Donna T. at a market stall in Bisley

I was offered a stall at a one-off Sunday ‘Artisans’ market in Bisley, a local village where the farm shop sells my cards. It was held in the recently built village hall, where I’ve had a stall once before although many years ago.The hall is well equipped and comfortable with a good kitchen, so there was some hot food available. I decided to have an outdoor stall with three tables set up in our gazebo, rather than the single table available inside the hall.

The weather started out fine and very sunny, but by the time I arrived to set up the wind had got up and clouds had obscured the sunshine. Helena kindly came with me to help ‘raise’ the gazebo, which turned out to be essential, and I had enough time to drive her home before the start at 11-30am, and so I could also pick up some extra card stands.

Not unexpectedly the turnout was not very large, but I did make a bit of money and enjoyed myself, meeting some interesting people, including several families who had visited the elephant sanctuary in Sri Lanka, which features on one of my prints! I’m always amazed at how many people recognise that place and all agree they love the country. One of the families had only returned from a holiday there last week. A young woman with two children said she was from Ukraine, and was making a home in the village. I also was invited to have a stall at the village fete in August, which will be fun. When I was there about fifteen years ago I won the 'Knobbly Knee' competition being judged by the renowned Jilly Cooper, who still lives in the village. It turned out she had to stroke the knees to make her final assessment!!

In between some of our customers I chatted to Donna, the neighbouring stall holder, who has recently started her macrame business. After chatting for a while and sharing stories of markets, whilst she wasted no time in making her products, I asked if I could take a picture of her, which she kindly agreed to. I’m also adding an ‘Extra’ of some of her smaller items on the table. She sells from her Etsy site under the name ‘PictureItByDonna’.

I must admit that the iPhone’s images today weren't as good as I’d hoped for. I now wish I’d used my little camera which I also had with me at the time. I think I would have not only got more control but also had better exposures and colour representation. It is useful to know when to choose the most suitable tool for the conditions.