Spring Market at Calapooia Brewing

May 11, 2024

In May 2024, I got to booth at Janique Crenshaw’s Spring Market at Calapooia Brewing in Albany!

This was my first market in 2024, and over the years we’ve built up a good set up for the booth. I share the booth with my best friend, Angie, who makes adorable sewn plushies and fan art of Strange Planet comics.

Since starting markets in 2022, I’ve changed how I measure success for a market. Of course, I work to make back in sales when I spend on the booth fee. But after that, I try to focus on having fun, making a cute booth that shows off artwork and feeling present with the people who visit our booth. Usually on market days, I find myself talking a lot about my cat, birds, and Studio Ghibli. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to also talk about how much I love painting with gouache or my art classes around Oregon.

Leading up to the market, I worked on making some new items, including these felted and beaded earrings that are sooo cute!

I had two amazing encounters at the Spring Market!

It turned out, I was boothing right next to an artist who had taken classes at The Arts Center when I worked there as the education program director! It’s thrilling to meet students, to see how they’ve grown their art skills, and to become peers in a way as co-boothing artists! Avery creates gorgeous photography, lino cut prints (of cats!!) and jewelry. I bought a pair of earrings from them at this market, and these are actually my favorite accessory right now! See their artwork at @aberrydoesphotos

There was a lot of gushing and huge smiles when @MoodyScribbles came to my booth! They’re an art teacher in Portland and gave me the ultimate compliment telling me that their students used my chickadee illustration to practice drawing birds! Oh my gosh, I can’t even say how happy that makes me, to be connected to arts education like this and find out my artwork was inspirational to students! That’s what we do as artists: copy, compliment, learn and share!