A PIRATE LOOKS AT 67--Starting my 36th year in our business

Well 2011 is about to close up today.  So it is a time for reflection on things past, and a time to look ahead to the year coming.

I did my first show by a waterfall in Hawaii in 1975.  No booth, just photos on a picnic table, hanging with my Army and surfer buds drinking Olympias, smoking some of that "pakalolo" and oogling all the pretty women that came by my space.  I made $15 (it was a one-day show) and I was hooked.  I said this is what I am going to do the rest of my life.  Of course I knew that I had to figure out how to make a living at it.

Well,35 years later, i got that slick looking booth with white walls, white roof and all the requisite trimmings.  I make a living at it.  This year-end i am up 18% over last year--this being another year where most have seen sales plummet to 40%-50% off.  I count myself lucky, and blessed.

I miss not drinking the Olys and smoking the 'lolo weed, but hey you gotta grow up sometime--I guess I did.  Down deep in my heart I am still a big kid who just wants to play and have a good time with life.  As my wife well knows, I live in the moment.  That means I celebrate all those little victories that come our way whether it be getting a nice award at a show or winning the golf league with the net low score.

Our business is the damnest one I have ever seen--and this was my third career.  We can go to some shows and just kill them with great sales and then we can turn around and be juried out of that show the next year.  When you try to explain our business to most outsiders, they just scratch their heads and wonder why you would not be back in Ft. Worth after having a killer show.  Most people want sure things, they don't do well with uncertainty.  For most of us it is just the way it is.

So, 2011 was killer year for me--course it helped getting in some super shows like St. Louis, Ft. Worth, Des Moines and Artisphere.  Well guess what?  I am not going to be in three out of those four (St. Louis awaits my fate).  I will be out more than $20K just from the loss of those shows.  It has happened before and it will certainly happen again.

The images that got me into almost 80 per cent of shows I applied to in 2011, have so far got me into about 50%.  And that is with adding a new one here or there but keeping a certain unity to the body of work.

That is probably the hardest thing we have to deal with in our business--Rejection.  You have to get used to it, nobody escapes it forever, some have longer successful runs than others--God bless them.

I can take getting up at 4:30 am to get to a show, I can accept driving 650 miles to a good show, I can accept exasperating tear-downs, but when you get that form letter from Zapp or JAS that starts off,"Dear Nelsphoto we are sorry to inform you...." Well that always puts a bad pickle in your day.  But you gotta keep trucking on.

I will probably do another 34-36 shows again this coming year, about three a month average.  I notice I get a little more winded when tearing down compared to years past.  I dream of someday becoming a jeweler so I can get out of Dodge in 30 minutes like my buddy Phil manages to do.  I dream of making it past age 82, still doing shows (certainly not 36 a year).   That is my goal.  Photographer Bill Coleman who did the wonderful work about the Amish made it to 81.  He had a wonderful assistant in Carl.  Without him, Bill would have been done a lot earlier.  I guess I have to find me a "Carl."  He is out there somewhere, I know I will find him.  I gotta outlast Coleman--it is my goal and I am very goal-oriented.

Let's see.  I just gotta avoid Cancer, heart attacks, strokes, bad backs, bad legs, high blood pressure--oh, and don't get juried out of everything.  I gotta avoid auto accidents, they put a big crimp on our lifestyles.  Also DUIs, don't want any of them either--big,big crimp on the lifestyle.

I feel good  about 2012.  I think we will see a certain little thawing in consumer resistance to sales. I am going to raise my prices in three levels.  I have held them steady for six years while my operating expenses increased.  I have a new web site, since thanksgiving, which made me about $800 in sales over Christmas.  My goal is to see if I can average $400 per month sales off of it.  If I could, that would be equal to doing two good Florida shows right now.  I am adding new bins, new signs to the booth, I might even start dressing up better like I used to in the good old days.  Hell, I might do the unthinkable like my good buddy Ray Mosteller does.  I might keep my booth open after official show hours closing in order to snare those late sales.  Oh well, I guy can dream.

It wont be an easy year, but I will keep plugging away.  There are lots of little daily victories to look forward to.  I count among my friends some of the most thoughtful and talented people I have ever met.  It gives me joy to be among them.  I look forward to new friends to be met.

We have the best darn professions in America.  People dream of being able to live their lives like we do.  Most do not have the forbearing,certainty, or tenacity that we do.

Well, it is a long way from that waterfall in Hawaii to the present--but I savor each moment, and drink it in like an intoxicating liquor--and I smile a lot.  Life is good, what more could a guy ask for?  And, I got Ellen, the most talented and good-looking pastelist for a partner.

Happy 2012 everybody.  I hope you get in most of the shows you want. I hope you will continue to make a living out there--and most of all, be happy, keep in good health.

Aloha, Nels Johnson.

PS.  I lost a tooth two years ago from biting into a chicken wing.  A mere $3300 will correct the problem.  But you know what?  I lost that tooth and my sales increased 20%.  I plan on getting it fixed by my 50th high school class reunion in 2013.  So a pirate I will remain a little more longer.