I slowly walked through the hushed room, looking at the beautiful watercolor paintings hanging on display panels or laid out on tables all around me. The artist was across the room, showing my brother some of his paint-mixing techniques.

It wasn’t fancy. But it was fascinating! My hometown’s annual Apple Butter Festival* isn’t famous. But the effort put into that particular Art Show one year ago was impressive! I had personally interacted to the featured artist, I had learned more about watercolor painting in one afternoon than I-don’t-know-how-many-years, and I walked out of the building onto the familiar streets of Salem encouraged that I had connected with some of the local artistic talent in my area.

My experience that day got me thinking over the next several weeks. Is art exhibiting actually something I could do? I think I could come up with some beautiful photos to print, and it shouldn’t be too hard to assemble backstories I could share about them. Of course, not every art exhibit has as it’s goal to promote wholesome, God-honoring artwork. So could art exhibitions actually be a physical extension of Lenspiration’s purpose?

I travel too much to be super connected in my local community. But my brothers are about as well-known as it gets. And somehow they got a drift of what was percolating in my head.

One day, I got a call from the head honcho over on the Apple Butter Festival committee. “Hi James, would you like to be the featured artist for the 2026 ABF Art Show?”

And ever after that call, I’ve been preparing for my first ever fine-art exhibit!

It was a little overwhelming at first, thinking through everything that would need to be done. But I figured I would start by ironing out exactly what I would do to make this exhibit unique, attractive, and meet the the needs of my community.

Because I have had the opportunity to travel across the United States quite a bit, I decided the theme of my art exhibit would be “Guess That State!” I would showcase 40 pieces of art from 40 different States and schedule 15min presentations to talk about the photos, tell stories behind the shot, and inspire young people to think outside the digital world and see the incredible possibilities offered to them in the natural world. I’d make it as educational and interactive as possible!

I’ve been going to Apple Butter Festivals in my town for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are enjoying the sights and sounds of the fair atmosphere with Grandma and Grandpa. It was exciting to now be an actual part of this big, local event!

With the theme solidified in my mind, it was time to work on assembling the actual artwork. Gathering 40 different pieces of art was going to take some time!

For 10 of the pieces, I decided I would use 10 calendar covers from past wall calendars I have printed. I’ve been making wall calendars since 2011, so I had a nice collection to pull from for starters.

And before I began printing the other 30 pieces, I was able to use the calendars at another event in town, the Salem Community Arts Showcase, to begin spreading the word about the upcoming Art Show in October!

To help with creating 30 new pieces, a friend gave me some advice that proved to be very helpful! “Have you heard of the Cultural Foundation of Harrison County? They offer community arts project grants up to $1000 to initiate or further a worthwhile project that encourages arts and culture awareness.”

So, I dove into applying for a grant for the first time ever too!

And wow, the suspense of waiting for their reply to my application set my nerves doing somersaults!

But it was worth it when with flourish and fanfare I stood on stage with other recipients to receive our checks at the Celebrate America event on July 2nd at the Clarksburg Amphitheater.

Since then, I’ve been working in earnest to create physical works of art in as cost-efficiently a way as possible.

Shopping at discount stores and thrift shops to look for frames. Scouring the internet to find budget-friendly, yet quality, ways to buy prints, canvas, and other mediums of printed art. It’s amazing how economical you can be if you order a large print by itself, and then spend $10 bucks at Good will for a giant, classy frame!

It’s less than a month now before the Apple Butter Festival Art Show goes live. And I’ve still got a lot of work to do! But thankfully, things are coming together and I didn’t want to let September slip by without making sure you were invited to come and take part in it too. Whether you’re right here in town or a hundred miles down the road, I’d be honored to have you join me for Lenspiration’s first‑ever, fine‑art “Guess That State” exhibition!

Mountain View Overlook
Near Loon Mountain, Lincoln, New Hampshire
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