Charlevoix

     Art festivals don't always go as planned. You don't plan on selling so much the previous show that you have to scramble to get to the next show. Which we did and arrive fried. Or maybe you do plan on that, I do think pretty regularly: what happens if I sell that, then what will I do? You don't plan one show you plan a succession of them. These parts of the gig suck your soul and exhaust you. In the back of your mind your plan for bad weather, but you hope you don't have to deal with it. You try not to think what if something bad happens when you are away from home. 

     I have done Charlevoix on and off since 2004. You enjoyably drive around Lake Michigan, cross the Mackinac Bridge, spend some time in the UP. On the beaches you look for fossils and get some rare relaxation. The show sometimes is like a paid vacation which is why some artists do shows-make enough money to go someplace cool and experience something you wouldn't otherwise. There are just things to do and see that make Charlevoix unique as a show. The affluent boating culture is a turn off but the quaint no big box downtown is like going up north when I was a kid. I see families experiencing a vacation in a way that is healthy. You are in town at the seasonal high point, a time when most of the country is sweltering in the heat of the dog days of summer and you are happy to be up north. The show is run very well and the area supports it nicely. With all the transients you never know who you are going to sell to or meet. I see some of the same people year after year and have built friendships, but mostly it is a new crowd of vacationers. This makes the show a little more surface level than most of the other ones I do.

     Bad weather is part of this. We sign up for it, and have to make our peace with it. We jumped in Lake Michigan after a brutally hot set up. We camped and it was too hot to sleep, which made the show really draining. With the extreme heat, people came out early like always and then it became a trickle. In the heat people don't engage as much. They don't linger, they are not as curious, they don't take as many cards, and I don't have as many good conversations. People are on a mission to get through it and back into the air conditioning. The show drags on. It was good enough but tiring.

     Then at the end chaos. A storm rolls in. You manically bust your ass to get everything down and then out of the rain. It is stressful. You never know what a storm will bring. I have experienced and seen enough to know you don't want to be in this situation. But we get it done and have a nice meal. Things cool off and we sleep well. Unfortunately we wake up to find the storm flooded Milwaukee and our family is one of the victims. 

    Suddenly a day on the beach turns into a helpless and distracted day. We want to go spend a night in the UP, but settle for a walk on the beach and a long drive home. Our family lost their entire basement in the flash flood. All day long we hear stories of the disaster. We get home to a swollen rain gauge and a wet but okay basement. We host Katie's Mom's funeral in 6 days. Art seems very distant. Sometimes this is just how it goes. Things pile up and you just find a way to get through them. And we did. We hosted the funeral service in our barn as a ferocious thunderstorm nailed us. It was a deeply emotional and memorable ceremony. And then we crashed. Two days later I am painting in the heat over by the Mississippi River, my happy place, just trying to get centered. Trying to find some peace, trying to make my way through another blur of an art show season.

Ann Arbor aftermath

 Ann Arbor was a great show for Katie and me, and it almost always is. Unlike most shows, Ann Arbor draws serious people from a very wide swath. All of Southern Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, even Chicago and Cleveland. The weather at the show cooperated and I spent the last few weeks being overwhelmed and confused. No confusion about Zingermann's Roadhouse though, that is all good. 

Part of me never wants to do this again. I am physically and emotionally spent. It is increasingly difficult to keep this pace up, which I didn’t want to do this year, and I feel creatively drained. The work feels formulaic to me at times. It is harder and harder for me to drive around in rural America and be motivated. America is ugly, and has gotten much worse in my lifetime. Science and technology make it worse. Our addictions to cheap food, cheap houses, and cheap solutions, wears me down. Many days I come home upset by the lack of craft, thought and beauty. Its hard seeing people get rich off of it too. Furthermore, our deep political divisions only add fuel to the fire.This is not how I want to spend the rest of my life: feeling down.

Then there is a part of me that loves what I do. Painting plein air always makes me happy, even when I fail. All the cool people that I meet keep me going. As much as I dislike the world around me, I at least try to light a candle, even if I do curse the darkness. I am proud of that. I see what most people put in their homes, I know I am giving people something different, authentic, sincere and aspiring to be beautiful for their homes, and that feels good. And it is rare. Unquestionably, I put my heart into it. So I am torn as to what to do next. Right now the thought of painting the Mississippi River or Lake Michigan or the woods makes me most excited.

