Salamanca Market was quieter than a fortnight ago. I think that people went to Agfest, which was held in the north of the state. Nevertheless, it was busy at the PJ Paintings stall.
I had a young man, around the age of 10, choose “Emus can Fly!” for his Mum’s Mother’s Day present. She rides a motorbike. He asked me if I had any pictures of skeletons. Apparently, she really likes motorcycles and skeletons. The dad said it’s true and that Mother’s Day is interesting at their house. She sounds like a cool mother!
Two ladies visiting from Narooma, NSW, which I had to look up to know where that is, https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/narooma-nsw purchased a cushion cover of “Hair Accessories” and a “Salamanca Saturdays” print.
Three young ladies from Sydney, one originally from the Ukraine, bought some wombat and unfurling prints. One of the three kept referring to it as a koala, so eventually I said, “I’m sorry to say but it’s a wombat.” She laughed and really thought it was funny. I assured her, she is not the first because you are much more likely to see a koala than a wombat in a tree, actually, you will never see a wombat in a tree! Anyways, she’s decided to name the wombat “koala”.
Two young ladies, one from Townsville and the other from Brisbane, met in Brisbane to fly here to have a Tassie holiday together. They bought “Iconic Aussies”.
A couple visiting from Brisbane, asked if I had a single Yellow-sulphur cockatoo painting because they have a pet one at home named Charley-barley. (I had a dog that we called Charli-warli!) They bought “Double Date” and “Lazy Days” zipper pencil cases.
A lady, from Queensland, dropped by to tell me that she bought “Salamanca Fresh” and “Richmond Bridge” prints two years ago and that everybody that comes to her house always comments on how much they like them. That warmed my heart.
Lovely Olivia, doing her first year of university in Tassie, studying Marine and Antarctic Science bought a greeting card. She does watercolour paintings too and showed me some of her sea animal paintings. They are stunning. She is hoping that she will be able to combine the two passions by doing scientific illustrations.
A couple from Mt Gambia, South Australia, bought “Hanging Out”. He said, “there are too many people here. It’s lovely and peaceful in Mt Gambia.” With COVID restrictions there are only about one fourth of the usual amount of people allowed in the market, so it’s good he experienced the seriously less populous market.
A young lady is sending a “Salamanca Saturday” print to the UK to her dad for his birthday. For their first baby’s nursery, parents bought “Lazy Days”, “Spiky Bunk Beds” and “The Three Amigos” prints. Another couple bought “What the Devil!?” and “Bunk beds” prints for their children’s bedrooms.
It was a fun and interactive day at the market. I’ll be back in a fortnight. Until then, take good care of yourselves during this challenging time of living with a pandemic.
From PJ Paintings
The Unfurling Artist: journalising creative journeying 