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Next Podcast: Thursday, May 19, 5 pm ET

Stories from Art Fair Land

How do you earn a living as an artist? Let's talk about the pleasures and the pitfalls of choosing to be an artist in the U.S. This episode will either have you running to apply to the art festivals all across the country or running the other way, fast!

Our guests are Floridians Toni and Jay Mann who have been creating fun and functional claywork and selling it at art festivals for a long time (20 or 30 years, I'd guess).  They have had a lifetime of adventures in the art fair business and been in every town east of the Mississippi.

Also joining us are Craig and Sara Roderick, photographers from Alabama. Their desire to find a market for their work, American Road Trip Photography, brought them to the shows just a year ago.

Join us to hear the contrast between the stories of the veterans and those new to the business. What is the best part? What is the worst? and OMG what did that patron just say about your work and what did its dog do to your booth?

This will be a call in show. Show directors welcome. Let's hear it from both sides.

Get your stories ready and call in: (805) 243-1338

Metalsmith David Bacharach and jeweler Valerie Hector are compiling a book, "Craftspeople In Their Own Words." Do you have a personal story about working in a craft discipline or some great photos to include? 

Please share your stories, I know you've got them! Profits from the book are going to CERF (Craft Emergency Relief Fund). Send your stories and photos to valeriehector@sbcglobal.net or mail@bacharachmetals.com

This past weekend, I did a small, one day, art/craft fair, “Art in the Park”, in St. Louis, Missouri.  This is a yearly art fair with the proceeds going towards the maintenance of the park where the art fair is held.  This fair is held in Francis Park with the booths being along the two sides of a long, rectangular water lily pool.  The fair is held in late September and I have been told that for the past 5-6 years, the weather has been almost perfection, although this year, it did get a bit warm.  The cost is low and the artists are mostly local to the area and it is just a fun day in the park.

This year, I had a visitor to my booth, a young lady of age about ten.  She immediately was drawn to one of my larger images, a 20x30 inch flower printed on aluminum.  The piece was several hundred and she offered me about three dollars and wanted to pay it off over time.  Shortly thereafter, her mother arrived and said that we have to talk about this.  The lass offered to clean the yard of dog droppings for a year if she could have the image. 

After a brief discussion, the mother left and the girl remained and attempted to protect the image from all potential buyers for over an hour.  I had promised the girl that I would not sell it to anyone else but she resumed her protective posture for about another half hour before saying that she would be back. 

Again, in about a half an hour, the girl and her mother returned and more discussion occurred and again, the mother departed and the girl remained.  About a half hour later, the girl said that she was going to get her father and would be back. 

At this time, I placed the image in the back replacing it with another picture.  About a half hour later, the girl’s mother returned and was horrified that the picture was gone.  I told her that it was in the back and retrieved it.  Shortly there after the girl returned and the mother and an aunt split the cost between them.  I offered the girl one of my smaller prints as a bonus and she was one happy little girl.

Was rather nice to see someone like one of my images this much and especially so, someone this young.  Makes a person enjoy being an artist.  I am not getting rich from art fairs, but it is quite enjoyable to meet the public and see the reactions ones work evokes.  More sales would also be nice but money is not my prime motivator.