I remember when I "thought" making a living as a full-time 2-D artist was tough...that was three years ago. Just got back from FLA where three days produced 0 sales, last year $4K. The organizer stopped by the booth, when I told her she said not to worry, 3/4 of the people there sold nothing. Up the road at the Boca Museum show, 2-D artists were trying to make booth fees on Sunday afternoon.

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  • hi there...i guess we are in the same boat.

    i started doing shows in Florida in late 2010, and it has been awful!!!!

    the last "show" that i did was the Manatee Festival in Crystal river,Fl when i did only $30. ( i am a photographer).

    Therefore, i have decided to stop doing shows in Florida this year, and head to New England for the Summer where shows are actually cheaper!!!!

    i too think that those so-called Art shows in Florida bring more food vendors than Artists!!!!

  • Geri, there's always room for a nice piece of pottery.  Just move something over.

     

    In terms of what is selling, last summer, in the midwest, all the 2-D artists were doing well and the 3-D were having light sales.  It changes from year to year. Of course, it doesn't help that there are 3-4 Boca shows within a couple of weeks of each other. One of those shows will have the best work but the public doesn't know which is the right show. It's kind of like Naples that has a show every weekend.  At least the people know that the Naples Notional is the good one.

  • It really is true that a  person can run out of room on their walls and it is easier to put one more thing on a shelf.

    I am sitting in a room that has very little if any space left for 2d but I just put a piece of pottery on a shelf with a little rearranging.

    The demographics of a lot of shows are on the (ahem) older range of the scale so running out of wall space could lead to lower demand for that type of art.  

  • With the exception of a couple shows I have not done as well this year as last year with 2D photography.  I've got three more shows in Florida before I head north so I hope it picks up.
  • Ya gotta eat...that's why the food vendors always seem to do very well.  Folks in Florida for the past couple years it seems are not buying 2d work...jewelry yes, some clothing, "art on a stick" and junk.  We stopped exhibiting our photography last summer after not selling anything for 2 months at our local shows.  Sales have steadily increased, however with our jewelry.  We've been staying close to home for the past year doing local events and not spending for the larger shows.   The last big show for 2d for us was Las Olas in March 2008, where we did just OK after expenses.  Talked to a photographer friend of mine at a show 3 weeks ago and he said he was packing it in after 20 years.  On the other hand, according to reports on this site and others, it looks like some shows in Florida are producing good sales.
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