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Every show we have at least a half a dozen people ask us for 'buy sell' kinds of jewelry pieces.  This week my favorite question was:  My mother went to Israel 30 years ago and bought me this star  with the word chai (life on it).  She got the large one, I got the medium one and my cousin got the small one.,    I lost it and I always go to these art shows hoping I will find this exact piece of jewelry.  Do you have it?

Kick me before sarcasm rolls off my tongue.  I politely said that the person who designed those pieces 30 years ago would not be happy to know that I, or someone else, had copied that design.  So, no, we don't have that design but we have 15 other designs that you may like.

No, she said, I've looked 30 years for this design and this is the design I want.

Or, last week the lady said:  My x-boyfriend gave me a star with a horseshoe on it.  When I broke up 25 years ago, I gave him back the pendant.  I always loved that pendant.  Do you have it?

We don't have it - perhaps you might cookie horseshoe, star and pendant and find it that way.  No, she said - she would keep on looking.  When we got to the room that night, I googled horseshoe, star, pendant and up popped a piece.  i don't know if this is 'the one' but it was easy to find.

We're not gong to have 'plain stars' that can be purchased on the internet.  Pieces are designed by me.  I want people to 'step out of the box' and look beyond that plain star ... alas, those who say - cute, interesting, nice, very interesting, very nice, different ... just don't get it.  

On the other hand, a blog was written about a new piece - Tikva - Star of Hope..

http://sherylaronson.blogspot.com/2012/06/hope.html

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.  Did you notice my absence?  We were vacationing.  And it was great.  Even the add on.  Now that part has you curious, right?  That "add on" bit?  But first we need to highlight a word from the title of this post.  Promotion.

Promotion - yes, you could erroneously assume that I am going to give you a sales pitch on some paintings today.

Promotion - yes, and you could also erroneously assume that my job status has been elevated.  That I am now CEO of karencooperpaintings.com.  Oh, wait, I already am.  (Heheheh.)

But what I really want to do here is tie "promotion" in with that "add on" bit.

On our way back from way up north, the map lead us through Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  Population:  more than Jefferson, but not 15,000 either.  We knew that Leinenkugel Brewing Company was in Chippewa Falls, and we thought, well, that 'd be something to do on our way through.  We were getting tired of driving, you know.  So we cruised around town, and accidentally found "Leinie Lodge", which turned out to be their "meet and greet the world" facility.  We walked up to their information desk to ask about tours.

Terry was the guy who greeted us.  Yes, they were getting ready to close for the day, in ten minutes, give or take a few.  But Terry was still hustling.  No lean on the counter and whine about the long day with this guy.

So, tours were done for the day, we had already pretty much assumed they would be.  We were planning on staying in town for the night, we just wanted to check time schedule for tours the next day.  Terry let us know that tour reservations were a really good idea, their time slots were already getting full.  He added our name to an open spot.  And could have left it at that, right?

But he continued.  What else do you need to know about Chippewa Falls?  We've got great places to stay, all kinds of restaurants, a stellar park.  Terry filled us in on all the local places.  And yes, he did mention the chain hotels and restaurants out on the interstate.  But he definitely highlighted the locals.  He pointed us toward an old-school style inn, just up the road from Leinie Lodge. called the Glen Loch Inn.  Probably a 50's era place, but almost impossibly meticulously well cared for.  Continental breakfast was simple but served on white table cloths.  The inn keeper was just absolutely gracious and friendly.  Does her own gardening, and it's as meticulous as everything else on the property.  The patio was perfect for the continental breakfast.

But Terry the tour guy also noted our bicycles strapped to the back of the Jetta, and mentioned if we enjoyed riding, that Chippewa Falls has a great park, with trails.  300 plus acres in the middle of town, beautiful trails, a band stand, a waterfall, even a small zoo.  We enjoyed.

And Terry also pointed us toward a great local restaurant on the lake at the edge of town, called (of course) The Edge.  Perfect.

