My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday. Tune in next Tuesday for the results of the Original Miami Beach Antique Show. There will be no Monday blog because the show ends on Monday.

This huge boom barely fits down the aisle

I wish I could say set-up was uneventful, but unfortunately it wasn’t. A dealer in my aisle needed a chandelier hung when setup for the show was almost complete. To accomplish that, EXPO, the company responsible for everything physical at the show, decided to move their gigantic boom down our aisle. In the process, they hit my Tiffany glass case with their tire and broke a vase worth at least $2,500. It could have been much worse. What I don’t understand it why they would accommodate such a request so late in the set-up. They could have broken hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise in the attempt. Makes no sense to me. Now I have to deal with an insurance claim. Ugh!! I’m lucky my neighbor across the aisle recorded the entire event, so EXPO can’t deny they were the cause of the damage.

I just purchased this beautiful Tiffany Favrile vase with applications the day before

To make things worse, the management did not turn on the air conditioning for the entire set-up. It was dreadfully hot and humid in the hall, with many people sweating bullets. I know this may fall on deaf ears to those experiencing -5°, but it wasn’t pleasant.

It may look disorganized, but it will look great when the show opens

The show opens today at noon and continues until Monday at 6 PM. I always look forward to it as one of the two best and most important shows of the year. I’ve got a lot riding on the results, so I’m going into the show with butterflies in my stomach. Wish me luck!

We’ll have this great Tiffany Studios candlestick lamp at the show

Next week we’ll check out the Naples Art, Antique and Jewelry Show after this show ends. If we like what we see, we’ll exhibit there next year. Then we’ll exhibit at the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show the following week, starting on February 15. We’ll end our southern swing with the wonderful Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference, February 21 – 23, 2014. We last exhibited there a few years ago and couldn’t exhibit again because of scheduling conflicts. This year there were no conflicts, so we’re happy to return.

Andre Gisson painting with rare balloon subject matter

Click here to view my new website and look around. We always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on our website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps