The day started off full of rainy weather. I discovered right away that I needed to replace my windshield wiper or might end up running over some poor student. Thankfully there was an auto part store down the block from me. Exciting stuff so far, huh?
Ok, onto the party. I made my way back to campus via downtown Mt. Pleasant. As I was driving through downtown, on my quest for some decent coffee, I came across a used bookstore. With a little time to kill before the first lecture of the day I stopped in and went straight to the kids section. I picked up two Spiderwick books for real cheap and got a suggestion from the clerk about where to find some good coffee. Turns out downtown Mt.Pleasant doesn't have good coffee, you have to go to the campus.
I swung by the local hot spot for caffeinated beverages and then walked over the building I needed to be in. The whole lecture had moved into a ball room so they could serve us lunch later on in the day.
I got in with a few minutes to spare, found a decent seat and got out my art supplies. I sketched for the first hour of lectures which was a blend of a recap from the day before for the newcomers and brief talk about what each of the artist think about as home and how that relates to art. Towards the end of this lecture I noticed that a table had been set up with some merchandise. I had a few bucks left from the previous day and had been hoping to by something else by Charles Vess. I was in luck! They had a few of his books left.
Shortly after I bought the book lunch was served. During lunch a big storm blew into Mt. Pleasant. I checked the forecast for the rest of the day and decided it would be in my best interest to get on the road before dark.
I made a circuit of the room, got a few more signatures, shook hands and said my goodbyes. I packed up the car and took off for me next stop, New Holland Brewing in Holland Michigan. Holland is just two hours down the road on my way back to Chicago. I had to stop in to deliver some paintings and pick up some hand-me-down art magazines from the art director I had worked with at New Holland.
It was a pretty easy drive. Holland Michigan is nice looking town and the pub is located in a swanky looking part of downtown. I hadn't eaten much during the lunch in Mt. Pleasant so I would be hungry enough to sample New Holland's menu. I order a Poet Oatmeal Stout and a BBQ chicken pizza. It was heaven. It was really hard to say no to more and get back on the road.
The rest of the trip was pretty easy. I made it back to Chicago just in time to meet my Wife and my brother and sister-in-law for b-day dinner celebration.
It was a fantastic weekend! I'm still at a loss for words on how I felt about meeting these artists.
Below is a snapshot of each of the signatures I collected.
And then, my favorite New Holland beer...The Poet.
Thank you to all of the people who helped me get over to MI for the weekend. It was a once in a lifetime event that I'm glad I didn't miss. I learned a lot and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all influences me in the immediate future.
Cheers,
Kyle
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