Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where today we are going to talk about the Greene County Sheriffs election, AND will you all agree to read through TO THE END if I promise that there will be an art lesson included before the post is concluded?  So be it then, and let's carry on.

We are talking about Greene County in Iowa, of course.  Jefferson, as you might have guessed, is the county seat of Greene County.  And Greene County, Iowa happens to be one of those entities where the county sheriff is an elected position.  Now you'll probably remember me mentioning it before, but this is a rural community, with the people spread out over a fair number of acres, so total population, about 9300.  Okay, that's your background info, now for the rest of the story.

Amazingly, this year being a county sheriff election year, Greene County has four (yes, 4!) candidates vying for the position.  The population of the town of Jefferson makes up more than half of that county population count, so maybe that also makes it a good target for yard signs.  To say there are a lot of yard signs IS an understatement.  Realistically speaking, I am fairly certain there's one on every corner, and sometimes two.  These sheriff candidates are really getting the word out.  They are letting the good folks of Jefferson and Greene County know that they really want to be the sheriff.  They must want us to vote for them SPECIFICALLY.  They are asking in no uncertain terms. 

I suppose if I looked on Facebook, a couple of them are asking to be 'liked'.  And if one of them has a website, they are probably asking for links.  And there's probably a blog going, that lists the outstanding traits of a candidate or two.  Because these guys really want our votes.  Seriously.  I would guess that they can be found at the Uptown Cafe handing out business cards every Saturday morning, and maybe even on weekday mornings as well.

I am hoping by now, you've got an inkling of what your art lesson du jour is all about.  Surely.

Really?  Let me spell it out for you.  If you are an artist, trying to get your art out into the world, what's your plan?  Are you one of those people going through the motions, waiting to be discovered?  Hoping someone will magically walk into your studio and buy not one, but three paintings?  Four?  Are you sitting around painting, painting, waiting for your mother to tell her card club friends what a great artist you are?  (oh, wait, that actually might help a little)

You understand by now, I assume. 

Next weekend as I head for my first summer art fair of the season, I'm going to keep the Greene County sheriff candidates in mind.  Just like those sheriff candidates, I think artists need to let people know we want their votes.  After all, people at art fairs vote with their checkbooks and debit cards, and isn't that why we go to art fairs anyway?  I thought you'd see it my way  :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper