(photo by Melanie Maxwell, mlive.com)

It was hot. It was cold. It was windy. It was rainy and windy. It was great weather. Typical Michigan summer days and the veterans, artists and shoppers were ready.

It was crowded. The streets were empty. The sales were "best ever". The sales made others say, "I'll never return." Or, "it was a good two day show, but actually four days." Nonetheless, it is a very big deal and worth a try at least once, imho. 

I attended the show every year from 1976 until 2015 and exhibited there from 1978 to 2006. You might say I've learned a lot. Hope you like these photos from MLive.com and I look forward to hearing more from you:

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/07/the_best_moments_from_the_2017.html

(a sponsored post)

I got a postcard from subject show today with an extended deadline (red flag IMO).  I did the February show in 2011 and was curious if anyone has done this one. I think it has been around only a few years since 2014(?). There is my review and additional comments about Tubac Feb show on this site.

Hello

I writing this blog post at the close of my career at being artist who sells photography at arts shows.  In the past 12 years I seen a lot of changes in what type of photography is being accepted at various 'A' shows and 'B' shows across the country.   There was a time early on when I was making really good money doing 15 to 20 shows a year.  Then of course the recession hit and then all of sudden to make that same type of money I ended having to double the amount of shows I would do in any given year. In 2012 and 2013 I participated in 30 plus shows.  I've been privileged to participate in some of the best shows in the whole country. However it is my belief that trying to sell 'realistic' landscape photography at a art fair is becoming a dead concept and/or that it is dying a slow death. Why? It is because of simple supply and demand. 

This year and most of last year I have had more people come into my booth armed with their cell phones eggerly excited to show me their shots of most of the places that I have shot myself and have images that are for sale on the walls in my booth.  Should I be surprised?  No, today's digital cameras are more than capable of producing incredible images with little or no expertise. Because of the glut of photography on the market and in the hands of the prosumer market it should be little or no surprise to any of us that this one reason alone is why most photographers who participate in art shows are having a hell of time making money.  

Photography is the only art medium that is a category in the jury process that has the easiest path of access in order to participate in a art show. I belong to several facebook groups that discuss art shows.  In any given year I see more and more people who caught the 'photography' bug and inquire about how to  do art shows.  The added competition is driving the photography category into irrelevance. The juries for most of the best shows in the country are sick and tired of seeing that same old shot of the maple tree from the Portland Japanese Garden or that arch from Canyonlands etc....  Juries from shows such as Fort Worth, La Qunita, St. Louis, etc... are accepting work that only pushes the boundary of photography.  Photography that is 'artistic', or abstract. 

So if it is near impossible as a landscape photographer to get into the 'A' shows today, then what happens when in the future most 'B' shows get tired of seeing the same old landscape photos? Ten years from now what happens with landscape photography? Is there even a market for it?  Currently the the glut of supply on the market is not going to change, it will probably get worse. Digital photography is not going away.  Digital camera's will get easier and easier to use.

There will always be some individual armed with a digital camera who takes landscape photography who decides to sell his or her photography at a arts fair who want to know the ins and outs of selling at fairs. Instead of telling them, buy a set propanels, get a trimline canopy etc...  Don't we owe it to them to be honest on how difficult it is to make it in this business?  Don't we owe it to the people who join the art fair circuit as landscape photographers that the idea of supporting a family and selling your photography at art fairs is simply unobtainable?  

David

Have you ever had another artist basically screw you over? I have a rant.

At a show in Cincinnati last fall, I was talking to a jewelry artist I have run into at many of the same shows I have done. I was admiring the different style of his nicer pieces, and brought up that I had a large 2.25 pound block of lapis lazuli I have had for years, basically a big doorstop/paperweight to me, but maybe he could make a nice set of earrings and pendant for my wife's 50th birthday in February.

We agreed on a style for the pairing, I described what cut of the stone I liked the most, and that he would keep the rest of the block in trade. We shook hands and exchanged info, and I shipped him the lapis block when I got home.

