I’ve never been to a hotel fair and I had a chance to participate in one at the 5th International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, MA. To prepare for the fair I packed 4 small paintings (as much as I could fit in my carry on) and my ipad. Little did I know the ipad was Hotel Fair magic, it was my secret to making hotel chairs fancy. There was no way I could bring my 3-D encaustic pieces from Phoenix, AZ to Provincetown, MA without some serious shipping charges so I loaded the photos of my work onto my ipad and it was the perfect way for people to see my work.

Lisa Marie Sipe 5th International Encaustic Conference Hotel Fair DisplayMy hotel fair display – complete with fancy ipad! Here are larger images of  Landed and The Shape of Things (the wood framed pieces).

To my surprise almost everyone that walked up asked me about my encaustic and resin pieces. Usually the first thing I heard was “is that encaustic?” and “how did you get that so shiny?” No one ever told me I couldn’t cover encaustic with resin so I tried it, I never knew it would make such an impact.

Lisa Marie Sipe, "Target Practice IV," encaustic and resin on wood, 6 x 6 in.

Lisa Marie Sipe, “Target Practice IV,” encaustic and resin on wood, 6×6 in.

The main room at the 5th international encaustic conference hotel fair.
A view of the main room of the Hotel Fair at the Provincetown Inn, MA.

Gregory Wright's work at the 5th International Encaustic Conference Hotel Fair
The bed as display with artwork from Gregory Wright.

Peggy Epner at the 5th international encaustic conference hotel fair
The hotel bed with tiered display by Peggy Epner.

View inside a room at the hotel fair.

A view inside a room at the hotel fair.

The hotel fair was a great way to see the artwork from conference attendees. I met more people at the hotel fair than any other conference event, I can’t wait for my next hotel fair. I think I’ll add some title tags next time!