Posted by Nels Johnson on November 25, 2015 at 9:01am
I am a photographer and speak more from a 2-D perspective. But, forty years in the biz helps me understand other art disciplines.That said, this is a good show for artists who do functional art that is traditional. You will find a welcome audience here.If you do art outside the box you better have a great mailing list or you will die here, like me. I barely sold $500 here, and I was not alone.This show has great prize money and it brings out all the big boys who usually win.DeLnd is yThe county seat for Volusia (think Daytona). Located about 30 miles inland from the Atlantic. It's a lot of country folk. Many of them will sink their disposable income into fishing gear, before art.So traditional, cliche art sells best here.The show committee runs a great show. Nice little munch food on Friday night, then nice breakfast each day. Plenty of booth sitters, plenty of water. They are receptive to artist comments and criticism.They have a very good Patron Awards program. I saw lots of bright yellow ribbons on art booths everywhere. I even snagged a couple for a whopping $150 total.They set you up back to back down the center of the street. There is about three foot of common space behind. So you have to be creative with storage.Tear down is a breeze. The volunteers do a great job of getting vans in.The crowds were down from past years. But a weather report of 80 per cent rain on Sunday, which was inaccurate, scared a lot of people away.This show does not work for me, I probably won't go back, but it will work for a lot of you.Well, off to Sanibel this weekend.
Interestingly, in the podcast I just did about the Best Art Fairs, included in the podcast were three art fair buyers who love the shows and buy and travel to do it. They all said they do not miss the Emerging Artists section because that is a good place to find innovative work. To my eye, when I go through the shows (having been to so many) I tend to discount those booths because it feels unpolished, too experimental and the display doesn't draw me in. Call me jaded. I think my guests were right.
Here is a direct quote from a collector who has mucho experience with art fairs, and she made these comments on MONDAY this week in the wonderful thread started by Kathy Ross, the thread Connie made the POST OF THE WEEK just this a.m., the thread titled We Like Our News Scary and Our Art Safe, Apparently.
I think your work is fabulous. Most of it is colorful, whimsical, fun and also well made. Your originality is a breath of fresh air. I used to go to art festivals all the time. I feel as if I have seen everything, originality is so rare. I understand the need to make things that will sell to masses but how can the masses stretch their minds if the artists are afraid to even show some of their work that is "a little out there?"
I believe that Nels and I see the buying trends very differently. The difference between last year and this year is that many fixed expenses are less than they were last year. So people actually have more disposable income this year. Even Christmas stuff is getting cheaper as the idiotic retailers are competing for sales by slashing prices. I suppose those types of retailers would go down the drain if they didn't play that game. But they'll all go down the drain together and take down all their employees with them.
Stuff needs to be more exclusive to sell better and for more money in art fairs. I sell to seasoned collectors who save their money for the big stuff. I sell to collectors who are looking for the unexpected, not a better quality norm. Hey, the stars may be aligned in my favor right now as they've been once or twice before in my 25 year career. I understand I might once again wear the "rags" from whence I came as we might have to live out the "from rags to riches, but always back to rags" parable. Every lull keeps me on my toes. Every lull makes me reconfigure strategy. And now that I'm doing better, I'm assessing how I can keep from diving into near oblivion once again.
I quit doing this DeLand show for several reasons, but it wasn't because I didn't sell or generate piles of potential sales interest for future gambling on the show. If the show is still setup Saturday morning at 5:30, there's one reason. If none of theaffordable hotels in town allowed PETS and also had adequate wheelchair accessible facilities, there's another.
We were ready to give this venue a try once again this year when the health issue happened this spring. So I do regret not being able to be there. Another reason I didn't like it is on the way home to Wyoming I would drive through hellacious weather conditions quite possibly to our peril. We go slow, but conditions can be perilous for many unavoidable reasons.
Thanks, Nels. How come I never have heard of this show before? Who runs it? I guess you just keep honing the list "where it works," and I imagine as new folks follow the show reports on this site they will learn, what worked last year maybe won't work this year ... it is an art just to stay ahead of that.
Hope you and Ellen have some fun this holiday weekend.
Comments
Interestingly, in the podcast I just did about the Best Art Fairs, included in the podcast were three art fair buyers who love the shows and buy and travel to do it. They all said they do not miss the Emerging Artists section because that is a good place to find innovative work. To my eye, when I go through the shows (having been to so many) I tend to discount those booths because it feels unpolished, too experimental and the display doesn't draw me in. Call me jaded. I think my guests were right.
Barrie! Fascinated to hear all you have to say. Thanks for following the thread of my original blog thing.
Here is a direct quote from a collector who has mucho experience with art fairs, and she made these comments on MONDAY this week in the wonderful thread started by Kathy Ross, the thread Connie made the POST OF THE WEEK just this a.m., the thread titled We Like Our News Scary and Our Art Safe, Apparently.
I think your work is fabulous. Most of it is colorful, whimsical, fun and also well made. Your originality is a breath of fresh air. I used to go to art festivals all the time. I feel as if I have seen everything, originality is so rare. I understand the need to make things that will sell to masses but how can the masses stretch their minds if the artists are afraid to even show some of their work that is "a little out there?"
I believe that Nels and I see the buying trends very differently. The difference between last year and this year is that many fixed expenses are less than they were last year. So people actually have more disposable income this year. Even Christmas stuff is getting cheaper as the idiotic retailers are competing for sales by slashing prices. I suppose those types of retailers would go down the drain if they didn't play that game. But they'll all go down the drain together and take down all their employees with them.
Stuff needs to be more exclusive to sell better and for more money in art fairs. I sell to seasoned collectors who save their money for the big stuff. I sell to collectors who are looking for the unexpected, not a better quality norm. Hey, the stars may be aligned in my favor right now as they've been once or twice before in my 25 year career. I understand I might once again wear the "rags" from whence I came as we might have to live out the "from rags to riches, but always back to rags" parable. Every lull keeps me on my toes. Every lull makes me reconfigure strategy. And now that I'm doing better, I'm assessing how I can keep from diving into near oblivion once again.
I quit doing this DeLand show for several reasons, but it wasn't because I didn't sell or generate piles of potential sales interest for future gambling on the show. If the show is still setup Saturday morning at 5:30, there's one reason. If none of theaffordable hotels in town allowed PETS and also had adequate wheelchair accessible facilities, there's another.
We were ready to give this venue a try once again this year when the health issue happened this spring. So I do regret not being able to be there. Another reason I didn't like it is on the way home to Wyoming I would drive through hellacious weather conditions quite possibly to our peril. We go slow, but conditions can be perilous for many unavoidable reasons.
Thanks, Nels. How come I never have heard of this show before? Who runs it? I guess you just keep honing the list "where it works," and I imagine as new folks follow the show reports on this site they will learn, what worked last year maybe won't work this year ... it is an art just to stay ahead of that.
Hope you and Ellen have some fun this holiday weekend.