8 May 2007
Canton and Reorg
Posted by Lady Artisan under: General Rambling .
Went to Canton, Texas–First Monday Trade Days–last week for the first time. The main grounds is six acres of vendors selling literally everything from antiques to junk. I think we walked almost the whole six acres but there was no way to see everything.
There’s also a non-city area (probably close to four or five acres) situated right next to the original six acres that also had vendors. The newer area was apparently
owned by a former mayor who (according to the story I heard) decided to get in on the trade days action so he resigned his position as mayor and bought the acreage next to the main grounds to open up for more vendors. Top that off with three or four smaller grounds with various pavilions and areas set up for vendors and you have several weeks worth of shopping available. Except they only open once a month, Thursday through Sunday before the first Monday of the month (they no longer stay open on first Monday).
The town was pretty and the people were really pleasant. We ran into very few people that weren’t friendly or that didn’t bend over backwards to help us. We had a terrific time, even dealing with rain and thunderstorms on Thursday. And I came away with quite a bit of inspiration (especially on the doll front) and several items that I couldn’t pass up because I could see using them in some creation or other.
My favorite places, however, had little to do with the main trade days areas. There was a home decor shop called Paul Michaels that I really loved. Tons of candlesticks (those oversized ornate ones that I bought a few of because they look like excellent sculpture/doll bases), decorative boxes, cabinets, shelves, wall decor, etc. Lots of goodies at great prices (especially the half-off stuff).
Another little shop I liked was, I think, called Richard’s Warehouse, or something like that. It was all iron and metal–wrought iron decorations, hooks, garden trellises, etc. plus those decorative tin tiles (like they used to use for ceiling tiles) which are becoming very popular home decor items. Oh, and they had conchos–those decorative button-like pieces that people use to spruce up their horse gear. I got a few of those because they looked like they’d make wonderful book closures (attach one to the front and then have a ribbon or fabric attached to the other cover that loops over the concho).
My favorite eatery was a little place on the main square. It was decorated in a sort of French Country style but with lots of Texas accents mixed in. Surprisingly, this worked just fine. They could only seat about 20 or so people but the food was delicious. And they had the best waiter/server. This guy was young but he was very attentive and he handled all the tables plus any walk-in/take-out customers.
All in all, we had a fun and productive time in Canton. But, then, we came home…
And I realized that I have to reorganize my studio area. I, naturally, did some thinking and reevaluating while away from home, family, kids (funny how well you can think when you’re away from your children). I realized that I have got to start focusing on one or two “specialties” if I want to really develop my skills and figure out marketing these items. At least, I think that’s what’s going to work best for me. So I’m rearranging my studio area and sort of splitting it into an area for dolls/sculptures and an area for bookmaking. Mark’s been helping me build up so I can take advantage of the high ceilings in the Florida room, instead of spreading out more as I accumulate more supplies. We’re going to add a few shelves on the walls (what little wall space there is since the room has windows all the way around and sliding glass doors on two walls) and we’ve attached shelves on top of two of the three dressers I have in there. I want to add a smaller cabinet on top of my paper/book tools cabinet and consolidate most of my bookmaking supplies there. Then just set up one of my large tables for working on paper and books and the other for sculpting. We’ve done quite a bit already but I still need to move one dresser and then do a massive clean out and reorg. Lots to do but, hopefully, once I get this resettled, I can start working my KS Project back into my art schedule.
