Some three or four weeks ago, I finally made up my mind to enter a few pieces of my work into the Indiana State Fair.
Having a long history of familial involvement with all things “fairground,” the entry process was loaded with more emotion than one may think reasonable for such an event. I mean, after all, it’s the place you go to eat deep-fried Snicker’s bars, drink sugary Lemon Shake-Ups and eat corn-on-the-cob on a stick dripping with butter, and shuffle around manure in smelly barns, trying to keep the straw from poking through the straps of your sandals.
But, once upon a time back in my adolescent Illinois days, I entered myself in the Georgetown Fair. I didn’t enter an item. I entered me – in the queen competition. And I won. Really. So, I got my 15 minutes of fame and my picture in the local paper with Governor Big Jim Thompson (now, that dates me!).
Fast-forward a bunch of decades (I’m not telling how many) to 2009. The hunger to win again has visited, this time in search of a ribbon and some cash in place of a crown. And I entered ITEMS this time: three pieces of jewelry and one small sculpture (I was warmly encouraged by my former metalsmithing instructor Marilyn Smith at the Indianapolis Art Center – nice).
Out here on a limb, I’m posting three of the four items I entered (forgot to photograph the final pendant before I entered it! It’s from the Lavanessence Series and has an Akoya pearl and a touch of recovered gold). Do you have a favorite from the three? I’d like to know!
If you are in the area, the Indiana State Fair opens August 7 and runs through August 23. Have a Lemon Shake Up for me!