I know, I know.... It's been a million years since I wrote on the ol' blog! It's been a hectic year after such a quiet couple of years...
March was full of kid stuff including a bunch of birthday parties. In April, we took a vacation to the Poconos in Pennsylvania - we went to an indoor water park for the second time! SO FUN! May and June are always hectic, with Mother's Day, Father's Day, end of the school year stuff, and so many birthdays...
Which brings us to July! And my first Paper Doll Convention!!
I traveled to the convention with Jenny from Portland. First, I hate flying out of Boston and second, it's more fun to travel with friends. We had uneventful flights (thankfully!) and arrived in plenty of time for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. That was the big event/dinner for the first night. There were some technical glitches but overall, it was fine. The souvenirs were Mad Hatter themed. Kwei-Lin Lum, Cory Jensen, and I were all featured.
The next day there were several things going on. I listed to Kwei-Lin give a talk about women's suffrage ephemera. Teri Petit gave an overview of Donald Hendricks which was great. Eileen "Rudy" Miller gave a really wonderful talk about her career, too. Once the day's activities were over, it was time for dinner and the artist's gallery. I set up my iPad and gave demonstrations of how I draw on that. The souvenir from dinner featured my art on the cover and a variety of chapter book characters with art by Marilyn Henry, Karen Hunter, Guillem Medina, Patricia Corte Rooney, Andrea Helen Smith, and Tracy Williams. It's a lovely book with a large variety of subjects and artists!
Another one of my dreadful pictures...
That image from the cover was everywhere! Jill (who hosted the convention) used it on so many things. I was just delighted to see all of the clever uses all over the place.
Friday was the sales room day!
Jenny and I shared a sales table. I brought prints and self-published books as well as my newest book, Miss Hollie Day. You can grab it here. It was fun and tiring and great. I ended up mildly dehydrated! My mission in the sales room was to acquire originals to frame for my new office. I snagged a lovely watercolor from Norma Lu Meehan and a fashion drawing from Rudy Miller. After the sales room, we had a roaring time during paper doll trivia! I knew exactly one answer. We all were in hysterics. It was super fun!
On Saturday, I went to the Milwaukee Museum of art with Rudy Miller, Norma Lu Meehan, and her daughter Mary Meehan Firtl. It was lovely. The museum is a stunning monument to the Great Lakes and resembles a ship. The main exhibit featured the posters of Jules Cheret. Once we got back to the hotel, I was on a panel with Teri Petit and Sylvia Kleindinst ("Jenny and Friends") to talk about three different generations of paper doll enthusiasts. The last question Jenny asked was about how paper dolls have impacted our lives. At that point, I kinda lost it. I've had a few bouts with depression. I started this blog to cope with post-partum depression even though it took years for me to share that here. And it helped my deal with being a caregiver for my grandmother, the pandemic, and so much more. I got weepy talking about it. And then the whole room got weepy listening to me talk about it! I'm in awe and humbled by how much my story resonated with everyone. It really hit me deeply and I will carry that moment with me always.
Next up was the raffle room! That was another fun event! I'm not a huge collector but there were a few things I really, really wanted! I one THREE things! Two things were piles of childhood-themed paper dolls. One of those I wanted specifically for a Peck-Aubry Anne of Green Gables that I've wanted since I was a teen! Jenny found a copy, too, so now I have both the book and the unopened, larger doll set.
Another stack of children's paper dolls featured a terrific Red Riding Hood. I absolutely love Red Riding Hood and the very, very long history of the folk tale (you can see one that I did that I really need to update here). And I got it!
Finally, I won a set of Outlander paper dolls by Rudy Miller. I don't have a picture of them handy. They are AMAZING! I love Outlander, I love Rudy's art, and I'm beyond thrilled to add it to my small but growing collection.
Sunday was our travel day. Jenny and I flew home together. We got into Portland late so we crashed at a hotel ear the airport. I slept more in that one night than I slept in the whole week of convention! There were so many people to see. I'd stay up late chatting. I'd get up early for coffee and chat with a whole different group of people. It's an experience unlike any other. There are no firm plans for another convention but there will be an East Coast party in May. Find out everything here.
I'll have more to share about the convention in the coming weeks. It was a joy to meet so many wonderful paper doll pals!
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