Lately I have been thinking about what 19 year old me would think of this. It started when a couple of women in their 20’s came into my booth, separately, and cried because the work emotionally got to them. 19 year old me says “see I was right the whole time!”. I feel fortunate that I stuck with that initial inarticulate rejection of dominant culture and have refined it. That I focused on finding beauty for my whole adult life. For me though, it is still hard to separate 19 year old abrasive scrawny dirty me and 47 year old me. I recently sat down with a big strapping fireman and his beautiful wife who had come to town to see me, it is hard to imagine that ever happening to me. The whole thing is like a dream. Like aren’t you people going to make fun of me and be mean at some point like when I was in high school? I think about dropping 19 year old me into many of these situations and wonder how that shit kid would have totally flaked out. Like, I act weird enough as it is, but imagine Napoleon Dynamite with long hair, that was me. Sometimes, sadly I still act that way, and yes you should make fun of me for it. I guess I deal with my success by finding ways to not think about it. Being successful makes me uncomfortable(I am Lutheran), but I do cherish people telling me about a painting they bought from me at some point and that they value it. Thank you everyone for that and for helping me grow up.

Schedule updates and more of the same

 So after saying I wasn't going to do this again, I did, and here I am again in the middle of it. I needed to get something financially squared away before I could slow down and with the uncertainty of a new/old regime I felt I needed to push forward. Three shows into it this year and festivals feel the same except I feel more love and poignancy at them than before. 

In Chicago there was a nationwide protest against the president and you could feel that things were off. From what I heard about the protest in Milwaukee that weekend it effected the show more there than in the windy city. Other than that I must confess I really enjoy being in Chicago for the Old Town Art Fair. Growing up with a cultural bias against people from Illinois(FIBs), you aren't supposed to like Chicago. I never even traveled there until I was a freshman in college for a school field trip to the Art Institute, pretty unbelievable for someone living 90 miles away from one of our nations largest cities. I was so immature I lasted about an hour at the museum and then walked around the city for hours on my own vaguely wondering towards the Sears Tower. The next field trip a semester later, I was rocked to the core-an art history class and some teachers helped. I never made it out of the second floor before we had to get back on the bus. The paintings just destroyed me. Over time I have come to enjoy the Old Town neighborhood, the feel of the show and yes the people of Chicago. Turns out I have more in common with them than the place I grew up. Don't get me wrong though, I still hope the Cubs lose every remaining game and the traffic and tolls can stick it, but it is just amazing how you can be brought up to believe something when it clearly isn't true. Perhaps it is a stubbornness that we think where we come from is better than other places. People make a place, whether we like it our not. At the art festivals I get so many truly wonderful moments that I lose track of them. I have been too busy the last few months to write them down, they turn into a blur and become forgotten which is regrettable. When people come up to me just to say hi, to show me a picture of their painting they bought years ago, it really does mean a lot to me. I think of myself as an artist everyday, I can't shut that off ever until I die. But I don't think about the paintings I have sold or that people like what I do. I think about making the next painting or creative project. I forget about being Andrew Clair Fletcher. When I go out, I spend a lot of time processing how different I am from everybody. If I am at a bar or restaurant, gas station, an estate sale, fishing with my nephew, it can be difficult for me seeing other people and the decisions they make. I am grateful I can go to Chicago and feel welcomed and supported for being me. Sometimes I feel like my only home is at an art festival.

Des Moines was hot and sweaty and I was worn out. It was an okay show, Chicago made me scramble, and I was just happy to get to the show. Wearing polyester from the 70's on the pavement with heat indexes of 100 is a questionable decision. Aside from one of my favorite bars-The High Life Lounge, the show is about the people and the moments. Old Town and Des Moines are both very well run shows that make your experience easier. Old Town is a neighborhood, Des Moines is a city, a city coming together. Maybe it is a city banding together against the rest of the state right now, but it is a place where you feel unity. On the drive home Katie and I listed off our top ten moments of the show. So rarely is it ever about when you sold your biggest piece. It is usually about the people that bought it. It's the woman with a 4000 sq foot garden. The man whose little son brought his puppet to the show. It's connecting with people that speak your language, that dig what you are saying. You feel so blessed to have those experiences that carry you forward.

