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Hello, I would like to announce the website (with a few tweaks to come :) of the Florida Keys Art Guild.

We have been in exsistence for 10 years now and have recruited some new blood to bring the Guild into the 21st Century.

I would like to say a few things about the Guild which I hope will educate all who are interested.

We are a collective of hard working individuals who strive to bring the best artist from all around the county to our beautiful Florida Keys.

• We are painters(of all media types), photographers, sculptors, jewelers, mixed-media artist, glass blowers,woodworkers, potters, fabric artist and many, many more.
• We are staff artists.
• We are not an artists club.
• We are a Guild: a union of men and women in the same craft or trade.
• We jury artist based on a collective of different individuals who strive to bring high quality arts and crafts to the buying public.
• We don't fix prices or mandate pricing structure at our art shows.
• We need you. As more and more artist join our ranks, the bigger and stronger we become.

An advocate is:

• One who pleads the cause of another
• One who defends or maintains a cause
• One who supports or promotes the interest of others

The Florida Keys Art Guild is your advocate.

In closing, we are here to support artists of all walks. How about taking a walk with us.

Thank you.

Joey R. Smith (Large Format Photographer)

Show Chairmen

www.floridakeysartguild.com

Paragon runs events in silver spring maryland in the fall and spring. Does anyone have info on those events or on the producer?

I started Phoenix Rising Designs in 2004 after about 6 years of apprenticing and selling for other artists and designers. I have worked some really great art shows and one really muddy one. Seriously, shin deep in mud and sleeping in my van. The bathrooms weren't finished with walls between the toilets so... Anyway, I've done my share of moving around with my work! haha I am a wife and mother to one son and I homeschool him. I also fill in at a vintage clothing store and a bead store and teach classes at a wellness center on Gemstone Therapy.

I mentioned "people", right? Well those of you who have helped me in the past are free to add your stories as well. Rozee, we almost got stolen, remember? haha Brittany, you helped me for about 6 or 7 seasons and fell asleep with mud and rocks in your hair, right? My husband and son helped be run stuff to the van in pouring sheets of rain in Huron, Oh. Cambrey, how many lunches did we eat at that apple festival again? These are the silly, crazy, and (sick, right?) fun stories but I also have met some great people, had wonderful sales and fantastic times on circuit too.

I am currently working like crazy to add more wholesale accounts to my business. My styles are tribal and steampunk jewelry. I have an online store http://www.phoenixbartender.etsy.com/. Why "phoenix bartender"? Well I like the mythical creature and I've been a bartender since 2001 at night and an artist by day.

Rambling on...thank you for reading and thank you for adding my business to your "LIKE" list on facebook.

Does any one have any info or opinions on Amy Amdur Shows. I know the Highland Park show, but wonder about some of the newer shows, like the one in Glenview at the old Navel Air Station, now a shopping center.

The 15th Annual Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival is now in full swing in beautiful Alpena, Michigan. It is being held at the Thunder Bay Recreational Center October 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, 2010. There will be artists, photographer, music, helicopter rides, plane rides and boat rides to Middle Island. Visit the Great Lakes Lighthouse Museum and the wonderful lighthouses of the Sunrise Side of the state.

I am doing my first show PLUS I'm the Official Photographer for the Festival so not only to I mind my booth, I'll be running around taking pictures. Tonight was the welcome dinner and silent auction, which was a lot of fun and the food was delicious. I'll let you know how I do when the show is over.

Terri at the Drake's Nest in Ossineke, Michigan

Sorry. I don't have any pictures from the weekend. It was beautiful here in Dallas. Saturday temps were high in the low 80's, 50's at night and Sunday was 70's with lows in the 40's. Perfect weather.

240 artists. Set up in a lovely park with one middle lane for cars/vehicles at set-up and tear-down. Lanes for the booths are marked by famous artists, "Da Vinci, O'Keeffe, Wyeth etc." along the grassy park. You have a 15x15 space (plenty of room for extra in the back and between booths).

Set up was Thursday night for area artists. I was there by 5:40 and out by 7:00 (once it got dark). Had a great spot near the beginning of the lane. Came back early Friday morning to set up the art and was gone by 10:30 a.m. Very smooth set up and everyone acted civil.

A lovely artist dinner was given Friday night (good food: chicken, salad, rolls, potatoes) along with music and lots of wonderful company. Lots of artists talking with the City Council of Richardson.

O.k. Saturday was a busy, busy day for me. I got my first sale around 9:45 and didn't stop until after closing. I'm told Cottonwood can be like that with one day really, really great and the next day kinda slow. I was just happy to get sales and had one commission that day. Made around $1200 for the day (not including commission). May not be great for some of you but for me that was wonderful.

