Not Winter Arts Festival.  Maybe we'll get some real crowds.