What an amazing weekend. Lots of really great talent under one roof. So much so it was overwhelming at times. The Shiflett Brothers (Brandon and Jarrod), Jordu Schell, Casey Love, Mike Hill, Paul Kamoda and Norm Meyers, and the list goes on and on. Then there were the top notch celebrities. Guillermo Del Toro, J.J. Abrams, Rick Baker, Jon Favreau, Doug Jones, and again so many more. I didn't have much opportunity to take in all the show and take pictures for you guys, so I hope that my small attempt to share the experience with you will be okay.

Day one started off great. Loads to see and tons of people coming by. That night was the night that J.J. and Guillermo stopped by. Guillermo could hardly make it through the crowd as he kept getting hounded for pictures. He was near my booth and I had to take my chance before he finally left for the night. So, I went up to him, introduced myself and the whole time we spoke in Spanish. I think it helped me to stand out from the rest of the people that were talking to him. He was only able to stay by my booth for about a minute before he was whisked off to have a talk with Vera Karloff (the wife of Boris Karloff), who's booth was directly across from mine. Before he left he asked if I take commissions and he took one of my cards. I doubt he'll remember who's card it is as he goes through the dozens of cards I'm sure he was handed, but it's nice to think that someday down the road, Guillermo will give me a call and ask me to sculpt something for him.

Day two was another great day. Huge crowds and lots of buyers. Stuff was selling out on the table early and it looked like it would be an awesome day. Mid way through I spotted on of my favorite directors, Jon Favreau, only a few tables away from mine. He was moving in my direction and I hoped he wouldn't get hounded and pulled away. When he finally made it over, he had some really nice things to say about my work and his wife really liked my Martian Monkey sculpt, so he said "I'll take that one." He was kind and very generous with his time, despite the camera fails we had trying to get pictures taken. He did give me one great line as I was apologizing for the camera problems. He said "This is my life" with a sarcastic but funny tone. After Guillermo the night before, I thought my weekend couldn't be topped, but then BAMM!!

Sunday started off strong but then quickly slowed down. The crowds seemed to die down for a bit and there weren't any sales for most of the day. Still lots of people coming by the booth and wanting to talk about the work. Lots of friends stopping by to hang out for few minutes or just to say hi. Then with only about an hour to go, things picked up and a flurry of sales started to happen. The very talented Mike Hill also picked up a Martian Monkey. Although at the time, I only knew Mike by reputation and his work. I had never put a face to the name. So when he asked me to hang on to the piece for a bit while he was over at the huge Frankenstien head, I thought he was just another spectator. After seeing him get interviewed, my slow mind started to put two and two together and I asked a friend to point out Mike Hill in the crowd of people. To my surprise, it was the man who had just purchased one of my pieces. When he was finally free of some people, I managed to walk over to him with the Monkey all wrapped up and in a bag, and I introduced myself and told him what an honor it was for someone of his caliber to like my work. I thought that might be the highlight for Sunday and then who should walk over after the show had closed down... none other than Doug Jones. I've been an admirer of his talents behind the makeup for a long time and I had to take my opportunity to tell him so. I saw a small chance and i went over and introduced myself and told him what an amazing performer he is and how much I've enjoyed watching the characters he's played, come to life. He gave me lots of hugs and even caressed my face a bunch of times. It would've been weird if it had been anyone else, but I like him so much that I just enjoyed his soft, monkey-like hands.

So, at the end of three really amazing days, I had met and sold work to some of my favorite directors and performers. I met lots of very interesting people. Gave away about 200 business cards. Got some interesting leads to some potential work for some major companies. And I sold 30 sculptures!!! I'll definitely be back next year with new work, bigger work and definitely more inventory. Thanks to all my friends and fellow artists that stopped by the table to say Hi. Thanks to all the new fans I made at the show. A huge thanks to all those who purchased some of my work, I'm truly humbled that you liked it enough to make it part of your life. Thanks to Elliot for putting together such an amazing show and giving us artists an opportunity to get out there and meet the fans face to face. Thanks to Square (mobile credit card reader) for making credit card transactions possible and easy. And finally, thanks again to all you readers of this blog. It means a lot to me that you still support my efforts here.

Until next time, Cheers!!