Murphy

Murphy

Oil on canvas

Commission

The first day of the Mt. Gretna show was a disaster for me.

It is a gorgeous, magical place, a beautiful park surrounded by what I can only describe as troll houses, from the book "Doris & the Trolls." The ones near the park are several stories high, and entry is via narrow, precarious staircases. Flowers and vines grow all up and down the outsides of these homes, and people sat on porches all day, enjoying the art and the show and the comings and goings of the world.

The show is enormous, with more than 250 artists, and the work that I saw was very good.

And people were buying. They were buying hand-decorated bowls ($195 for a 12-incher). They were buying hand-turned pens. They were buying pottery and ceramics and sculpture made of rocks - they were just not buying paintings by me.

There are good shows and there are not so good shows. I have had the good fortune to have several good shows in a row. I hope that the sale-less part of this show was today, and that Sunday, buyers will show up, happy and ready to purchase.

I did meet a ton of very, very nice people, interested, pleasant, willing to share. They loved my work! They just didn't buy.