A couple weeks ago when I was teaching my Stitched Graffiti class, one of the students brought in a copy of this book - The Art of Whimsical Lettering. I don't often buy new art books these days but I liked the look of this so decided to treat myself.
It's full of some fabulous ideas for using lettering creatively... The sort of thing I can happily lose several hours over! I decided as this was my last weekend of Open Studios I wouldn't let the lack of interest in my first Open Studios weekend get me down and in a fit of enthusiasm I made a special menu of the cake and cordial available.
And then I got totally absorbed and carried away and made a wrapper for my collection tin too.
By the end of Saturday I wondered why I had bothered... Seven hours sitting around all day for just three visitors! Don't get me wrong, those three visitors were very nice and very much appreciated... But three? Really? I'd thought twelve in a day on the previous weekend was pretty poor given that in all the time I've done Open Studios I've averaged twenty five people a day. Suggestions that it might have been the weather/school holidays/Wimbledon/formula one/Tour de France etc didn't really go far to explain what was happening because Cambridge Open Studios always takes place over four weekends in July, so it always coincides with school holidays and Wimbledon etc. and in ten years I've seen every cold, hot, wet and windy weather combination you can imagine. It just felt utterly soul destroying. But I got up this morning and being a bit like Tigger, always ready to bounce back, I decided to follow my own advice...
Which was just as well, because today the house was buzzing! Visitor numbers were still lower than usual but there was a constant trail throughout the day. People stopped to chat, asked interesting questions and have booked on my classes. They sat and ate cake, talked to each other, patted the dog, gave generously to my charity box... And have even bought art! It has lifted my mood and I'm not quite ready to give up yet.
After all... I've got my new lettering obsession to keep me occupied now!