Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Flame Tree

Last weekend was an all-star time as we participated in the 27th annual Flame Tree Arts Festival. There were artists' booths, local food vendors, contests (e.g. coconut husking, watermelon eating), and a stage for bands and cultural dancers.
My booth was 10 feet wide x 20 feet deep. I divided it into a front section for display and a rear section for VIPs. I showed 12 originals and had 20 prints made from 5 of those. My friend and fellow artist Greg Elliott (www.elliottartwork.com) printed and packaged them in his apartment (and did an awesome job). I also had airplanes/windtoys made of plastic bottles and aluminum cans for sale. The VIPs got cool water mist, ice and water refills, beer, and a chance to sit in the shade.
The weekend was such a blast, just sitting there mingling with new and old friends. The festival went from morning until late night and was a great party. I sold two originals and several prints and airplanes, and made a bunch of money (I broke even, that is).
My booth neighbors were a Carolinian group from the nearby island of Yap. They made me a palm hat that we passed around (see photos, including my friend Frank from the lab at the hospital, who initially encouraged me to participate).
I didn't take as many pictures of the festival as I would have liked. If you're interested, my friend Jack Hardy has lots on his website www.photographypeople.com
















April





March

In March, we celebrated Easter and Nicholas's 5th birthday. For his party, Nicholas chose to invite a few of his guys to ride go-carts around the course at the Marianas Resort. We then moved to the beach for pizza and cake.
Nicholas stumbled into a light post one Thursday at the street market and split his head open. We took him to the ER where I put three stitches in. (I'll spare you the gory and unflattering--for me--details of that experience). It was the fourth episode for Nicholas to require stitches or staples in his head/face...a real boy.


A common routine of ours that we hope to never take for granted is an afternoon at Micro Beach. I meet Kim and the kids after work, and we have happy hour, play in the ocean, and watch the sunset together.





February

Kim and her friend Bev played in a weekend-long 2-on-2 beach volleyball tournament. They did great against formidable opponents that included professional teams from Japan and Guam. This sunset game was a nail-biter that Kim and Bev won in dramatic fashion.
In March, Kim's indoor team, the "Yo-Yo's", won the indoor women's tournament. The championship match was postponed when the power went out in the gym during the second game. They claimed victory the next week.