Fast forward two months and several shows where I saw him, always with new pieces. "I never saw your email," "Did I miss your call?" "Oh we took a week off." and the excuses roll on.

Fast forward another two months. See excuses above.

Fast forward past my wife's birthday. He has started to avoid me when he can during shows and during setup. This continues for months.

Fast forward another few months. I have reviewed his schedule and we will be at the same Cincinnati show in June, I call and leave a message that I will be there to pick up the pieces we agreed on. I send the same info in an email.

During setup for this show, he sees me coming down the way and hides in his tent. During day two of the show, I finally have a minute to go over to their booth. He asks his wife if she had the pieces, she pulls out a box, and finally there is the pendant, not even close to the cut I described, just a plain stone with no gold highlight. The earrings weren't even close to what we wanted, these were the cheap style he hammers out by the dozen. Again, a bad cut.

At this point I had basically given up and accepted the set just to be done with this guy. I've chased him for months across the country and frustrated with the whole deal. He's made a fortune off the block of stone and paid me off.

I walk away with the small box, and go to admire the woodwork in the next booth. I can plainly hear him talking to his wife when he says, "Well we're finally done with that a**hole."

I wonder, who is done with who?

Artists leave this business regularly, either just not "making it" at the fairs, or lured by other opportunities or taking an idea and building it into another chapter of their lives. Jack Stoddart is one of the latter. Well-known at the fairs for at least 20 years he has transformed into "Hippie Jack", a producer of music festivals with two missions: preserving American Roots music and feeding the poverty stricken in the hill country of Tennessee.

(In the meantime at least two of his children are regular exhibitors at the top shows, having learned the business traveling with Jack and his wife Lynne since they were in diapers). 

You can catch his TV series "Jammin' at Hippie Jack's" hosted at his Outlaw Gospel Music Sanctuary in Tennessee on your local PBS channel. 

A little more: 

By Rebekah K. Bohannon Beeler Scribe editor

"Jammin at Hippie Jack’s is on a mission to love the people on the mountain. Jack Stoddart, otherwise known as Hippie Jack, has built the Music Sanctuary outfitted with fiber optics and all the bells and whistles to create a hightech listening room to look something akin to a church where he holds benefit concerts to collect items, load them up on the psychedelic “Hippie Bus” and bring them to those who need them all over Wilder Mountain, Cub Mountain, Crawford and Monterey.

Hippie Jack was able to collect enough items to fill his bus from the Spring 2017 Music Arts & Camping Festival May 25 - May 28 and delivered them to Twinton, Cravenstown, Crawford, Monterey and everywhere between June 17. The Jammin at Hippie Jack’s Facebook page, he posted where he would be delivering and items they had, say- ing, “If any of this would help you, look for the bus. It’s easy to spot. We will happily pull over.”

There will be a series of benefit concerts held at Jammin at Hippie Jack’s starting in August that will be non-ticketed events for patrons to bring donation items, including children’s books, toys, children’s clothes, new or like new coats and non-perishable food items.

The Liberty Circus, a traveling show starting in New York, will be stopping in at Hippie Jack’s for a benefit show Aug. 12. Hippie Jack hopes to raise awareness about refugees as well as collect much needed items for his “mountain friends.”

The August show was as Hippie Jack said, “To raise awareness about refugees and to benefit the mountain people. Personally, I consider many of the mountain people that go back to the coal mining days as sort of refugees themselves. There’s a lot of their families came to this country to work in the coal mines and kind of got stuck."

Basically, the skinny is, Hippie Jack puts on this non-ticketed series of spectacular musical events, complete with a gourmet food vendor that could be anything from wood fired pizza to Yardbirds or Seven Blue Rooster of Cookeville. Budweiser of Cookeville and Stonehaus Winery of Crossville have been sponsors of Hippie Jack’s events. Free refreshments are provided and free camping on Friday and Saturday nights is permitted at what Hippie Jack calls his “river farm.”