Sunday came and it was a slow day for me. My booth mate (a photographer) was also having a slow day but a textile lady across from me was selling left and right. One guy down my lane had a "0" show but the guy next to him (both painters) had the best show of 2010. I picked up three more commissions on Sunday so I was happy.

As far as the shoppers there were a lot of dog walkers, browsers but some very knowledgable buyers. Most of the "Be Backs" were actually back.

You couldn't have asked for nicer people to host the show. Richardson goes all out for the artists and the hospitality shows. One fellow had his tire blow right in front of me as we were pulling in to set up. Within minutes Seri Ayers (director) had 4 men out there helping this artist put on a new tire. He was really grateful. Many times during the show members of the staff were asking me if I needed a break and Seri came around to personally ask if I had a good show.

Not everyone was happy but I'm not sure we can blame the show for the hesitant buyers or the economy. We are seeing some of that even here in Texas. My dinner mates were from Atlanta and mentioned they had heard the Texas economy was soaring. I told them it's been very cautious (or that's how it's been for me anyway).

Tear down is a bit of a pill but if your patient and wait your turn like a good boy and girl you can be out of there by 8:00 p.m. (show's over at 6:00). Many artists leave to go eat dinner and let some of the others get out so they can have more room. Also, if your doing shows alone you can have plenty of help at tear down as the Boy Scouts come around to ask if you need any help and boy, do they earn their badges!

I will try for Cottonwood again. I didn't have any extra expenses as I live nearby and liked the way I was treated. It was a 2K show for me. Some around me did even better and like I said some had a "0" show. Seems like a big range at Cottonwood.

Sorry Nels. No Tequila Report. I don't drink but hope we can still be friends.

Hi everyone!

Please bear with me as it has been 40years since high school English and college English!!

I just had a wonderful week end visit with my Mom up in Augusta, Wisconsin! Had to bring up some of Grandmothers' things for my Mom to go over, plus a few things of my Sisters', a bit of a sad thing to do, but necessary. Anyway in spite of that, we had a really good time and visit! The reason I am writing this about Augusta, I don't know if people know of the large Amish Community they have up there? They do the most amazing quilts, wood work, furniture and the bake goods are just to die for!!!! The most beautiful breads!!!!

The Wood Shed in Augusta on Main Street, sells quite a bit of their furniture, their toys and such, but did you know that you can take a bus tour of the Amish Community? This is really something to see, you are riding along in your truck, car on the back roads, right along horse and buggy on the road! I know that there are some artists that specialize in Amish Artwork, this small area of Wisconsin would be a good place for this type of artwork. Make sure to ask permission first if it is all right to paint on their property and such. But never the less even if you just take a ride by yourself, the country side up there is beautiful! My Mom and I took a ride in her 1 ton truck up and down the hills on the back roads, it was bright and suuny, just a perfect day for a Sunday ride in the country. There is also a pretty good size art community up in the Augusta area, Roz Henning and her group, put on The Falling Leaves Art Tour every Fall, I think it is in October, this is a Saturday and Sunday ride in the country of the small towns, going thru the local artists art studios, to see what the do, talk with the artists and buy some lovely local artwork! Plus the local resturants offer wonderful meals and such when you are done with the tour! Beautiful art and wonderful food in Gods' Country! Again it's a pretty good ride to get to Augusta, it's outside of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, you can do mapquest to get driving directions.

So where will it end? Shows are no longer fun to do and artists no longer are able to make the money they did in the past. And that's where I'm going to end this essay.

Sept. 26-27,2010

Hamilton, OH

Booth Fee: $100.00

Jury Fee: $25.00

I loved the location of this show, the artists weren't cramped, we had tree lined "streets"- (they were golf cart streets). Plenty of trees and permenant sculptures behind and around the exhibitor spaces which made for a beautiful setting. Parking was close and people were there to shop. Set up was completely painless since there was room to bring your car right up to your space and get back out on Friday all day so noone was there all at the same time.

My sales were close to the 10x's the booth fee, so that rule of thumb worked for me. Sales were about the same on Sunday as Saturday so don't panic if Saturday doesn't do as well as you think it should. Another jewelry artists did better on Sunday than Saturday. If you do metal sculpture, you will do well at this show! People were walking all over the place with those things. (they were cool!) The photographer next to me did well and I think she would consider coming back, forgot to ask her. The water colorist on my other side did great work but didn't seem too happy with his sales. His stuff was great so that was unfortunate. I think the biggest thing with shows in this climate is to make sure you have a lot of options for people to look at. If they feel you don't have a big enough selection, they will go to the next booth. I found that demonstations work fantastic at shows, especially for a jeweler. Men don't always like to get stuck in our booths, especially if the show is heavy on jewlery (which is most of them), but guys like to see how things are made and will stop to look at least for a minute which is a minute more than you would have gotten. I'll be back to this show next year.