So where's this all going you ask?  Promotion.  Terry's job was to promote Leninkugel.  And he did that very well, as a Leinenkugel host.  But he also promoted his peers, his neighbors, his fellow Chippewa Falls-ians.  Terry seemed to know that every bit of promotion he did for his neighbors, was going to come back around and be good for Leinenkugel.

Not all of us in the art world, especially the summer art fair world, understand that concept.  I see artists being protective, even secretive, about information that would benefit their peers.  It's not hard to find an artist based forum on the net, where artists are talking about who's copying who.  And "that was mine, and they copied it!"

Here's the thought to ponder:  everyone does better when the community is well.  Helping your neighbor is just another way of helping yourself.

So we're already planning an autumn trip back to Chippewa Falls...

Later, Cooper

This past weekend (April 27-29) we participated in the Astoria Crab, Wine and Art festival for the 3^rd time.   This is a show put on by the local chamber of commerce and is very well organized with good communication prior to the show.  Astoria is a small town in far Northwest Oregon that attracts a lot of tourists who are passing through town on the way to the Oregon beaches.  It’s located  very close to where the Columbia River dumps into the Pacific Ocean, so seafood and fresh fish are wonderful treats when visiting the area.  This festival has been operating for 30 years and attracts local residents primarily on Friday and Sunday with out of town visitors on Saturday.  The show includes local Oregon wineries, a couple of breweries, artists and gourmet food vendors.  Art is NOT the primary focus of this show, this is not a show that works for everyone, but jewelry is small and easy to carry so we’ve had good results from this show in the past.  The 2D artists who do this show and offer shipping seem to do better than those who do not offer that service.  It is a show I hesitate to recommend to other artists because results can vary greatly.

Friday the show doesn’t start until 4 PM so you have all day to load in, or you can also opt to load in on Thursday.  The Friday night crowd is not there for shopping, they are there to sample the wine and party.  That being said, we did have our best Friday night thus far at this show, but just by a mere $50.  The show runs until 9 PM by which time there are numerous patrons who need to be poured on the shuttle buses to go home.  For the attendees there are some challenges for the show, shuttle buses run from the local high school and is provided for free.  Parking at the fairgrounds costs $10 for the patrons and is somewhat limited.  The lines waiting to get out of the parking lot on Friday night were quite lengthy making us grateful that our RV was parked on the outside of the parking lot and we didn’t have to deal with driving anywhere that night.  The shuttle / parking situation does discourage some patrons from buying large artwork unless they can have it shipped or delivered after the show. 

Saturday the show runs from 10-8 and is the day for sales for most of the artists who participate.  Our sales were good this year on Saturday, but not nearly as good as last year.  I feel I need to add a qualification here in that last year on the Saturday of this show we achieved our highest 1 day sales total EVER, so we weren’t going in with the expectation that we would top that.  In fact our sales for just Saturday alone last year were higher than our overall total show average, so I was trying not to be over optimistic this year.  So, while our sales were good, we were surprised at what seemed like a lot lower attendance than usual.  I could actually see some of the other booths across from us for most of the day which has not been our experience the last 2 years.   The last 2 years have been wall to wall people from about 11 – 3 on Saturday, not the case this year.  Also, the sales we made were more evenly split between locals and out of town visitors, in past years the majority of our sales on Saturday have been from visitors from Portland and Seattle.  Made us wonder if the high price of gas was taking its toll.  Another measurement of the smaller crowd, lines at the women’s restroom was generally shorter this year.  Sorry, I know some of you could care less about that,  but with all the wine tasting, usually the lines on Saturday afternoon are way too long.

Sunday the show only runs from 11-4 and is a very quiet crowd, mostly local.  In the past Sunday has always been our lowest sales day and by about 3:30 on Sunday we were beginning to think we were going to hit a new show low with 0 sales for Sunday.  Our first and last customer of the day came in at 3:45 and bought 3 pieces causing us to breathe a sigh of relief that we didn’t have a 0 day.  So a few hours of total boredom on Sunday with one customer in the last 15 minutes of the show.  What a way to end the show.  End result – we were up about 10% over the first year of doing this show but definitely down from last year’s stellar show.

