The Grand Gala

I was booked to draw at Wilmington's annual Grand Gala this year:

It's a fundraiser for the Grand Opera House, and the after-party is held in the historic Hotel du Pont in downtown Wilmington:

It was a formal event, so I got to really dress up---but luckily avoided getting any ink on my blouse!  Magician extraordinaire Larry Denburg was also performing. Here we are in our fancy duds:

There were over 900 Gala guests throughout the hotel. My easel and I were situated on a landing outside the Gold Ballroom and I was able to draw at least several dozen of them!

A huge line waited patiently for my drawings, so I wasn't photographing many.
One of my subjects remarked to me, "You know, what you're doing is performance art."  Yes, exactly!
At the end of the evening, all the drawings that had been left with me on the adjoining table had been retrieved, except for this one:

I hoped she hadn't forgotten it, or perhaps,  hadn't liked it...but after I'd packed my gear and returned from the ladies' room, it had disappeared. All's well that ends well! :-)