Blog

Last weekend was the 2nd annual River Clay Fine Arts Festival in Decatur, Alabama.  We were there for the first festival last year, making this our first repeat show. Decatur is located in north central Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake, a part of the Tennessee River system. The site is the park surrounding city hall in the downtown area and adjacent to a new arts center located about a block away. 

There were approximately 80 artists.  From our observations the quality of the work was very high, which made what happened later all the more surprising. Set up is on Friday based on an on line sign up. You have to dolly to your space which is not that big of a deal since there are volunteers and jail trustees to help with the heavy lifting. At 5pm there is a preview party and reception for folks who bought a ticket.  Artists are allowed to partake of the wine and beer, as well as the great food at the art center afterwards.  

It was very hot all weekend with temps in the mid to upper 90s.  Saturday started with good crowds but faded in the afternoon as the temps rose.  Toward 3pm the crowds picked up right until closing at 5pm. Artists we spoke with at the Sunday hospitality were generally very happy with their sales. Ours were OK. 

Sunday was better for us.  We made two big sales with some smaller ones mixed in.  Others we spoke with reported mixed results.  Quite frankly as hot and humid as it was, I am surprised the crowd was a big as it was.  We had the best spot in the whole show with constant shade and breeze. It was actually pleasant most of the day. Maybe that was why folks lingered more than usual in our booth. When we added up the totals we did very well here, especially since we had minimal expenses.

Break down was uneventful.  You grab a spot at the curb when you are ready to load.  Again, the trustees and the local hockey team were there to help. One of the high school hockey players asked Sara what all the sand bags were for.  I guess he was tired of the heavy lifting.  

This is an artist focused show that is a lot of fun to do.  It enjoys great community support, even with unbearable heat.

Here is the best part, we won Best of Show. There were three judges who took the time to speak with everyone.  They traveled the show in a group.  They asked a lot of questions and were very interested in how we processed our images.  Sara was in the air conditioned bathroom when they came by the booth with the awards.  I asked them to come back so she could be as surprised as I was. We had hit a sales lull due to the heat on Saturday afternoon.  I told her I felt our day was going to get better and at that moment the awards group came back, perfect timing. DSC_4180.jpg 

Well, its off to Ontario for my daughter's wedding.