The 38th Annual Arts And Crafts Show Hosted by Edgewood Presbyterian Church Wrap Up.

First and foremost I want to publicly thank everyone who worked so hard to put this show together. It’s folks like you who make it easier to connect the public with artists and crafters. This was the second time I have been a participant and I’ve been blessed by all the good friends that I’ve made at the shows.

To my readers… I would absolutely love to take you on a photo tour of the show. However, the other artists and independent businesses work very hard to create unique products and services sold at these shows.

Photography inside these events is strictly prohibited to prevent their designs from being duplicated.

When you pour your heart and soul into the creation process it’s devastating to have someone come in and take away your uniqueness without compensation. We all have a limited amount of life’s energy in this world. When an artist creates he/she imparts a portion of the spirit into the piece. Therefore, unjust duplication of the work is a theft of the soul. This is the reason why I only have pictures of my own booth. And why I have done my best to protect the work of my fellow artists and crafters.

The day begins with an early morning drive through rain and fog. The big blue truck was loaded the previous day with prints and products to be sold and displayed. I have podcasts and music loaded into my Amazon Kindle to keep me company during the trek across Sewell Mountain.

The straight stretches on our roads are a bit of a rare thing. Above is a section of route 60 heading into Lavista West Virginia. The stretch here has always felt picturesque to me.

Above is a section of Route 60 on Sewell Mountain is a little more typical for our roads. Not far from this spot is the place where in 1988 I spent several hours stranded in two feet of snow with a dead car battery. There was no mobile phones in those days and the signal from my citizens band radio was too weak to be of any help. I was eventually rescued by another driver with a set of jumper cables. Today’s trip however was without any trouble at all and it’s an absolutely beautiful drive during the peak color of Fall. (In just a few short weeks)

About two hours after I left l finally arrived at the fairgrounds. The amount of straps might seem to be a bit excessive at first but trip to get here is like a rollercoaster. Loading and unloading the big blue truck in the rain is just a fact of life. You may be looking at the jumbled parts and wondering what the heck all that junk is. Well, the 4×4 beam is the heavy base for my display. It has holes drilled into it that the EMT conduit slips into and it provides a counterbalance for the wire frame. The wire frame provides a place where I can hang the pictures for the public to see as they walk through.

Setting up is the hardest part of doing a show. But once you get the hang of it the work goes quickly.

Magnets and Keyfobs are always a good supplement to wall hangings. It gives me a low cost option for those who fall in love with an image but don’t have the wall space or the budget for larger prints.

My wife’s books nearly sold out! From left to right they are… Her nonfiction book about her 12 year long but victorious battle with depression, her Christian Western romance trilogy that follows the main character from age 18 to age 90, and the daily devotional book that we wrote together. (The devotional features my photos as well). If you like to read please visit Angela Dempsey books on Amazon.

Above are some more of the magnets.

The largest draw into my booth was the Wading Willows. I sold out of the smaller prints of this one.

Another big hit for this particular show was theMt. Olivet United Methodist Church on Droop Mountain. Built in 1880 the log cabin style church served as a gathering place for 137 years. Sadly, the river of time dictates that nothing is permanent on this earth and in October of 2017 the logs had finally sucome to rot and termites. The building was removed by the Barnwood Builders TV show. I have heard varying reports about the outcome of the building but I understand that the congregation now has a new building on the same lot.

Overall, the show was a wonderful experience. I have made new friends including a very special woodworker in his 90s. His work was absolutely exquisite and his daughter “Mary” was one of the sweetest people we’ve ever met at one of the shows. I truly enjoyed meeting people in crowd and sharing the stories behind each photo.

If you have these shows where you live then please consider coming out to one and buy from a person who truly cares about the product they make by hand. If you’re local to West Virginia these shows pop up all over in the Spring and Fall which are perfect for buying holiday gifts for your loved ones.

I have a few smaller shows that I might try to get into and as I do I’ll try to share the experience as a bonus post.

For now the show is over and it’s time to load up the big blue truck and head home. The quiet road is covered with the velvet darkness and soft purple glow of fading day calls me home.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. You’re also invited to follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook.

7 thoughts on “The 38th Annual Arts And Crafts Show Hosted by Edgewood Presbyterian Church Wrap Up.

  1. I had no idea that your wife was suffering from depression and that too for 15 years, but I am happy to hear that her struggle was victorious. I am fortunate that it only strikes me in the springtime (SAD) so for the most part of the year, I am fine.

    I completely agree that is so disrespectful to take advantage of artists. I remember just a few months ago on twitter, I saw a blog post that looked similar to mine but I just ignored it and gave the benefit of the doubt. A week or two later many had called her out on her copying other people’s posts… often directly copying and pasted. Needless to say she has deleted her account (apparently she had done this before and said she would change) and I have banned her many accounts. But really I think we should be more assertive because we do as bloggers put a lot of effort into creating our posts, I’m sure it takes great energy and effort to take photographs for your social media, and not worry about people thinking us as paranoid when we have every right to be concerned.

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    1. Thank you Sophia ❤ Angie has said that if her experiences can help one person then it was worth it.
      I was very young and often had no idea how to help. We have come to the conclusion that making a conscious effort to change the thought pattern is the best help. When you repeat an action or a thought over and over it actually changes the nervous system physically. The pathway gets stronger just like working out your muscles.
      The copyright issue was addressed by the art show promoters during set up and just a few days later someone on social media complained about my watermarks ruining the picture. (The Zebra Swallowtail image) So, I decided to work my reply into the bonus post to reinforce my point about digital shoplifting.

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      1. I have found that, in my experience, whenever I start to feel “it” coming, God has shown me something of beauty… I felt disconnected two days ago, and yesterday, I was granted a whole host of people who love me and I find that so wonderful. Positive thoughts help, but God puts them there. ❤️

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