Reflecting on Home & Garden shows, art shows and trips to Florida to New Mexico, January-March 2017

It may only be mid March but David and I have already covered more than 5,000 miles this year, introducing my art to new fans and collectors!

It started with a trip that was a bit closer to home, the Austin Home & Garden Show, held Jan. 12-15 at the Convention Center in downtown Austin. This was our first H&G show and we loved making new fans in the Austin area. I've been following up with several potential collectors of my work who were kind enough to leave their contact information. As you may know, my wildflowers are such a natural fit for homes and offices in this area!

A few weeks later, we were packed up and on the road again, this time headed to West Palm Beach for the Artnado show.  Feb. 11 and 12 we were set up at the South Florida Fairgrounds Expo Center and met art lovers from the area. This was only the second year for the show and the traffic was not as good as what we would have liked but we've been doing this long enough to know that you just never know what to expect. While the show was a bit disappointing, the trip there and back was awesome and, as always, I found inspiration along the way. Especially enjoyed walking on the beaches along the Gulf Coast and getting to see manatees in Florida.

We were barely back home when we were packing up again. This time we took a short trip down the road for the San Antonio Home & Garden Show held in the Alamodome Feb. 24-26. Since we did the Austin one, we decided to give SA a try. Again, made some great contacts. On a side note, I also reconnected with several old friends from my hometown of Floresville! What a treat to see "kids" I graduated with, "kids" I later had in art classes when I taught in the public schools there, people that I knew from when my family had a ceramic shop in Floresville and other friends from years gone by Talk about a blast from the past!

A few weeks later we were packed and on the road again. This time for a return trip to Albuquerque for the Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival held March 10-12. As always, neither the trip nor the show disappointed us. We made lots of new friends and two significant new collectors of my art! Four of my large paintings stayed in New Mexico!

We are back home now and settling in for a bit with no trips planned anytime soon. But that doesn't mean that both David and I aren't busy as ever. He's back to managing our Wildflower Art Gallery in Wimberley while I finish setting up my Casa de Linda Art Studio in its new home, also now in Wimberley (in case you missed it, read about the move in my blog post on Feb. 1).

I've included photos of the paintings that sold as well as a collection of pics from our travels. Thanks for letting me share and for your interest!

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