It was such an honor to be invited to apply to the MFA Artisan event and being accepted was the highlight of my time as an artist. This was just the 3rd year for this show and I congratulate the MFA on taking this step.
My day started out a bit frantically as I had left (of all things) my Square chip card reader 
at home and had to send my husband back up 128 to grab it when I was about 15 minutes into the ride at 6AM! The real fun began carting our displays through the inner sanctum of the MFA to 
arrive at the beautiful atrium known as the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard famous for its incredible Chihuly installation of the Lime Green Icicle Tower. It was a perfect day with a touch of winter in the air – and the MFA members appeared exactly at 9AM ready to buy! I met visitors from Panama, Italy, China, many Asian countries and had many engaging conversations with people that have landed in Boston for education and their careers from all over the world.
There was genuine interest in the work and fascination about sea glass. Truly, the range of conversations convinced me that if you haven’t grown up on the coast…and in particular the northeast or perhaps the northwest, it’s likely you really don’t know much about sea glass and its history. The more mature crowd was delighted to find hair accessories and the younger crowd enjoyed learning how to use them! Hair forks, combs, and barrettes won the day. Considering that my own quest to find hair accessories motivated me to start this art-business, I was truly vilified yesterday! Everyone was engaged and genuinely interested in supporting the artists and the MFA (and they loved the 10% member discount!) The staff and volunteers were immensely supportive and the fellow artists were lovely – though not much time to meet everyone.
The day flew by, sales were good, but the overall quality of individual that browsed or purchased was exceptional. I only wish we had a second day and perhaps that will come in the future. These photos are worth 1000 words!
