HGTV Dream Home 2008

Well, this is as good an occasion as any for me to actually blog about something. You'll notice that my first blog post was months ago, the night I set up my blog. After that, I wondered if anyone would ever read my blog anyway. Months went by without me even thinking about it. Then, a few weeks ago, I found myself reading a few blogs and checking in for new posts from these bloggers, namely Nancy and Andy of Circa Ceramics. So, now I'm figuring, if I, the consummate doubter of blogs, am getting into reading them, certainly someone somewhere will want to read my blog.

One of the first galleries outside of Vermont to carry my work was Gallery Morada, located in Isla Morada, Florida. The gallery is owned and managed by Laurie Wickham, incidentally one of the kindest, most knowledgeable, and generous people I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I had sent her a postcard before my first wholesale show (ACRE Las Vegas) last Spring. She called to place an order before the show, because she was certain that after the show I would be booked up for months! So I got an order, a great compliment to my work, and a much needed infusion of confidence for the upcoming show, all in one phone call. What a lady. Now, Laurie is pretty much my go-to gal when I have questions about the gallery owners' perspective. She is always open and honest, and her opinions have proved invaluable to me over the past year. Laurie is very active in CRAFT, the Craft Retailers Association For Tomorrow, an organization which seeks to bridge the gap between galleries and makers, and promote awareness of American made craft.

About 6 months ago, Laurie emailed me to let me know that HGTV was building their 2008 Dream Home on Isla Morada, and that the designers had come into her gallery to shop for some quality merch to put in the home. We both tried not to get too excited, but they did express an interest in some of my work. Here's where I start bragging. Laurie told me that I was the only artist from outside of Florida whose work they were interested in. Okay, done bragging. (Maybe it's not even a braggable statement; it could just be one more sign that I should be living somewhere of a more tropical persuasion than Vermont. Yes, that's right; I must relocate so that my work will match my surroundings, since I'm not planning on drawing a frozen lake or a snowmobile on my work anytime soon.) But, I digress.

Well, a couple of months went by, and I hadn't heard anything. That was alright; remember, I hadn't gotten excited or anything. These things happen. Around the same time, I had some interest from a magazine that wanted to feature my work in a holiday gift guide, and that fell through. So it goes.

I did eventually hear from Laurie, and HGTV did buy two of my little bird tumblers for the house. And there they are in the photo, in the Master Bedroom Suite. The people who won the house are probably using them as pen holders by now! But, that's okay. They are forever (or as long as the Internet lasts) immortalized on the HGTV website. A little bit of validation is a good thing.