ゴールドキャニオンはアリゾナ州のフィネックスの南東に位置します。そこで開かれたアートフェスに行ってきました。 Gold Canyon is located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona. We went there to attend an art festival.

上の写真の背景の赤い帽子とショールはそこで購入しました。ウールからフェルトを作り、それを形のある物にして売っていらっしゃいました。フェルトを作る段階ではすでに最終の構想が決まっているので、色つけやデザインがとてもユニークでした。 The background of picture above shows a hat and a scarf. I bought them from there. The lady who sold them explained the process of making them. From the raw wool, she makes felt and adds color using die. At that time, she already has an idea of the final form. The color and design are so unique and pretty. I loved them all.

さて、私たちの目的は買うことではなく、売ることです。バンちゃんは去年、初めてローカルのアートショーに参加して、彼の写真を5枚も売ることができました。そこで、他のショーに参加希望を出したら、ここに参加できることになったわけです。 Now, back to the main topic, our purpose of visiting there was not to buy goods but to sell goods. Banchan sold 5 pieces of his metal printed photographs last year at the local art show. So he looked for more art shows that he could apply for. He applied to a few and this place accepted his art work. Others are coming later.

ただ、遠いので、写真だけではなく、テントと衝立、椅子、スーツケースなどを運ぶのは結構大変な作業です。前回は私の車にも物を積み込んで行ったり来たりできました。でも、今回はそうはいきません。 The only thing is that it’s quite far away. Carrying all his pictures as well as the canopy, partition walls, chairs to sit, our luggage, etc. requires a big effort. We used his car as well as my car to carry all the stuff just to the last nearby art festival. But this time, we had to carry it all in one car. I didn’t want to drive there in a separate car.

でも、絶対に無理と思えるようなことでも、なせば、本当に何とかなるものですね。全部積み込んで、8時間の行程、一台で出発しました。 And the result was that we packed all of our stuff in one car and drove out for the 8 hour trip. This was proof of achieving something if you try hard even though it looks impossible.

会場では夜明け前からテント設置が始まりました。せっせと写真を展示していると、いつの間にかお客様が集まってきていました。　We started to set up the booth before sun rise. While we were still working on it, some customers started gathering before we knew it.

そして、バンちゃんのブースにも。 Of course, people came in Banchan’s booth as well.

彼はこのショーで2枚の写真を売ることができました。 He sold two pictures in this show. Unlike the last show which lasted three days, this one was only one day.

私が予想した通りの写真が真っ先に売れ、次に前回売れた写真でした。 The picture I liked most was sold first, and the first picture he sold at the previous show was sold second.

基本的に、私は何もすることがないのでブラブラと歩き回って、色々な人と話をしては情報収集をしていました。特に、他の写真家さん達のショーの準備の仕方は非常に参考になりました。 Basically, I have nothing to do there, except wandering around, talking to people and gathering information from them. The conversation with other photographers were especially good. They gave me many valuable pieces of information.

定年退職後に取ったガラス細工のクラスにハマり、挙げ句の果てにショーに参加するようになった75歳ぐらいの女性との会話は特に感動しました。 One of the artists I talked to was an old lady about 75 years old, and I was quite moved by her story. She took a glass art class after her retirement. She then got hooked on it, and kept making more and more little things, and ended up selling her glass art at art festivals.

「小さな割れ物の商品が多いから、準備だけでも大変そうですね。」と、私。 “It looks like quite hard work even simply setting up your booth because you have so many little fragile items” I said to her.

「内向的な性格だけど、ショーでお客様と話をすることは楽しいから続けてるの。」と、女性。 “I keep doing this because I enjoy talking to customers despite the fact that I am quite introverted.” she replied.

これはまさにボケ防止対策です。 It’s a wonderful way to prevent dementia as we get older.

会話の終わりに、「アタなとの会話が楽しかったから、これ、あげる。持っていきなさい。」と、包んでくれた彼女のヒット商品。 At the end of the conversation, she said, “Here, this is my most popular item. I want to give it to you because I enjoyed the conversation with you.”

もう会うこともないけれど、大切にします。彼女のガラス細工を通して届いてくる温かい光は、彼女の気持ちそのものだから。 I will treasure it although I don’t think I will see her again because the warm light through her glass ornament is indeed her warm heart itself.