Load in / load out is fairly easy with a little bit of a crowded parking lot, but a very flat load in / load out for dollying your stuff.  Some vendors park around the building but then you’re parked on the grass or in mud and that adds a little more challenge to the load in / load out.  We opted for a little longer walk to our booth, but it was all flat and on concrete.  The show is held at the local fairgrounds in a large building with pipe and drape already provided as part of the booth fee.  This is our last indoor show of the year and given that it’s held in late April on the Oregon Coast, it was great to still be inside, out of the rain. 

The show provides the option for RV parking on site, however, we park along the perimeter of the gravel parking lot, in the grass, at the end of April so it’s a somewhat muddy camping experience at the end of April in Oregon.  This year they pointed us to a spot that was impossible to level our RV so we spent the weekend feeling like our equilibrium was a little off.  However, it’s great to have the option, the parking lot is across the highway from the show facility with a foot bridge over the highway so we never have to deal with driving anywhere once we’re set up and be concerned about patrons who have sampled too much wine.

Is this a show we’ll do again?  Probably, it’s a relatively easy show to do, 4 hours from home and decent early season results when we have limited options for shows in this part of the country in April.  Is it  a show that works for everyone?  No, I know of at least 3 artists who say they won’t be back, this was their 2^nd or 3^rd attempt at this show and the results just weren’t good enough for them to feel like they want to come back.  There were also a couple of artists who have been there in the past that were noticeably absent this year, so again, not a show that works for everyone. 

Now we’re enjoying a quiet week in a campground outside of Portland before we take off on Friday to continue our Oregon road trip to 2 new shows for us over the next 2 weekends. 

As a young child I always created art -preferring to paint and draw rather than  join my friends at the mall. I loved copying Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Matisse.

As a college student I studied art, design and painting.  As an adult I found, not only did I have a desire to make art professionally but also to teach people,  young and old,  how to express and explore their own creativity through art making.  I strive to insure the students understand there are no mistakes in art. And to recognize that what they perceived to be a 'mistake' could actually be far better than what they intended.

I taught my first art classes to some of my neighbors' children many years ago in my garage and have always wanted to do more of it. A couple years ago I made a proposal to a local preschool to teach a pilot art class once a week, and found that I still enjoyed teaching art, very much.Preschool Artwork Exploring Textures

It was another 3 years before I got up the courage to teach adults.

I had studied felt making for a number of years by now and believed I had something worthwhile to share with others who wanted to learn the craft. I have taken many classes around the country with many teachers. Some much better than others. In my teaching,  I wanted to incorporate what worked for me and eliminate that which was not helpful.

What made a successful class for me was based on several different factors. Did I learn what I signed up to learn? Was the instructor organized and their instructions clear? Was the class well paced?  Did the teacher understand my questions and answer clearly? Were they patient and take the time to explain something in a different way if I wasn't able to understand their explanation? Were there hand outs or reference materials I could take home? Were all the supplies there that were supposed to be ? Was the equipment in working order and were there enough supplies for everyone? Was the space pleasant to work in and did it function well?  Did the teacher have enough samples to show the class? These criteria are what I hold myself accountable to.

Surprisingly enough,  if I didn't have 'fun' at the time,  I didn't count that against the teacher.  I found that taking a week long workshop to learn a new skill can be quite stressful. Fun was a plus but not a requirement.

And this seems incongruent but, in the 5 hour class I teach at  Nice Threads Fiber Gallery and Studio in Black Mountain, North Carolina , called 'Designing a Nuno Scarf''  I do  want people to have fun as well as learn new new skills. So far,  the feedback I  have received has made me very happy. The comment made that I exceeded the students' expectations really made my day.

