All’s Fair in Art and War

Or should I say, “All’s County Fair in Art and War?” Yep, it’s time again for the Clackamas County Fair, and although I could have entered the Weird Vegetable competition with my cucumber that recently grew into my door frame, I’ve decided to leave the odd produce to the farmers and stick with the art competition.

Those of you who have been with me for a while may remember I entered the fair last year and suffered through my first ever experience of framing my art, attaching wires to the frames, and basically learning what a pain in the derriere framing is.

But (pun very much intended), I did snag a couple blue ribbons along with the fine farmers who managed to get their zucchini to grow to freakishly enormous sizes (earning the titters of old ladies passing by the exhibit booth). And it was those blue ribbons that gave me the courage to apply for (and get) my first solo show with the Clackamas County Arts Alliance (yay!).

So of course I had to enter again this year. I mean why not? Less than a dollar per entry and the chance for more blue ribbons? Sign me up!

But first, the prep work…ugh. Each entrant is allowed six entries and I knew four I definitely wanted to enter, but there was a little mental debate about the other two. “Gazing Ball’ is one of my favorites, but the colors are so subtle I was worried it wouldn’t stand out to the judges’ eyes. I debated about “Wormhole” even though going abstract is a bit risky for a county fair. I also really wanted to show off “Dying Gaul” and had him set aside for competition.

 

Luckily, the four “definites” were already framed and ready to go, which I guess is the silver lining of not selling any of my works during the solo show (always a bright side, right?). Unfortunately, when I went to put Mr. Gaul into a frame, he didn’t quite fit. White borders at the edge of the drawing looked terrible and I didn’t want to bother with cutting him down to fit. So, as with the Romans, I killed off Mr. Gaul. This meant “Wormhole” was a contender.

As for “Gazing Ball” I decided to get clever. Computer Art is a category at the fair and this includes computer-enhanced artwork. I took my scan of “Gazing Ball” and fiddled with the colors to make them far more eye-catching and loved the results. This not only gave me a sixth entry, but also gets my work into another category which means the chance for another blue ribbon!

With everything framed, all I had to do was show up, fill out tags for my work, and survey the competition. Alas, I showed up too early and there wasn’t much on display yet. However, one girl had some amazing drawings (Drawing is another of the art categories). She looked fairly young and I kept hoping she was entering into the junior competition, not the adult. But when the coordinator asked her age, she said “Nineteen.”  Damn, there goes that blue ribbon. Why couldn’t she lie about her age like a proper woman!?

Anyway, the judging takes place in a couple weeks and I’ll find out the results on the 22nd. If anyone is planning to attend the fair, you can submit a vote for People’s Choice…and maybe move that girl’s drawings over to the junior side of the gallery? Hmm? For me? Thanks!

Have a great weekend everyone! And feel free to share any weird veggie stories you may have.