A couple of weeks ago was this year’s Art in the Barn. This was my 5th year at this show and it again proved why I continue to have a booth there. First, it’s all about art. It’s not a festival that also has arts and craft booths; it’s only about artists. No MLMs, no 3D printed toys, no clothing boutiques. It’s just a show of local artists sharing their work. Plus, the fee is super low compared to most local festivals.
It was hot, but that’s to be expected in August. Thankfully, there were clouds, we had shade from some trees, and it even sprinkled for a few minutes on Saturday.
The mom of one of my son’s friends came by and she bought two of my little original paintings. On this photo, she bought the paintings of Sundial Peak in the snow and Mt Timpanogos with wildflowers. I suspect she might want to buy a couple of my larger prints too, but she’s not sure where to put them yet.
I had more than a few people ask me if I had a booth at any other shows, and in all honesty, I want to do more shows. But my kids and their sports schedules don’t really allow for it right now.
There weren’t nearly as many people this year as last year. I have no idea how that was. I had plenty of people reach tell me they had intended to stop by, but forgot or simply weren’t able to make it.
I was happy to have at least three new, large paintings to include among this year’s artwork. First was the painting I did of Lone Peak on a particularly cloudy day.
I finished this next painting back in May while reminiscing about a backpacking trip I did back in 2021 where I got to camp on this beach for a night. Coyote Gulch is such an amazing place. You can read all about that trip here.
The most recent painting I finished this year was from The Wave in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona.
I had the privilege of hiking there last June with friends from Indiana. When we arrived at The Wave around 7am, we were greeted with this puddle with the most amazing reflection. It was serendipitous too because we’d been advised to be at The Wave around noon, when there were the fewest shadows. We got there a couple of hours early and hung around until noon. If we’d waited, we would’ve missed seeing this amazing reflection.
I wrote a blog post about this hike that you can read here.
One woman came back to my booth a few times to hem and haw over my painting. The large, framed one is the original painting. But I showed her that I had an 11x14 and 8x10 print also framed. Alas, she didn’t come back, but I have hope she might find me again next year. I am debating whether I want to paint another version of The Wave, maybe the common one that everyone photographs?
One little thing I’m kinda proud of: these bucket covers! Two years ago, the weather brought us a LOT of wind and overnight, there were some issues with tents blowing into neighboring tents and causing damage to artwork. Last year, they made it a requirement to have at least 40lbs of weight on each tent leg. My husband knew that the cheapest and easiest option was to fill five-gallon buckets with concrete. They’re easy to transport and strap easily to the tent. They aren’t very pretty, so this year I took some measurements and sewed covers for them. There are plenty of options to buy weights online; even ones that can be filled with water. But as we’ve learned, not every festival has the ability for us to fill them up. I just used navy blue duck canvas and I really love how they turned out.
Overall, it was another wonderful Art in the Barn. I have no plans to stop having a booth there, we’re just trying to figure out ways to get more people to come and check it out.
