<br/>2016 Golden Colorado art festival review - "Being in a different state"

Why did I go and do such a thing?

I was curious.
September was empty because the OCCC art festival is gone, and I was on the waitlist for Wichita.
My annual trip to Italy generally takes place in May, slap bang over the top of Mayfest /Blue Dome and Paseo. If those are out, then fall shows it is.
A friend lives in the Denver area -- "free" lodging!

Some of my stuff doesn't make sense there

This is Colorado, and they know nothing about the OSU campus. So about a third of my portfolio spent some time at the Arts at 317 gallery in Shawnee, Oklahoma. (Shawnee is the birthplace of Brad Pitt.) I don't have any mountain shots... Colorado has trees and things, right? So, I scramble and print photos of trees. (heck, I dunno.)

Powering through the Kansas Coma

There's ordinary highway hypnosis, but I-70 west of Salina is some next level stuff. Imagine all the landscape things that you get bored of seeing in Oklahoma -- rolling hills, patches of trees, another little town, and so on. If you wished it all to be gone, Kansas will not only oblige but become an overachiever: There's ground, road, sky. It's as if the video card ran out of memory and couldn't render anything but the basics.Your brain automatically generates thoughts. You try to contain some thoughts going by, but there's nothing for them to bump into -- no hills for them to roll over, no trees or telephone poles for them to get snagged on -- they smoothly whip around and taper toward the vanishing point in your rear view mirror and disappear in rapid succession. The speedometer says 80mph, but without a mote of dust to break the monotony, the landscape seems to lie still. The GPS map requires several pinches to indicate any sense of place, and Kansas reveals itself to be the dormant area lying between memorable experiences.

Arrival: Midnight or 11am?

Point 4 (above): One of my friends lives just northwest of Denver. "Come up to Interlocken, make a left onto Interlocken drive, turn right onto Interlocken circle, go through Interlocken road, and wonder why the hell they ran out of street names."

The next morning: set up at Golden!

I don't want to know what's behind door number two.

Golden is a blanket fort made of rock. Check in was pretty smooth, even though I was pleasantly distracted by the scenery:My booth location. I had a view of the mountains, but this was pretty crappy:My neighbors and I each took turns going to the check-in booth and reminding them that the toilets were too close for comfort.Eventually: success.I forgot to bring my hat, and had to buy another:

The show

Strong turnout, perfect weather, stunning scenery, and good sales given that I'd never done this show before.

Outside the show:

The hardest part about doing an art show in Colorado, is that you're in COLORADO. My home state of Oklahoma does not have this:..or this:..or this:..or a very good selection of this:and other stuff.

Anyway, in conclusion

Very fun! I'll do it again!