The night before a show trip and my body feels like it should after returning from one. Worn out. Loading a van full of all of the stuff that it takes to run a portable business on the street for two days is mostly drudgery.
There are only about a hundred large tasks and tiny items that will bite you in the butt if you forget to do them or take them along. Charge machines, tax permits, toll transponders; I usually forget at least one personal item. I have supermarket toothbrushes from most of the large chains. Shampoo, shaving cream, yeah -forgotten those. Of course my belt frequently doesnt make the trip or maybe a sweater. It's hard to fantasize cold when its 91 degrees as I pack. I tried a checklist once but it didn't seem to fit my groomed inattention to detail.
The biggest jobs before a show is getting updates to my webmaster Jill Tocco so she can post new work. Then Janet and Melinda at Flamingo Frame have to get all my frames finished in time for me to mount and wire the paintings. Since I always seem to be painting on pieces till the very last minute, I am usually framing at the last minute too.
Anyway the first stage of show drudgery is complete. Tomorrow, stage 2. I hope to drive as far as Nashville. Anything after that is icing on the cake. The goal is to arrive in Chicago before Friday afternoon rush hour, which realistically is impossible since it begins just as the morning rush hour ends. Still, earlier is better. The Old Town show is on the north side where I need to check in with the show volunteers, get a Chicago neighborhood zone parking permit, then head to the suburbs for an affordable hotel.
Saturday morning its up before 4am to come back into the city, get parked and unloaded before the artist rush hour around 6am. You sometimes have to wait for the police to tow a car out of your space if one was left from overnight. This whole show procedure at Old Town is insane but the atmosphere and the show itself is so alluring, people like me keep trying to come back.
Tomorrow and Friday will be a busy time. Check back to see what's going on.
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