I am off to Ann Arbor this week, my body is sore and I want to quit this and move on to the next phase of my life, but I am enjoying the hell out of everybody. Thank you. These are two of the paintings I am bringing with.

We will be doing the Plaza Art Fair  in Kansas City, September 20-22

Also Oct 19th and 20th we will be having an opening at our gallery. The show will be called Fresh Fish, and will be all our fish drawing and paintings, along with setting up our booths with whatever paintings we have left, more announcements about this to come.

Being at an art festival in May of 2025

 If you focus on all the negative and uncertainty going on in the world you would miss the good that is still out there. Being our first show we didn't know fully what to expect but I had hope, some new old clothes, no alcohol and a winter's full of work. I was stressed out some, just because if things went bad that could mean a bumpy road this summer, not just for me but for every working artist I know. No, my department wasn't slashed, my overseas market didn't suddenly shrivel up, and I am not in fear of losing job because I don't have one. The show however, did not go bad. It wasn't crazy good, it wasn't a free-for-all, it was a good art festival.

Being at a good art festival makes me feel good. I watch people walk by, and even if I am in the back of my booth, I am paying attention the best I can. In KC I saw people being nice to each other, families leisurely enjoying the day together. I didn't see an abundance of status, the cold distance of corporate culture, or the phoniness of people out to be seen. Brookside is a neighborhood, and that is how it felt to be there. You felt part of a community, part of something valued, something healing, something worthwhile. That said, we were there to make money and we made enough. I also saw other artists make enough. And honestly, that felt good. 

Sometimes, and yes even at this show the surface level nature of many artists work upsets me and I am not good at hiding that. But I also walk around and see my friends, I see good art. I see good people. Talented people. And the thing is most of us want to help each other out, help out younger artists and students. We want to feel like we have something to offer and we want people appreciative enough to except what we creative people bring to the world. Too often in our world everything is about the individual, and I feel that most of know deep down that is wrong. At most of the art festivals I do, one feels very human. Very connected and even vulnerable. It's just people out walking around and talking, observing, discerning the best they can. And I am part of that process. Presenting something hopefully good. Hopefully thoughtful, sincere and skilled. It feels good to be part of the group and you feel like you are doing something positive to get us through the tenuousness of life.

I'll repeat this: being at an art festival makes me feel good. Thank you to the people putting on the Brookside Art Annual who made us feel welcome. Thank you to the people of the Kansas City and from parts further that attended the show. I needed you and you were there for me.

2025 Show Schedule etc...

 

We are excited to announce we are showing some work at Edgewood Orchard Gallery in Door County, as I was looking for a place to show paintings too big for me to take on the road or hang in our gallery. These are the two paintings I gave them for the summer, they are 36x60". Katie has work there too.

Due to economic uncertainty we are doing more shows than we would like to do. Can't say I am very pleased by this. Having to deal with death and an unstable political situation has not made for a fun winter, but I know I am not alone and because of my success as an artist, I am in fact very fortunate. I have kept my head down, tried to get as much work done as possible. We are both pretty worn out from the last few years, so we are just trying to get through this the best we can. We didn't have time to get a new website for our gallery and at this point are unsure if we will have a show here this summer because we just don't know how things are going to go. As of now until I catch up, I will not be posting anything online. If anyone feels like contacting me to see what I have available, they can, I have plenty of new work. Anyone is always welcome to visit the gallery, which is even more awesome with a serious record player. 

For almost all my adult life, I have voted with my money. I buy local, I buy American, I try to support sustainable practices that are good for the land even if that means I pay more. My supplies for these paintings are mainly all American products. My wood is repurposed. I feel good about these decisions and with my life course even if it feels like I am swimming upstream some days. I hope in these uncertain times that those that can afford to support me continue to do so. I can honestly say I have been giving this everything I have, even when I am tired, in a bad mood or just wishing I could be fishing with my nephew. This is my show schedule as I know it so far, more may be added. I look forward to seeing everyone again! No really, you are all a big part of my life and I thank everyone for all the fun I have had over the years.