“It is designed to try to help is what we’re trying to do,” said Hippie Jack. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding and denial about marginalized people in our area. And I’m trying to change that a little.”

Since its inception 11 years ago, Jammin at Hippie Jack’s has always partnered with a non-profit organization to benefit. Hippie Jack’s has partnered with The Stephen’s Center for child abuse prevention, TDOT and recycling and cleaning up the environment, Soles for Souls to collect clothing and shoes for both recycling and redistribution. Having also partnered with multiple food pantries over the years was what brought Hippie Jack to decide to start collecting food and start his own pantry.

“We are able to get out and deliver food to people who can’t get out,” said Hippie Jack. “We’ve been seriously involved in our own outreach for about three years as far as food delivery.”

Hippie Jack focuses primarily on Wilder Mountain, including Vines Ridge, Cravenstown and Twinton.  “What I’m trying to stir up is we need to help each other,” said Hippie Jack. “There are a lot of people on the mountain that live on less than $6,000 a year. It wouldn’t hurt, you know, to put down a little for those folks. The poverty level is $20,000. Can you imagine living on $500 a month? It’s a very small amount of money.”

Hippie Jack was raised in Miami, FL, and moved to the base of Cub Mountain in 1972, he did still photographs and black and white photos for 35 years as the opportunities came along with the mountain culture and old country people.“The same people who helped us then are the kind of people we help now,” said Hippie Jack. “We were lucky.” His work became a part of collections at many prestigious museums, including the American History Museum and the Smithsonian. Hippie Jack is currently working on a full length documentary on the mountain people.

“I love going up on the mountain,” said Hippie Jack. “This is a great place to hang out, a great, great, great place to hear music.”

Hippie Jack’s will also be benefiting The Reach Academy in Livingston, TN. It their goal to provide weekend backpacks full of food for students who may be experiencing hunger issues on weekends.  “We’re just hippies,” said Hippie Jack.

The fall dates for the Jammin at Hippie Jack’s Music Sanctuary Benefits 2017 Liberty Circus Aug. 12, Sept. 23, Oct. 28, Nov. 18, and Dec. 16 from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. These are non-ticketed events to collect food, children’s books, toys, and new or like new coats children’s.

1. For the Liberty Circus lineup, visit www.liber- ;tycircus.com.
2. Visit Jammin at Hippie Jack’s for printable directions and schedule details at www.jamminathippiejacks.com. 
3. Learn more about his mission on his Facebook page
   
4. Listen to the music on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/jamminathippiejacks

Finding fresh and new ideas to attract the public to your festival is a continual challenge. I just came across these two articles, a lot of food for thought:

1. From the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition -- how about this?
    
   
   Beer & Art: The Perfect Pair
   Catchy subject line isn't it? You are perpetually working to attract people to attend your festival. I got this email from the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition recently and it is full of promotional ideas to bring those patrons to your show:
   Read it here: Beer & Art: The Perfect Pair
   
   
2. Or how about this one from the Park City, Utah's, Kimball Arts Festival?
   

   Win a Park City Kimball Arts Festival VIP Prize Package!
   

   ... The VIP prize package includes a 2-night hotel stay in Park City at The DoubleTree by Hilton, parking at China Bridge passes, 2 lawn seat tickets to the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus concert at the Snow Park Amphitheatre at Deer Valley Resort on Aug. 6, and 2 VIP Park City Kimball Arts Festival passes!
   
   Enter your email to get started for your chance to win. Good luck! ...
   
   

   See the promotion here: http://fox13now.com/2017/07/11/win-a-park-city-kimball-arts-festival-vip-prize-package-2/

General

I hope the analysis in this review will be helpful to artists new to the business.  This was the 43^rd annual Art in the Park.  Steamboat Springs is better known as a ski destination and a number of Olympic skiers call it home.  During the summer, river activities, cycling, hiking and golf are popular resort activities.  A lot of wealthy people have summer homes in Steamboat Springs, and many own horses.  Access to Steamboat Springs is by I70 and US40 from Denver, and US40 from Utah.  The show is held in West Lincoln Park along the Yampa River.