Public Art Project on Tour in Basel, Manfred Kielnhofer

Shared by Austrian artist and designer Manfred Kielnhofer. The “Light Guards” project is further developed and become a ghost car touring in Basel art show during June 15 – 19 2011.

http://artobserved.com/2011/06/ao-on-site-art-fair-news-summary-and-final-photoset-art-42-basel-2011-in-closing/

Eccentric art was also at Basel, if not as dominant a presence as the traditional buys. Ghost Car by Kielnhofer was a large white van with hooded figures driving outside the fair, and the Bleifrei (which translates to Lead Free in German) Art Collective told Art Info: “Art is like Jesus; it died and it’s coming again.”

Manfred Kielnhofer, Ghost Car (2011) Basel, via Kielnhofer.com

The grim seeker after truth
Anyone wondering why these grim reaper style figures were seated on this white van - look no further than the latest installation from artist Manfred Kielnhofer. He is from Haslach an der Mühl, in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria, Austria, and is an artist and designer whose work usually centres around the human anatomy. His recent piece of art is the Ghost Car, which is a product of the developing ‘Light Guards’ project. This project surfaced from the theory that humankind has always been able to boast having guardians in different ways, in potential danger from only themselves. This idea intrigued the artist Kielnhofer, who approached it with his artwork, intertwining the theme of longing for security harboured by all humans. The Ghost Car portrays a sizely white van driving, seating sheet-covered figures. Perhaps this reflects individuality, exploration and recognition of current events in society, as it seems to interpret the theme by suggesting the hooded figures are looking to the drapes and car for protection as they are possibly ghosts, who are afraid of the life after death, and long for safekeeping.
By Alessia De Silva
http://austriantimes.at/news/Panorama/2011-08-06/35422/The_grim_seeker_after_truth
http://kielnhofer.com

Who would ever have thought that with thirty years of promoting fine art and crafts shows, we would have a new weather experience: - nickel sized hail and over three inches of rain in less than two hours. Rain and wind, yes, many times, but a deluge that just didn’t move away - not when we were on site for set up. 



There we were at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield/Montclair, New Jersey. It was Friday afternoon with 90 out of 145 exhibitors checked in and set up.

By 3:30, as exhibitors arrived, we warned them of unstable weather in the area. The sun was still shining but there was constant thunder. Pretty spooky actually.

It was 4 pm when we ran for the truck when the lightening, thunder and wind kicked up; and saw on the radar that there was a large intense area of storms heading our way. We moved the truck behind the booth to help protect our Show Off canopy from the winds, but as we watched, one of the bars on the top moved and a dip in the roof occurred. A pool of water was created that kept growing and growing.



Howard braved the storm with an umbrella, hoping to push the pooling water over the side but it was too heavy. Ever the boy scout, he took out his knife and cringed as he cut a three inch slit in the roof, near a seam, to allow the water to drain. It was that or lose the legs of the canopy which were bowing inward.



Finally, some time after 6 pm, we were able to start inspecting the show site for damage. For the first time, I truly understood the term “flash flood” as we viewed one exhibitors booth isolated like an island in the middle of a lake with water rushing across the path creating another lake opposite the stranded booth. 

We spent the next two hours assessing the damage and were pleasantly surprised that by the time we got back to the first booths we checked, the water levels had receded remarkably and knew that by morning, all the booths would be fine.



We called the "island in the lake" exhibitor to tell her to be there early and that we would have employees on hand to help move her canopy and display. By morning though, all was fine except for a water line 12” up on the stranded exhibitor’s display cloths. Her new badge of survival from Friday’s deluge.



Mulch (thirty bags worth and three employees later) took care of tidying up the show site by the 10 am opening. We knew just how fortunate we were that Brookdale park drains amazingly quickly and well.