Brookside Art Annual May 2,3,4 Kansas City, MO

Old Town Art Fair June 13,14 Chicago, IL

Des Moines Art Festival June 27-29 Des Moines, IA

Ann Arbor Art Fair July 18-20 Ann Arbor Michigan

Charlevoix Waterfront Art Fair August 9, Charlevoix, MI

St James Court Art Festival, October 3-5, Louisville, KY

Yes, I am still alive and painting

  Thank you to everybody that helped make 2024 a very successful year for me, and yes I do mean that. I understand I am very blessed to be given the opportunities and realities of my life.

After having an outstanding show season, an amazing grand opening of our gallery and even a happy drunken birthday, everything came to a screeching halt a few days later. In less than a weeks time a convicted felon got elected president and Katie's Mom suddenly passed away. I avoid the news and politics, but it upsets that a qualified woman seemingly cannot get elected president in our country. So many stupid things would have never happened if only a woman were in charge. Well, so that week sucked ass, and we are still recovering from the shock of the death of a loved one. 

For the first time I think I got tired of being Andy Fletcher. A hell of a lot of fun but overwhelming. Some things need to change, and that of course won't happen all at once. I am not sure what shows I am doing next year yet, other than the shows I won awards at or was asked to come back to, and that is enough to fill the year and keep me busy. 

After the loss of Katie's Mom we took a trip out west, all the way to the pacific and mainly not on the interestate. I am searching and prodding to find a different version of myself. I want to be able to express other things. So here is some of what I have been working on. Some newer themed, some same old same old.

I will get some new available work up this winter, and maybe even a website for our gallery. We are just behind after being dealt a major blow. 

Thanks again and may all have a healthy new year.

Plaza Art Fair Cancelled

 Hello Everyone. First I regret to say that I cancelled The Plaza Fair this weekend in Kansas City. I have had one killer show after another this year and a wonderful gallery opening and well...  I finally had enough. St Louis was great and I came home did everything I could do to get to Plaza and could have went; however, I think it might have caused me a mental or physical breakdown. So I listened to my body and cancelled my first show in like 12 years. 

I enjoy the shows immensely. They usually go well, I am comfortable being myself, people generally are very positive and they usually seem to enjoy being at an art festival. Oddly at an art show, I can be in a crowd of strangers and feel in control. You feel special, and I am very very honored that people emotionally respond to what I do. It has just gotten overwhelming and in some ways I am almost embarrassed. People let me in their lives, somehow I break through the superficial nature of our culture and connect in a meaningful way. I deeply love that. But I also take it seriously and it is a lot of experiences to process. I need to slow down. Things are beginning to blur together. Who are you again? Oh yeah you spent thousands of dollars on me and I barely remember. That bothers me. I stopped traveling outside the Midwest because that got too much. I have so little time to think, or not think about anything other than painting or being Mr. Andy Fletcher. What is the next idea. What happened last week. Where did the summer go. Shit. Don't get me wrong these are better things to think about than politics in a swing state, which only compounds everything. I am very fortunate that my identity is as a creative person and not with a political party, a country, a job, money, status or the Green Bay Packers. Live is good, and I apologize for not being able to make KC. 

We will regroup and make the St James Court Art Festival in Louisville Oct 4-6, and with new work.

Thank you to all who attended our gallery opening. It went better that I could possibly have imagined. Over the winter we will have the gallery website up and running, I hope. This was just the first go 'round, we are still figuring it out. In May we want to have another gallery opening of new work from over the winter months. We have a few ideas for things we can do, and are excited to bring them to life.We love the granary and the gallery will be open by appointment all winter if anyone wants to see it. 

 Thank you so much to all who have helped us get through this year and to those that have brought us joy, especially the dirty jokes. 

PS: After cancelling KC, we went to the Brewers game to relax and saw them clinch the division title.What fun! On the way back, the breaks started to grind horribly. Made it back okay, but I am really glad I didn't have the breaks go on the way to Kansas City. I don't think I would have been able to make the show even if I hadn't cancelled.

The gallery...