October 12, 2007 – Cool, frost warnings. Maria and Anthony hung this banner quoting the last line from Mary Kellogg’s poem “Decision,” one of my favorites. We finished (Anthony is still working on his sculpture stand) most of the preparations for Art Harvest this evening. I’ve never been involved in an art show like this, and had no inkling of the framing, pricing, publicity, display, weeding, hanging and other issues involved. If not for Maria, who has done this before, I would not have made it. We spent all day driving to and from framers, getting labels made, setting prices, figuring out where things should go, where they shouldn’t, hauling, hammering, wow. It’s hard, and Maria has high standards. I think it’s also worth it. We hung my pictures, Mary’s poems, Maria’s dresses and quilts. Anthony has some amazing concrete pieces and sculptures, and is still, as of this writing, working on finishing them. I’m told these dramatic late night crises are part of art shows.
 So I have a bunch of pictures hanging, and they look good, and some in bins, and they look neat, and I feel very good about the work Maria, Anthony and Mary have done. Classy, diverse, interesting stuff, a celebration of friendship and creativity.
  We’re ready, which is about all you can be. Izzy and Lenore have been hanging around Gardenworks for days, so should be ready to receive their fans. I will not have both of them there all the time, but try and give them a bit of a break. Lenore is just nine weeks old, so I have to be careful not to wear her out.
  It poured all morning, now has cleared and the stars are out. Izzy is lying on my feet and Lenore is dozing on the sofa. She is fine with her crate and seems housebroken. We shall see about this weekend. I will be hanging around most of Saturday and Sunday, talking at 2. I am grateful for the experience, thought it was much more expensive, tiring and challenging than I expected. Still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything, even if nobody shows up. Thursday night, we all went out to dinner and it was powerful to see Mary talking about her poetry, and how excited she was about it, and to see Maria laughing and happy at the work she has done, and to see how cranked up Anthony was about the sculptures he was rushing to finish. He has really come alive as a creative person, and I think people will be impressed and surprised by some of the work he has done.
  Art Harvest has been invited to take the show on the road, including to the Georgi Museum in Shushan in November, and also to Vermont, courtesy of the Manchester Arts Council. Tonight, just before dark, we realized that all we had left to do was to set prices, and then we were done. It is nice to see those pictures hanging up there, and I hope to grow and learn as a photographer. I saw some preliminary designs by Raeanne Wright of Trampoline Design in Glens Falls of my photo site, photosbyjonkatz.com. I love her designs and am very grateful for that site.
  So tomorrow morning, dogs, friends and I will be at Gardenworks for a neat weekend. Here are some of the final pictures. Next week, I expect to vanish back into the routines of the farm and get to work on my  book. Up on my wall will be “Decision,” which I bought tonight before anybody else could.

  The show is mostly ready

Fiber Chair, Anthony’s chain sculpture and off to the right, a quilt and Lenore