Two exhibitors lost their E-Z Up canopies due to the weight of the water on the roof. One important trick that many but not all E-Z up owners know about it using pool “noodles” or hula hoops in the corners of the canopy to create a more rounded roof thus fending off the water pooling that bends the frame. Fortunately, neither exhibitor had their work in the booth and the displays were unharmed. They were both appreciative of our 8 pm phone calls advising them of the damage so they could make arrangements to get alternate canopies for the morning.



The sun was out all weekend, with a warm and humid day on Saturday and a less humid day on Sunday. The crowds came in force and started to build by 10:30 on Saturday morning. 

Throughout the show, we kept reminding each other just how lucky we all were that the “deluge” came late Friday and not over the weekend.

Here's a small animation I did when I set up a black & white booth a couple of years ago.

When I applied for this show, I was looking for something close to the OKC 6-day show.  The Book & Art fair is held every year on Mother's Day weekend at the Century II exhibit hall in Wichita, Kansas as a fundraiser for the local art museum.  As the date of the show approached, my husband and I were faced with a couple of very unexpected and expensive events that had me questioning whether or not to do this one.  He talked me into going, but I chose to drive and set-up on the same day to keep my hotel costs down, something that I don't normally do.

Set-Up

Set-up is on Friday from 10 am 'til 8pm.  I arrived at 5pm and found easy parking at the loading dock.  I was able to unload quickly onto one of the provided flatbed carts and dolly my stuff to my booth space.  Set-up seemed to go smoothly for most people. Affordable electric ($35) was provided via an outlet on the floor right at your booth space, the floor was fairly level, and the aisles were wide.  I managed to finish setting up at 7:45, a respectable time when I'm by myself.

The artist's parking was an easy one block walk from Century II.  Because of my late arrival I didn't need to move my car to the artist's parking lot on Friday, just move it from the the dock space to another "loading" space.   Saturady and Sunday that short walk was much appreciated in the 100 degree heat.

The Show

The show opened Saturday morning at 10am, and there was a line of shoppers at the door.  Some of these folks went straight for the booths, others went right upstairs for the used book sale.  By 2pm the crowd had thinned out to a mere trickle and pretty much remained that way until the 6pm closing time.  Bargain shoppers abounded in the afternoon crowd, drwan in by the book sale.  The artists had plenty of time to walk around and visit in the afternoon.  I met many first-timers like myself, and one long-timer.  Several of the artists had been in OKC like myself.  All of the first-timers expressed that it would be nice to just make the booth fee for this one($200).

Sunday brought an 11am start time, and shoppers were once again lined up at the door.  Most folks managed to make early sales, but by 2 o'clock the crowd had shifted again.  The recycle metal worker across from me managed to keep the sales up for another hour or so, but most of the buying energy was gone.  At 3pm, an announcement was mad that all of the used books were on sale for $3 per paper grocery bag full, and that sucked some of the shoppers up to the balcony to look for bargains.  Several of the artists started a slow tear-down at 4:30 in preparation for the 5pm show close.  Those I spoke to didn't have great sales on either day and were gald when the show was over. 

Load Out

In anticipation of the forthcoming chaos of folks trying to leave a not-so-great show in a hurry, I brought in my own handtruck and packing materials when I arrived Sunday morning.  The flatbed carts provided by the site were in short supply at teardown and I was gald to have a place to stack my ProPanels off of the floor.  Everything was orderly and quick, and the hall was fairly empty when I departed at 6:30.

My Review

For some reason this show was very heavy on photography and jewelry.  The jewelry I get - Mother's Day and shiny, 3-D things to touch.  But photo?  I'm a photographer and this was totally not my crowd.  My stuff is higher-end, monochromatic, historic process work and this was a lower-end, 3-D, bargain-hunting crowd.  Unfortunately this show doesn't really have a website, and you're only given a list of participating artists at check-in (without a notation of medium), so reasearch can't be done prior to application or acceptance to see if your work is a good fit.  My hopes were that being sponsored by the local art museum the quality might be a little higher.

