Event Review: Virginia Renaissance Faire 2017

July 25, 2017July 25, 2017 ~ Cynthia Abernathy

We love participating in VARF, and were happy to return for five weeks this May to June! Of course, with an outdoor fair and the growing Virginia heat, there are always some hiccups.

First weekend, I was madly trying to track down our new tent with absolutely no info coming from the company as to an ETA. So, week of we went ahead and bought a car port from Harbor Freight and some canvas for side walls so we would have something.

So when did our new tent arrive? The day before show opened, so too late to get it set up for first weekend.

We did get it all set up for second weekend, thought we were hot and tired and did not realize it was inside out until it was all up. We left it that way for the show. Last hiccup? We were in our usual spot, but with a larger space it was clear just what an odd hill it was. The tent stayed well, but we were constantly having to accommodate for the lean. Next year, we’re adding a platform and an in-tent fan!

20170513_122221 — Our temporary tent on the grey first day of faire.

20170514_114022 — Second day – sunny, and Nathaniel’s huge sword from Artomatic is raised to gain attention to our odd space.

20170521_122327 — Second weekend – new tent raised… inside out. Oops!

IMG_20170521_122820_736 — Nathaniel working on armor at our demo table.

IMG_20170528_112532_382 — Drawing the eye however we can – a new sign with our new logo, and a new colorful ribbon cape.

Artomatic 2017

July 6, 2017July 6, 2017 ~ Cynthia Abernathy

Here’s a little change from our usual shows. Artomatic is one of my favorite recurring art events in the DC area. Every couple of years, they take over a vacant office building. The space is first come first serve to artists for whatever they want to create and share. It is a great opportunity to meet other artists and jump start your creativity.

This year Artomatic came back to Crystal City, and we managed to get a three person room. We split it between the two of us and another gamer artist friend, Kat, who does lovely comic style art. Doing a room together made us seem like a small, curated gallery. People loved stopping by and seeing our work over the month the show was running. So here’s what we displayed in our awesome room.

IMG_20170319_184658 — My big project for the winter was to make a leather dragon. I made her head first, which means scaled up she was 13 feet long. Final assembly had to happen in place… so here she is while I am still adding scales.

IMG_20170319_213702 — Up close on the dragon’s face. So many pieces of leather!

IMG_20170319_213717 — And done! Ahdraga drew many people to our lovely gallery room.

IMG_20170319_213729 — My additional leather work, these shadow boxes were all inspired by vintage lace patterns.

IMG_20170319_213744 — Kat’s wall! Wonderful and fun ink and watercolor pieces.

IMG_20170319_213746 — Another view for Kat.

IMG_20170319_213752 — Nathaniel made weapons of modern gods. These got a lot of chuckles as people read the snarky captions.

IMG_20170319_213758 — Hard to tell from the photo, but this sword is huge!

Virginia Renaissance Faire 2016 Wrap-Up

July 12, 2016July 12, 2016 ~ Cynthia Abernathy

One of the challenges of doing faires and festivals is weather. It is completely out of your control, but your sales can depend on it. It can make a show vary a lot from year to year. So this year, five weekends and only one of them without rain… well, it did not make for a great Virginia Renaissance Faire this year.

We still love our small-ish state renaissance faire. We made great new friends and had a lot of fun. Hopefully next year the weather will be with us again.