Godwit Days Wrap-Up

I was a vendor at Godwit Days a couple weekends ago, on April 17-19, 2026. I'd never been there before, and didn't quite know what to expect. But since moving here to Humboldt County in March of 2025, I'd been told that Godwit Days was the event I really needed to be at. My bird art would do well there, they said. 

And I applied. But I didn't get in. And then, one day, I was told there was room and I was assigned a vendor spot. 

And I am SO GLAD it worked out. Because I think I found a whole bunch of my people there. The attendees were mostly local birders who enjoyed being outside in nature, and had signed up for birdwatching tours. Some had deeply held spiritual connections to the local environs, with conservationist and environmentalist leanings. Others were just there because they were having fun. Some came from far away, others were local retirees, or students at our local Cal Poly-Humboldt university. 

There were speakers, some workshops, and a lot of groups there that were trying to save different threatened species. There were many non-profit organizations that were drawing attention to everything bird to indigenous California plants. There were tables to draw awareness to lead shot and it's impact on condors, and multiple tables of used books available for donation to support wildlife causes. 

One beloved bookseller was there with a variety of different nature and birding books, as well as children's books. I bought a couple from him, and then realized he was the owner of a long-time bookstore that had burned down within the last couple months. He'd ordered books for the event and shown up, and people were happy to support him. 

My favorite aspect of the event was the children's art and writing shows. Younge people from all over the county were invited to draw birds, and write about nature, with prizes awarded for the best entries. To learn they'd been doing it for over 20 years was astounding! And having all the pieces tacked onto the walls of the hallways at the Arcata Community Center where the event took place was just amazing. It was incredibly inspiring!

I was one of many 8-10 creative vendors there, selling their pieces. A couple artists, some potters and ceramicists, and a jewelry vendor. I did very well, selling my bird-specific art greeting cards. I sold a couple limited edition prints, too. I did a lot better than I thought I would. 

In the process, I got to try out the new Shopify Point-of-Sale tools I'd invested my future into. For the most part, it worked. But there were plenty of times the scanning part of the endeavor didn't function and I had to manually input the cards inventory numbers to find the listings. It slowed things down, and that was incredibly frustrating. I didn't know whether it was a bug, an iPhone problem, and internet problem, or an app problem, and I'm working on figuring it out. 

But aside from that particular challenge, everything was great. I met several of the board members for Godwit Days, and was assured I'd have an opportunity to do a poster for the event in the future, which was awesome! I met a woman from San Diego who is in charge of their bird festival, and was invited to participate in it! And I also met a lot of local folks who were incredibly supportive, many of whom bought my work!

And lastly, I was asked, "Do you have a Snowy Plover?" 

And my answer was "Not yet!"

And now, I do. And you can read about it in the next blog post!