In terms of sales, under $100 seemed to be the hot price point.  A nearby jeweler sold a piece well above that mark but had give a significant discount just to make the sale.  In terms of 2-D, the hot item seemed to be the "print-in-a-bag" - no mat, just a flat print dropped in a clearbag.  Even notecards were a hard sell at this show.

In the past this show was held in conjunction with RiverFest (now held in June), which apparently brought in bigger crowds on Saturday.  This was the first year the the Book and Art show was on its own and despite a good advertising campaign the shoppers just weren't there.  And this is first and foremost a used book sale.  The art fair feels like a sideline - a few boothsitters, cookies at check-in, but that's it.  Everyone was very nice, but that doesn't put gas in the car to get you home.  If you live close by and need a filler show, this could be OK if you have lots of stuff in the $30 - $50 range.

Entries are beginning to come in, get yours in as soon as you can for the best booth location at the First Huntley Artfest, Huntley, IL  where there is FREE parking for Artist and their RVs, adjacent to the Artfest grounds. 

visit  http://www.firsthuntleyartfair.org/  information for artist, lodging suggestions, and event map

any questions can be sent to me at  theling@firsthuntleyartfair.org

fill in the online application and then hit 'Print'  we have made it easy for you to participate in:

It's been interesting my first year in Florida learning about what shows to do and what shows not to do.  I decided to do this show versus the Coconut Grove, Artigras, because the Orlando area has been good for sales to me, and I was not disappointed with this show.  This is a two-day show that runs from 11-6 on Saturday and Sunday, and is set up around Lake Eola in downtown Orlando.  It's a beautiful lake and the community around the area is an older area of well kept homes.  The weather was wonderful with temperatures in the upper 70's to low 80's. 

Set up for the show was easy, and I was able to park my one ton dually and trailer for free only a block and a half away from my booth on both days.  I did notice that a number of people on Saturday parked in no parking zones and at meters without paying, and a meter maid was doing double duty photographing vehicles and writing tickets.  Ouch. The show had fresh coffee, muffins, and apples for us on both days.  This was not grocery store items but from the Panera Bread bakery down the street.

This show was packed by any measure.   Anytime I looked from my booth into the isle, I counted from one to fifteen people.  This was pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday until around 4:30, but I was competing with the 70's light rock group Ambrosia.  Enough about the entertainment.  Let's talk about the money.

I'd estimate that 60-70% of the show had some pretty nice art work. I did see a number of larger items traveling by my booth and when I'd take a run to the break room.  Sales were pretty spotty for the booths in my area.  The photographer, she had some nice work, did zilch.  A jeweler across from me told me he did around 600.  In both their cases they were pretty new to shows and could use some display help.  The jeweler had a table with his bracelets out and would change his hand-written price tags depending how he felt for that hour.  I'm not kidding.  He changed his prices four times on Sunday!

I also sold a number of smaller items and two upper items so I hit my goal of 10 times my booth fee.  Additionally, I was honored to receive a blue ribbon and an envelope with a very nice amount of cash in it!  All in all, it was the right choice for me on this weekend.

One word of warning.  Book your room early.  I had a reservation and the motel had way overbooked and there online reservation was still booking rooms that didn't exist.  I called around 20 other places within a 20 mile radius and no luckola.  So I did what any true artist would do.  I found a Mexican restaurant and had a number of jumbo margaritas and fell asleep in my truck.  See you all down the road!

I am sure those of you reading this are either a Gen X or Y or knowsomeone who is through family relation, friends or workingrelationships. Most don't understand Gen X and Y's or have a hardtime relating to them. There is no denying though, they are a forceto be reckoned with when it comes to shopping. I have been reading agreat book called Gen Y Buy and it is a most fascinating read. Ifyou are curious about what direction today's society is heading,especially when it comes to retail and shopping, do check out thebook. This leads to Question 15 and want to touch on it because GenX and Y's do have a huge influence on how art fairs are run and howwe can learn from them when it comes to managing our own artbusinesses.

