Salamanca Market, February 25, 2023

Thankfully the weather wasn’t as dire as forecasted, and it turned out to be an alright day other than being very hot.

My first customers were from Boston, USA. They each have a market stall in Boston. One sells leather bags she makes and the other a game she invented. They are going back in two days. Their visit is fairly short because it is difficult to get holidays with the American’s standard one-week holiday per year. They’ve spent time in Sydney and Tasmania. An “Enchanted Forest I” and “Family Outing” print will be accompanying them. https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds/products/enchanted-forest-ii They saw my art at Brooke Street Pier https://www.brookestreetpier.com/ and said that they were very pleased they were able to meet me.

                                     Enchanted Forest II

The next visitor to my stall was from Cottesloe, UK https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20735 She was about to make the return trip home too. She’ll be travelling with “The Three Amigos II”, “Bunk Beds” and “Dinner for Five???”. https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats/products/copy-of-sleepy-head-series-bunk-beds-wombat-watercolour

                                                     Bunk Beds

A grandmother, with her two grandchildren bought a card for Grandpa. The young boy asked me if I’ve had a nice day, I said yes and asked him the same question, then he asked me if I’ve had a nice week, “yes” and asked him the same, then he wished me a nice day, and I did the same, then he wished me a nice day for all the days in the week and then he finished by wishing me nice days all the way to Christmas. 😊

Two visitors from Vancouver, Canada, stopped in. One lives in an apartment near Stanley Park and the other lives in Delta. The one living in the west end of Vancouver, near Stanley Park, has a daughter that has been living here since 2011. She got her Australian citizenship a couple of years ago. They bought a “Bunk Beds” print to take home with them.

A visitor from Wisconsin, USA purchased a “What the Devil!?!” tote bag and a “Maggie” print. https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds/products/maggie-a-print-of-a-watercolour-painting-of-a-australian-magpie

                                             What the Devil!?! tote bag

A couple from Brisbane, expecting their first baby in July bought “Friendship Refreshes the Soul” and “Hammock Life” to put in the nursery.

                                                   Hammock Life

A family visiting from New Zealand settled on a “The Three Amigos II” print. https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds/products/the-three-amigos

                                                    The Three Amigos II

A sister, from Scotland, is in Australia visiting her brother who has been living in Melbourne for 2 years. He loves it here and has applied for Australian citizenship. She bought an “Enchanted Forest II” print.

“The Bun” and “Double Date V” prints are going to Geelong today. She’s been in Tasmania for six weeks helping at the hospital. She’s been working as a contract worker and loved her time in Tassie. Another “Double Date V” print is heading to Orange, NSW. https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds/products/double-date-v-superb-blue-fairy-wren-prints

                                                     The Bun

“Goldilocks and the 20 Penguins” will be making its home in California, USA.

                                   Goldilocks and the 20 Penguins

A young man from Germany, who is travelling and working in Australia for a year, will be in Tasmania until July. He answered a Facebook ad to work in Corinna, driving the Fatman Barge. https://www.ourtasmania.com.au/northwest/corinna.html It is the only cable driven vehicular barge remaining in Tasmania.

Seeing a former student of mine, Emma, was exciting. She’s very close to finishing her Registered Nursing degree.

Another excitement of the day was meeting Cyprien. There’s something about European’s body language that I usually can pick that they are European before they even speak. I thought he was European but when he spoke, he sounded Canadian but there were a few things he said that I still made me think European. He was visiting from Canada. I said, I lived in Vancouver, Canada. He lives outside of Quebec. I asked him in that case do you speak French, which he did. I said that French was my first language because I was born in Belgium. Now, how’s this for coincidence, so was he!! His parents visited Quebec to see the wildlife and they loved it so much that they moved the whole family there, when he was six years old. My family moved to Vancouver, Canada when I was close to 5 years old. It’s not often that you meet a Belgian in Tasmania, much less one who emigrated to Canada too. I had to get a photo of us. He came back to my stall because he couldn’t believe the odds too. Oh, by the way, the reason I had the privilege of speaking to him in the first place is because he wanted to pay for a “Bunk Beds” print.

                                Two Belgian/Canadians (and one Tasmanian)

Packing up started early and with earnest to try to beat the storm forecasted to arrive at 3pm. It’s close to 5 pm and it still hasn’t arrived!

Until next week, take care and have fun being creative.

Warmest regards, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

Tote bags and quality prints of my art are available at www.pjpaintings.com

Art thought for the day:

“The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.” – Pablo Picasso


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