I've had the pleasure to be a part of the Lithia Artisans Market Ashland (or LAMA for short) this year. Unfortunately, my vending season had to be cut short due to an influx of graphic design work (check out my other business venture here: micahkilimann.com). Thankfully, the Holiday market gave me one last (3-day) chance to vend in Ashland with the other fabulous artisans of LAMA before the year was up!
Space was tight at the Armory, which is by no means small, there were just a lot of talented artists who want to show their work at this event. So, since my setup can be quite condensed, I was tucked up into a corner of the stage, which I shared with Lori Agnew, Pat Moore Photography, Aaron Taylor (aka Artist At Large), and Earth Crystal Glass Straws. I had a wonderful time hanging out with my fellow artisans during the slower periods. Some of them were generous enough to let me paint their faces and do henna on them to make the down time pass faster.
Since there wasn't much of a line most of the time, I was able to slow down and try to make each kid feel really special with extra gemstones, details, and chatting about their interests or other totally random things. This is genuinely my favorite part of being a face painter... helping make a kid's day super special makes me feel really special in turn. Cheesy, I know. But ask most other face painters and they'll probably tell you the same thing.
The Lithia Artisans Holiday Market market was taking place during the same time as the Ashland Festival of Light, during which Santa Claus's parade makes its way to the Plaza to light over a million lights with thousands of spectators. So, wintry and holiday themed designs were all the rage. Oh, and Frozen 2 just came out so one in about every five kids wanted a Frozen crown, which I love doing!