Question 15 – How have Gen X and Y's affect how people shop at art fairs?(How can we capture their attention too?)

Instead of going into depth about the “nature and behavior” of Gen X andY's, as I am a Gen X myself, I am going to highlight some key pointsthat I feel best answers Question 15.

1. Full Steam Ahead. We can thank the today's generation for pushingartists to create new pieces of art. With Gen X and Y's drive forseeking new and improved stuff, this carries over to their parentsand even grandparents especially when it comes to technology, homeimprovement, and decorating one's apartment or home, or evenvacation home. It isn't enough to offer one size 2D art, but postcards, note cards, even coffee table books are just one of ahundreds of examples that can be attributed to today's youngergeneration need for variety.

2. Credit Cards. If it weren't for credit cards our sales at art fairsconsiderably lower than what they are today. It is not the norm anymore to carry cash with a few exceptions. When it comes to artfairs, it is now more important that ever to accept credit cardsbecause show patrons expect it. The benefits of bringing in moresales far outweighs the minimal monthly fees or possibility ofrunning into a declined card.

3. Computers and The World Wide Web. Computers are here to stay and since theybecame mainstream, it has opened many doors for artists. Someexamples range from digital art mediums, email – an instant formof communication, social networks to keep in touch with customers orpromote ourselves at upcoming art shows, software for trackingsales, access to better raw material suppliers, to the NEW businesscard – personal art business websites. The value computers haveis immeasurable and if you don't agree, try living without one for24 hours, on a work day.

4. Word of Mouth. Granted word of mouth advertising is nothing new.However, Gen X's and Y's have taken it to an all new level. All ittakes is one Gen Yer to fall in love with something that they haveto take a photo of it and show their friends or blog about it.Within minutes that thing the Gen Y loves is now apart of a viralword of mouth advertising campaign to her friends and family. Themore art fairs and artists harness this power of free advertisingthrough social networks and other word of mouth advertising, theeasier it is to attract new customers and art fair patrons.

5. Developing Personal Relationships. There is a strong desire for those whoappreciate art, with the help of Gen X and Ys, to want to learneverything they can about art. Due to art funding in schools havingbeen cut and combining that the desire of being connected topeople, there is more of a push for artists to be more willing toeducated and entertain show patrons. Don't confuse this withcarnival type of entertainment. What I am merely saying is thepressure is now on for artists to shine revealing theirhumble/personal side, through humor or through demonstrations, aswell as uncovering the veil of what it is like to be an artist. Theone on one experience can be long lasting and turn a looker into abuyer once they learn more about you, and vice versa, and your art.

6. Charity and Causes. Charities such as breast cancer awareness, HurricaneKatrina Relief organizations and the local Humane Society are alwayslooking for donations and volunteers. Helping those who seekassistance makes us feel good about ourselves, and this plays a bigpart in building Gen X and Y's self esteem, often being the drivingforce behind these organizations. Their desire spills onto theirfriends and family members trickling into the art fair world. Thishas crept into art fairs because patrons are more likely to attend ashow knowing if there is a discount off admission if a personbrings in canned goods to support a food drive, for example. Someartists are even support their own choice of charitable organizationby donating part of their sales to that organization. This is a winwin for everyone.

I can go on and on about this topic, but to keep these blog posts “quick”I don't have all day. While there are issues artists have when itcomes to hiring Gen X and Ys and how to make items that appeal moreto them, I am hoping towards the end of this blog series I can tacklethis questions. If any of this interests you there is moreinformation in books, magazines, and other resources. Did I missanything you think is worth sharing – let us know and use thecomment button. Next I will be review the past 15 questions and thentackle the question, what does it mean when a customers says “___”? Have a great weekend !

- Michelle Sholund, www.quickcraftartisttips.blogspot.com. Check out my craft business' website –www.bythebaybotanicals.com.