Infusion Tea Farmers Market

Every Thursday, Infusion Tea is the site of a Farmers Market from 5 to 9PM. I arrived just before 5 and parked across the street. Vendors were still setting up and I walked around looking for the perfect spot to sketch from. I wandered from tent to tent seeing the goods being offered. Bee’s Knees Sweet Treats had creamy Lemon Tartlets, Chocolate Mint Cupcakes and Orange You my Honey Cupcakes. I had sampled their goods at the last Mobile Art Show and those chocolate covered marshmallows were to die for! A truck unloaded it’s produce including watermelons. There were plants and jams and a grill was fired up. As I sketched a lone performer set up and started singing to the assembled shoppers. I waved to Maria Bolton-Joubert. She set up a caricature booth in the blue tent. I picked a vantage point from across the street so I could get an overall view of the Market while having a view of the Infusion Tea signs.
Thunder rumbled on the horizon and I started to sketch faster. One by one vendors looked at the blue gray clouds forming on the Eastern horizon. Soon enough it began to drizzle. I was under a tree so I was able to work for a while till the leaves became soaked and started allowing the rain through. Then a deluge. I threw my sketchbook in my bag and ran for the cover of my truck. I suspected the storm might pass quickly so I just sat in my truck and waited. I opened the window a crack and started to place watercolor washes over my sketch. I could see the basic colors of the market through the raindrop masked windshield.
When the rain finally stopped I was glad to get out of the truck since it had turned into a furnace and I was sweating up a storm. Outside it was nice and cool thanks to the downpour. Good things come to those who wait. Around 7Pm I went into Infusion and ordered a tea. The woman behind the counter knew of my blog and I showed her the sketch. It turns out they had just been talking about the blog when they noticed me sketching across the street. Melissa Kasper, from DRIP, came in and I showed her how to set up a blog using her laptop and Infusion’s free WIFI. The set up took only a few minutes and she had a post up and published within half an hour. This brand new blog is called Currents and Color. It is rewarding to see another artist experience the same joy I fist felt when I pressed the “Publish” button for this blog over a year and a half ago.