Blog

Sorry for the delay posting this. As soon as we returned from Roanoke and spent Monday making sure all of our equipment was clean and dry, I had to leave for a three day research conference in Athens, Georgia. Lets see, a phenomenological research conference or an art festival. Which do you think was more fun? Anyway here is the roadie’s review of our second show, the Taubman Sidewalk Art Show from June 1st and 2nd in Roanoke, Virginia.  

If one of you starts attaching sidewalls while the other is still attaching the weights...well... do you remember the parasail story from our first show. Fortunately, although the buildings around us helped serve as a wind tunnel, the wind was not as strong as our first show and Sherry was able to keep her feet on the ground. Of course there immediately ensued some strong philosophical disagreement over the need to attach weights before the sidewalls. I am planning to ask my MacGyver in-laws to help me assemble some wire cables that will allow for quicker attachment of the tent weights. Give them a roll of duct tape and they will build you the space shuttle.

Thanks to the arrival of the camper top for our truck, navigating downtown streets without a trailer, loading, unloading and storing the equipment was much easier. Even though we had cut down the amount of stuff (from 5 pages to 4 pages). We still had too much. That being said our setup time was shortened to a combined 3 1/2 to 4 hours between Friday night and Saturday morning. Since we were able to set up the tent, display panels, and lighting Friday night, we originally were in no rush Saturday morning hanging the art. Then people started coming early to see the art, creating a new sense of urgency. The lesson learned is just because the show may not officially start until 10:00 or 11:00 am, it behooves you to be ready to go much earlier.

We are beginning to feel like Joe Btfsplk from the Lil Abner Comic strip. After enduring and surviving very difficult, rainy weather in Fernandina Beach, Florida a few weeks back, we lost most of Sunday in Roanoke, Virginia to series of storms that moved in to the area. The good news, our equipment held up well. One minor tent leak in the middle of the tent that only landed on us while we were taking things down. One more coating of seam sealer should do the trick. A couple of the miniature paintings that were on the bottom shelf became wet from rain splashing up off the pavement from under the tent during the downpour. We will know not to use that shelf during downpours.

Do not assume that storing things under a building canopy will keep them dry. Do you know that place where the canopy connects to the building. You know, that place that provides that little opening for rain to run down the building all over the stuff stored below. Well, we now know about that too. Fortunately, our containers had solid waterproof lids that kept nearly everything inside dry. Things could have been much worse.

If you are fortunate enough on the first day to secure a good parking place in your assigned loading and unloading area,  be prepared to return to that spot very early the next morning, if you hope to park there again. Loading and unloading zones appear to be more of a suggestion on the last day of a show.

Again we were fortunate to have two art show veterans next to and across from us. They were very complimentary of Sherry’s work and our set up. The comment was made that our setup looked like we had been doing shows for ten years. Of course they missed the philosophical disagreement regarding sidewalls and tent weights before their arrival. When one of the artists made the comment to Sherry at how organized I was. She could only stare incredulously. 

Our 12 V electrical system did very well. I did charge the batteries Saturday night, but this proved to be unnecessary. Running 9 LED lights and two fans used very little of our available power. AFIer Leo Charette gave me some great advice on how to use indirect lighting. I should be able to incorporate his suggestions into our lighting system. A few artists came down to check out our electrical system.

The fans increasing the comfort level in your booth is a two edged swords when people happen to bump into old friends and decide to have a reunion in your booth, preventing people who may want to...uhhhh...maybe buy some art from getting into the booth.   A 125 pound Great Pyrenees dog might just lie down in the center of your booth and decide this is a very comfortable place to be, soon to be joined by two little boys sitting with him on the ground and playing with their toy cars and trucks. This is not a problem unless you are hoping to...uhhhh...sell some art. Actually, the dog was hilarious. I was trying to get a clear picture to post with the caption “another satisfied customer”.

I was impressed with the Taubman Museum of Art, their staff, and the volunteers. Everyone was friendly, helpful, and considerate of the artists. Our thanks to them for making our first visit to Roanoke enjoyable. There were many very talented artists participating in the show. Sherry was impressed with many of the artists. Commercially, we did not have a successful show, but two of the artists near us did well. One was selling originals and prints of pen and ink drawings, and watercolors, the other was selling beach and sea themed ceramics. The prints were selling and the ceramics were flying off the shelf. I did not see very many original paintings leave for new homes, although we were in the next to last booth, so perhaps some of the other painters had a few sales. There were some sale attendees moving through the tents taking notes. I believe there were a sales lost due to the bad weather moving in. 

AFIers are real people. It was great to met AFIer Leo Charette in person. He graciously took the time to come down to our booth and provided some great feedback. I found out after the fact that Alison Thomas was there, so we did not get to meet her. However, we did come across our first real jerk of an artist. He ended up making access difficult for many people with his vehicle and trailer during setup. There were more than a few folks annoyed with him. He had very little to say to me, when I tried to be friendly. Later, while I was away on walkabout, he went out of his way to insult Sherry when she tried to be friendly. We try to be polite, friendly and helpful to everyone, apparently this was a problem for him. I have reason to believe Karma caught up with him on Sunday when someone opened a gate in front of which he had stored either glass or ceramics. The crash we heard could not have been good.

So after two shows we have learned much, and have been provided with much positive feedback on Sherry’s work and our display. I was teasing Sherry that she appears to be the artist’s artist. I believe I will be able to cut another hour off of our setup time. However as someone else has pointed out, you cannot spend oohs and ahhs. The bad news for us is, we are not set up to do any more shows in June, July, or August. We have applied to several shows in September, October, and November. Sherry is participating in a Plein Air Workshop this weekend in Nashville, and we will be in Ireland for 19 days (July 23-August 8) where Sherry will be participating in workshops and paint-outs at Art in the Open, a plein air festival based in and around Wexford on the southeast coast (Yes, I get to carry the suitcases). We had hoped to do one more show before our trip to Ireland, but this does not appear to be in the cards. So now I do not have much of reason to continue stalling on the dissertation.