Before I share my Lucketts recap, I wanted to let you know my next original art sale is Wednesday, May 20, 20206, at 1:00 pm Eastern.  For those interested in early access at noon, you can sign up HERE.

On Thursday night, we packed our van with oil painting supplies, two bins of framed paintings, and a couple of bags.  As I looked at the small pile, I couldn’t help but notice the stark difference between packing for this Lucketts Market and my last Lucketts Market as a vendor.  In 2017, we filled two 20′ trucks.  I can say, without a doubt, that this was much easier, which was the idea.  I wanted to start simple.

We planned to get to Lucketts about 9:00 to set up and do some earlybird shopping, but we were delayed by a traffic jam and a navigational error on my part.  My mom and I were so busy chatting that I didn’t realize my GPS wasn’t providing audio directions, and I ended up going 15 miles past our exit!  Anyway, once we completed our detour, we arrived at Lucketts about 10:00.  Since I would be setting up for the event when it was already in full swing, I wasn’t sure exactly how the logistics would work.  As we pulled up to the furniture pick-up gate, it seemed that our timing was perfect.  A young man driving a golf cart was available to help me get my gear to my spot.

The lovely folks at Lucketts brought in some furniture, and the Twin Oaks Winery made room for me in their tent.  They were such wonderful hosts, and it was to their credit that the tent looked so festive and welcoming.  Even with only ten paintings, I learned that I really need more wall space for display, but this worked for now.  I brought along an antique French box easel and a tabletop easel, which gave me some display options in addition to the step-back cupboard and leaning pieces against the table.

Before I set out to do some shopping, I left my cell number with the ladies at the Twin Oaks Winery tent so they could let me know if anyone stopped by and wanted to purchase a piece.

I had been running around Lucketts without a vendor badge or wristband like I owned the place, so I figured my mom and I should head to the front gate to remedy that.  I ran into Suzanne, who is always elbow-deep in making the show the best it can possibly be, and I stole a minute to take our obligatory bi-annual market selfie.  For those who don’t know, Suzanne is the owner of the Lucketts Store, and is such a precious person to me (not to mention countless others)!  She has been a wonderful encouragement, example, friend, and mentor over the years.

Now that we were in the show legally (I jokingly told my mom she couldn’t do any shopping until we traded our tickets for wristbands), we started to mill through the vendor booths.

Almost immediately, I spotted this charming basket tray.  The nice thing about buying a basket is you really don’t have to think about where you’re going to put it, because there is always a use for another basket!  I thought of at least five different ways I could style this specific basket, so I purchased it for $65.

I took a few minutes to admire this antique oak table at the Ekster Antiques tent…

Oh, it was so gorgeous.  I seriously considered it since, like baskets, tables can always be put into service, but it was out of my budget for the market.

We meandered through various barns and tents.  There were already so many holes left by purchased pieces, even just a couple of hours into the sale.  The earlybird crowd is composed of serious buyers!

I usually take a lot of pictures and videos to share, but I found myself a bit more hesitant this year.  While I am a photographer and documentarian for social media and my blog, I admire the movement towards camera-free, streaming-free stores and events.  I really didn’t want to be that person with my face obscured by a phone, narrating everything to an invisible audience.

I would ask if it’s just me, but I know it’s not just me.

As we were walking from one barn to another, we passed a row of tents, and something familiar caught my eye.  I actually stopped and exclaimed out loud, “Oh my gosh!  It’s here!”  I walked over to the antique oil painting of a woman in a blue dress with a dog on her lap, the very one I shared on my blog last week.  I wrote that I had taken a picture of it at the 2024 Lucketts Spring Market, and it has hung with me ever since.  Of course, I wasn’t expecting to see it two years later at the same event!

For a minute, I hesitated.  This would blow my entire market budget.  Maybe I should just admire it again.  I asked the vendor to remove it from the wall so I could see the back.  The back usually tells more about a painting than the front.  You can see the substrate, better determine the age, and sometimes get more information about the painting’s provenance (history).  This was an original oil painting, dated 1888, on stretched linen.  It was restored by an art gallery, which added a ventilated foam core backing for support.  I looked closer at the brushwork and colors, and had the vendor hang it back up so I could think logically about the potential purchase.

Since I knew the painting had been in their possession for at least two years and they had already tried to sell it at two Spring Markets, I asked the vendor if they could reduce the price.  She dropped the price even more than I expected.  I tried to restrain my excitement as I said, “Sold!”  While this purchase meant I couldn’t buy anything else, I felt it would be, metaphorically, spitting in the face of the antique fates not to buy it when given such an unlikely second chance.

I knew it would be the perfect painting to hang in our kitchen eating area.  The greenish-blue backdrop is a perfect complement to our cabinetry, and the blue dress would speak to the blue-checked fabric curtains in the living room beyond. And the dog in the lap…  I was over the moon.

I walked it directly to the car so I wouldn’t have to think about it later.  I did do the influencer thing and had my mom take a picture of me with my treasure in front of the Spring Market sign.

Once the painting was safely stowed in the car, we visited a few other vendors before being called to the wine garden tent to sell a few paintings.  We only got to see about 25% of the vendors this year, because we kept getting called back to my tent.  It was a good problem to have, especially since I wasn’t sure how well my paintings would sell at this venue.

My mom found a concrete mouse to give to a friend…

…and I did get to say hello to a few of my vendor friends.  I didn’t get to see so many of them, though, which was regrettable.  I know they work so hard, pouring immense time and energy into these events, so I like to stop by to acknowledge their efforts.  There just wasn’t time for it that particular day.  Here are a few things that caught my eye, though…

It was nearing the time I was scheduled to start my live painting and be available to sign books and sell paintings, so we headed back to the wine garden.  I’ll share about the live painting experience in a post later this week…