So Much For the After Show
Well, the first of the year rolled in. I can’t remember if I said in my last post, but I made the mistake of coming back to work on New Years Eve… it was a mad house. New Year’s Day, quiet…
With my mom now retired, my mom and stepdad spent the whole month of January in Arizona and … ugh, Texas, so they could smuggle bootleg Stanley Cups across the border in a rented RV. I’m so kidding, they were visiting family in the states and shopping in Mexico– Enjoying her retirement! She even went to Roswell and I had to have her get me souvenirs.
I mention her excitement, because during the whole month of January, it was just my bro, kid, Brodie and I, and we were… home alone 😱. We survived and didn’t kill one another, and had fun mingling with one another. Remember, my other child went back to their home town and has been doing well back at their former school. We all check in with each other.
You might have seen the pictures on social media, but like the first part of the year back in 2021, I had to spend two days off replacing the heater core in my car again. Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as the last time, and I was able to fix it myself this time. Another lucky thing was that I had a garage with a heater this time instead of frozen fingers (Thank you dad!).
With some of my holiday money, I ordered 1000 stickers of the hand print to hand out to anyone who asks and at future art shows when I have art shows.
Once again, Sundance Film Festival came and went. Since one of my kids is still living up here, I took him and my brother with me to walk Main Street on the first Friday night. Sadly we couldn’t get any freebies because if you want free stuff, you have to arrive at the places before sun down.
February
One of the days I had off, I went up Little Cottonwood Canyon. The spot I wanted to check out, I would have to hike/walk to it from a different location (another time)… so I passed it and kept driving up. I tried to get photos of the snow falling on trees at another location, but it was coming too down hard and I couldn’t keep the lens clean, so I continued up the canyon… Big mistake! I was stuck in traffic for 2 hours to head down the canyon, to move 1/2 a mile. The canyon does not need a gondola, it needs alternate lanes.
After finally getting home, the 3 of us watched “Anywhere, Everywhere All At Once” while I put together 5×7’s in mats and sleeves. Plus, during my days off, I would visit a few thrift stores to purchase used picture books to help show my work in 4×6’s… even made special prints to be able to show my panoramic photos in the photo books.
One day off, I asked Keith if he would like to join me in seeing the house built to resemble the house in Pixar’s “UP!” in Herriman, Utah. Maybe one day I can go back to get better photos (especially during sunsets) and get the rights to let anyone own those prints.
On Valentine’s Day, I received an email saying I was invited to sell my photographs at Millcreek Common (the new city building in Millcreek, Utah) on February 17th. So I posted everywhere letting anyone know that this was my first show, and I wanted anyone and everyone to come and visit and support the other local artists and small food vendors.
With my first show in a few days, I was on top of the world. I made sure everything was ready, and if I was missing something, I would bring my little booklet to write notes.
Well, the day before the show, I had a bit of bad luck. Due to poor weather conditions and because the other driver was suddenly stopped at a green light, my car slid into a shuttle minivan a block away from my work. Because the poor design of the ski rack attached to the trailer hitch, it pushed in my radiator and front end, and smashed out the rear window of the other vehicle… otherwise, it would have been a replacement of bumpers for both vehicles. So, I had to have my car towed back to Salt Lake and get a ride home from my brother. I spent that night getting anything else completed before the show in the morning.
Now, since I had no car, I had to get a ride with my brother to the Commons that morning. I was given a table, I prepped my items, and waited for random guests to walk by. I told anyone who saw my post on social media that they were invited to visit.
So after 29 years of my life perfecting my photography, hundreds and hundreds of hours of my free time in the last year working on photos and website from scratch, $100’s+ to get ready… I handed out lots of stickers to the people who visited that day, sold one print (made my money back for entry fee) and my mom, step dad, grandma and Keith (besides my brother who was there selling his art too) were the only ones that showed up…… (And yes I know people have lives)
So once 3PM rolled around, we cleaned up our stuff and headed out. But while sitting there, you think of how to improve anything and everything, I decided how to try and get people to come to future shows by offering new pieces of graphic art using my photography that will not be sold/viewed online and can only be seen/purchased when I have shows. Right now, I have 2 pieces ready for my shows.
Later that evening after the show, I took Keith to get ice cream. On the way back, we stopped at the “Aquarium Temple” in Sandy. For those who don’t know, this… thing, was used by the band U2 during their “360° Tour” in 2011, and the aquarium bought it. So every time we pass it, we sing the former temple song we had to sing as kids in church, because it resembles the many temples that are in this state.
Then another day off, I took Keith to check out a used bookstore in downtown SLC, and to spend time with him. After, we had ramen (Yum!) for dinner since he survived another trimester of school.
I had my car towed to an auto body shop to have an estimate of repair. But that stupid ski holder caused $9000 in damage. So it looks like I have to look for a new vehicle.
Bye Car… Thank you for the memories…. Oh my god, the trip to California for the concert before Covid (which was 4 YEARS AGO!). We had that car packed with 4 people, a dog, all luggage of everyone. Every open space was used somehow… lol
