Thank God, 2018 has ended.
This year sucked, and this show was a perfect metaphor.
This is a Howard Alan Show. He did his job perfectly. Except not many people showed up and bought any art.
The Show is held at a very contemporary shopping center.
Estero is slightly below Ft. Myers and just north of Bonita Springs.
It is a happening place with oodles of great retail stores and cool restaurants.
The Show is held on a parking lot, very visible. People can easily see it. About 200 exhibitors.
This was the last weekend in December, a two day show with a Friday setup in daylight. For HAE that is very refreshing as opposed to 5am setups same day as Show.
This was only the third HAE Show I have ever done in 47 years. I despise 5am setups, it is against my religion.
The Show has been going on here for many years, and according to longtime regulars, it has always had booming crowds.
Not this year.
It was kind of busy around 11am, after that it was a desert.
Howard does a great job.
We had generous rear storage.
The staff helped everybody, they have rules, and they are enforced equally, nobody gets a pass if they screw up.
For whatever reason, not enough serious buyers showed up.
About 30 artists out of the 200 made great money—$3k-$5k, the rest of us barely covered our booth fees.
The average artist here had an easy one thousand dollar nut to crack just to break even.
Many who I talked to did not even sell $500.
It is a terrible way to end the year.
BTW, this was my worst year in the last 18 years. I was off sales by 30% over last year, and I did 25 shows.
2019 has got to be better.
I have a very decent schedule.
January, I have Bonita Springs and Images,NSB.
Feb., I have Ft. Myers, Artigras and Art Fiesta, NSB.
March, I have Juno Beach and Bayou City,Houston.
April, I have a biggie, Main Street Ft. Worth (now gotten in five out of last seven years, it is a killer show).
Also got Mainsail, St. Pete.
Not a bad schedule.
Will report on all of them.
You know I will always give you the complete skinny on any show I do.
I always tell it like it is.
Hopefully, prosperous times for all of us in 2019.
Comments
Last year, Columbus was my best show
Cocoa Beach was my worst, did not make booth fee.
Did you really think you'd been forgotten, Geri? I'm still eager to see new work at shows, but it is harder because of the collection I already have. Hope to see you this year.
Did someone mention my name? I have cut way back on attending shows this year. There are two reasons--both houses are pretty much full of art and it will take me at least three years to wear all my jewelry. That being said-- I am not seeing much in the way of new techniques in the the two areas I collect--ceramics and glass. If I did, I would be buying. I am not seeing those "I have to have it" pieces. Sadly, I am seeing more interesting work from Europe lately.
I'm thinking all of the sunshine and the new life in New Smyrna Beach will do you and Ellen a world of good. Hope you make it north for some shows.
Have you ever done a show during the holidays before, Nels? I'd think that unless someone got Christmas money specifically for art (Geri Wegner's favorite gift), this wouldn't be a great time for sales. But then, if I was disappointed in my Christmas take I might head over to the show to fix that problem. I'm always on the lookout for any new shows popping up that show promise. There is something new in Safety Harbor this year. The organizers include some long time exhibitors, Heather Richardson and Todd and Kiaralinda, maybe worth a try since among the three of them they must have over 100 years of experience in the business.
What was your best 2018 show? and if you don't mind, what was your worst?
Hope you saw Rick Plummer's post about the Cape Coral Rotary show ... someone who understands what we all want to read. Perhaps you were his mentor.
I'm sorry it went so poorly for you. It's ... hmmm... not sure what a good word to use would be, but I'm glad to know that it wasn't just me that 2018 didn't pan out for. I sure hope 2019 is better for all of us.
If you bomb at all of these, Main Street alone insures that you will have a great spring. I'll see you at Ft Myers and Artigras.