What I Did On My Vacation

Natchez Monthly Art and Craft events:

  The small group of arts and crafts people gather at the gazebo on Broadway Street on the second Saturday of the month.  Also they do some painting out there.  I visited June 8, 2013, and took my camera and sketchbook.  Another aspect of the day/evening was the art walk in town among some art galleries and stores, which was quite enjoyable.  Some of the artists are nationally known, and also in one gallery there was an auction in the back room.  My weekend trip was just right for me, without tons of traffic but several other interesting visits along with the arts.  I went through an historic home, Magnolia Hall, and also the Natchez Indian museum.  My dining choices ranged from tamale cafes to blues cafes to the mall.  Maybe some month I will return, since they are opening the Broadway Street show to outside artists/crafters. 

Hello all,
  I visited the Peter Anderson Festival on Nov. 3, 2012 in Ocean Springs, MS.  This festival has hundreds of booths every year, and many thousands (perhaps 100,000) visitors.  The weather was perfect, in the mid-
80's, and thankfully there were shuttle buses.  There were a lot of potters and painters, and some other types of booths, plus a fine art contest in the Walter Anderson Museum.  Lots of the artists were from the Coast, and some were from New Orleans and other areas.  The boutique shops and cafes within the area were all available, too.  I wish that I could return every year, but oh, well, I would buy so much.  Nearby are some casinos and condominiums at the beach.  There has been a real boom in residential and commercial development near I-10 which is a few blocks north of the beach.  It was a very pleasant weekend. 

Hello all,

  I went to the Day In The Country event at the Chapel of the Cross in Madison, MS on Oct. 6, 2012.
This annual event is for the upkeep of the Episcopal church at that location.  There were about fifty booths of crafts and a few painters-only, plus an auction booth and a Church Attic booth.  The 63-egg cake is one of the event's yearly specialties, and they sell pieces of it, plus other baked goods, jams and pickles, etc.  The
arts and crafts are good quality, and there was an ample, spending crowd.  The church itself is interesting
to view.  The location is on Mannsdale Road, which is actually part of Highway 463, a well-kept route.
The parking is rustic, in a cow pasture across the road from the booths and church, but luckily the weather was dry.  It was a very pleasant way to spend a day. 

This late summer and early autumn, I have seen a lot of what can be called Pop-Up Events.  They are arts and crafts events, usually in conjunction with garden and plant sales, that are not annual events.  They are often advertised only a few weeks in advance.  They depend on the availability of good weather, plenty of artists, and good location.  Some are successful, some are not.  The ones that are not, seem to have an unreliable list of events and performers.  The local economy has a lot to do with it, also.  So many of these events are on the same weekends, that competition drowns some of them out.  Some are connected with charities, some are not.  It might seem to the organizers that it would be a good weekend for such an event, but then bad weather or just some unforseen reason, inexpliably results in low crowds, low sales.  This is
too bad.  I hope that the arts and crafts events will improve in future months. 

Hello all,
  Actually, I have not been on any trips this year yet.  I plan to go this fall.  So I worked a lot in the spring,
and I have been painting a lot this summer. 

  If you wish to view my website, here it is:

http://www.Artistmlh.webs.com

Back on the road again, folks. I traveled down to the Gulf Coast this fall weekend, just for some fun. I went over to Pascagoula, MS for the Zonta Festival one Saturday. This festival had a good variety of arts and crafts booths, over a hundred, two music stages, and a large, buying crowd.
It helped that the weather was perfect. Also nearby are some hurricane-cottages converted into shops and restaurants. Unique setting for the festival altogether.

Another place I stopped was around Ocean Springs, MS, for their first-Saturday arts and crafts event. This town has boomed with growth since I last visited in 2009, and is still growing. Also along the Coast was the Cruisin the Coast event, with displays of antique cars. The beach was clean and fun to walk along, too. Altogether a marvellous weekend.

Labels: arts, crafts, fall, festival

Hello all, I am back from office work and ready to vace! Today I visited the Crystal Springs, MS Tomato Festival. This is a long-term event at this time every year. There is an art contest in a nearby building, not just for local artists. The festival is on some streets downtown. There was a nice crowd of some thousand or so people, all interested in the crafts and buying some. Personally I thought that there were too many jewelry booths. I enjoyed looking at everything, and I bought a bit here and there. Also they had local produce stands, especially honey and tomatoes. It was a very enjoyable day.