. ܁₊ ⊹ . ܁ ⟡Pumpkinfest & An Art Show⟡ ܁ . ⊹ ₊ ܁.
Well, hi there, friends! It has been an absolutely gorgeous fall week and weekend and days like today have me forever in love with October. My hubby and I celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary on Tuesday and we just drove around looking at all the fall colors, stopped at a few markets, and found a few thrift/antique stores to sift through. We successfully located a bronze piece for our anniversary collection, but it was WAY trickier than we thought, as almost everything that looked bronze ended up being brass!
Friday, we packed up and drove the family to Northville to visit my piece “Pathogen” that was a part of the Northville Art House’s Off Center exhibition. THAT was a heck of a turn out. I received an email the day after the reception saying that over 240 people were in attendance that evening! This was a juried show and my piece did not win any sort of accolade BUT I was actually humbled to be a part of this show… there was a LOT of incredible art involved and as I reflected, I realized that all the winners were AT LEAST 10 years older than I was… They deserved their awards and I have lots to learn. (╥ ᴗ ╥)
We also hit up Pumpkinfest Saturday which is a huge to-do in our town. I’m always so surprised by how many people flood our tiny town. The festival has the farm market, lots of vendors, lots of yummy food, pumpkin carving and pet costume contests, and a pumpkin hill rolling competition. It is all a lot of fun, everyone gets all dressed up, and this year was absolutely perfect weather UNLESS you were a vendor, then the wind was probably ridiculous. I vended for this event two years ago and I remember it being EXTREMELY hot that day! I keep thinking I need to figure out a few permanent annual vending events to participate in, but it may end up being larger events, like oddity expos! (It’s going to be a lot of work so I’m still only playing around with the idea, but as social media has become so erratic, I need a new way of getting my art physically out in the world.)
I DID finish Frankenstein by Mary Shelley… I do not have a lot of positive things to say about the novel, honestly, and I’m so sorry to Mary Shelley because I really did admire her. But after knowing more of her personal history and then rereading Frankenstein… I have so many issues. I also wasn’t sure I wanted to continue my gothic novels after Frankenstein because it totally drained me BUT after doing a little research, and wanting to stick with some spooky titles for the season, I have decided to read Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu which is an 1872 gothic novel about a sapphic vampiress that actually predates Dracula… so please don’t be as whiny as Frankenstein.
Photo captions-Cover photo: Tuesday fall market excursion. Photo 1: The fam at Pumpkinfest yesterday! Photo 2: Dahlias I bought from a vendor at Pumpkinfest, they were absolutely stunning. Photo 3: ACWL’s pumpkin carving contestants. I am always blown away but I LOVED the anglerfish jack o’lantern and may have to try to make one this year! Photo 4: Usually a rest stop bathroom has swear words on it but MINE said “You got this. Keep going!” (˶ˆᗜˆ˵) Photo 5 & 6: Us at Northville’s Art House, we didn’t end up doing the cool cemetery tour due to timing! But there were LOTS of people in attendance and it was fantastic to see! Photo 7: A piece that I really liked from the Off-Center show, titled “Little Me, Bad Habit” by Detroit artist Tia Nichols Photo 8: Ya girl next to her piece in the art show ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂)⸝♡ Everyone’s work was SOOOO good, I loved being next to such talent! Photo 9: My decorations, YES I finally put them up! Photo 10: I’ve been rewatching Gilmore Girls this season & I’m HOOKED. I really love rewatching it and actually understanding all the witty quips and banter… I however HATE how toxic I now realize every character is in the show >ᴗ< My girls knew how much I loved it & got me an adult coloring book with actual scenes from episodes! Photo 11: We set up our projector outside and watched Coraline with blankets and hot chocolate and it was honestly the perfect night; we plan on doing it again very soon! I wish I could convince my fam to let me do a Kanda’s 31 Days of Halloween movie marathon… But I’m also one of those people that like the VANILLA Halloween movies (˶˃𐃷˂˶) A little creepy=fine… blood & guts & things that will show up in my nightmares=No thanks. Photo 12 & 13: My kitchen menagerie is ready for spooky season too! Photo 14: A giant slug found on Ozzy and I’s morning walk! Photo 15: The most perfect giant wicker pumpkins you will ever see in your life…
So this upcoming week, I will be working a little bit more at preparing for the Art by Kanda’s pop-up event happening this Sunday at the Frauenthal Center in Muskegon! I am super excited and SUPER nervous as I haven’t done a pop-up in at least a year. I’ve made new items like collage bookmarks, my creepy cute Barbie Bears, restocked a few prints, and will have a weird variety of spooky-themed goodies! I ALSO was invited to be a judge for the COSTUME CONTEST which is happening during the Addam’s Family movie screening (movie starts at 3 pm) and I’m so, SO jazzed to participate! I’ve even made a tiny art bundle for the winner! I hope you can come out and say hi! And if you come up to my booth and tell me you read my blog, I will literally give you a free sticker! Okay… until then, behave babes!
xxx-Kanda𓆩^._.^𓆪