The show is managed by the Steamboat Springs Arts Council and there has been turnover in their personnel from prior years. A hot-air balloon festival and the continuous PRC weekend rodeo are concurrent.  There was complimentary coffee and goodies in the morning provided by a local grocer.

     Application to the show is through Zapplication. There is a $35 jury fee and single booth fee is $300.  Application deadline was May 15^th with notification May 22.  This is late for the Colorado summer season.  There are about 160 booths.  Set up is on Friday and the show runs from 9-5 on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday. 

The weather in Steamboat is typical of Colorado mountains in the summer.  Afternoon thunder showers are common, and daytime temperatures are usually in the 70s to low 80s. This year there was only a brief thunder shower Saturday while the sun stayed out.  It was hot Saturday and Sunday in the mid 80’s without the usual afternoon cloud cover.

  Booths are arranged around the perimeter of the park and around a manmade lake.  There are sulfurous springs in the park.  If you have silver, you need to request booth space away from the springs.  

History

I first did Art in the Park in 1998, and because I sold two saddles it was a $7K show (closer to $12K at today’s prices).  I did not return because the sales of other items were not strong.  I went back in 2005 after looking at booth pictures and realized my sales were weak because my inventory was sparse in 1998.  I did the show continuously seven more years from 2006 to 2014 with sales ranging from $2.4K to $4.0K:

2006 $2.4K,

2007 $3.8K

2009 $2.8K

2010 $3.0K

2011 $2.9K

2012 $4.0K

2014 $3.6K

I had concerns about the show, so we decided to give it a break and go to Jackson, WY in July 2015 and 2016.  The plan was to then alternate Jackson and Steamboat Springs. The historical sales told me this should be a $3K-$4K show, but a lot has changed in the last two years.

Set Up, Take Down & Parking

Check in was at 12:00 noon on Friday.  Traffic to unload is well controlled and at most, you have to dolly about 1/2 block, but the grass in the park can be thick, and dollies with small wheels are difficult to move.  During the show, artists park in lots a couple blocks away and take a free shuttle back to the park.  There was plenty of space behind booths for storage.  Take down was well managed.  You were not allowed to bring your vehicle into the parking lots until you were ready to load up.  It looked like parking on US40 was first come that got the spaces.

This year, Routt County 4-H kids were there to help unload and set up. I grabbed two teens who looked like sturdy ranch kids and they pushed the loaded dolly for me. They earned a $20 tip for about 40 minutes work. I lent the dolly to them for other jobs.

Show Problems

     Prior to the show I did not receive all of the documents needed for city sales tax in May.  I emailed them and did not receive what I asked for, but did get a lengthy PDF with the document in there. The person I dealt with was gone by July. The city sent me an email that ended up in junk and got deleted with the 300-500 other emails that come in  every day. I finally got the issue resolved a few days before the show by calling the city.

The first red flag I saw was the condition of the park. I have always liked the Steamboat show because you could kick off your shoes and work in the cool green grass for set up. This year there were large dead spots and lots of dandelions and thistles. A jeweler neighbor was digging the thistles out of her booth space as stickers and sandals did not mix.  It has been a dry spring in Colorado, but the park has sprinklers.

The next issue was set up.  About a dozen artists were in line at noon to check in which went ok.  Most of us had been there about 1-2 hours early.  When we get to our vehicles in the parking lot, a volunteer tells us we can’t unload because he is “waiting for a truck”.  This guy was really rude too!  I had my 4-H kids hand carry stuff and load the dolly over a small fence and never stepped into the traffic lane. I complained to management.

Finally there was my neighbor who really got a raw deal. We both applied under the category of “Fiber”. She had been to the show last year and they knew her to have leather.  So, show management places Sherer Custom Saddles, Inc., the professional saddle maker with 58 years’ experience, next to the leather crafter.  You would think that my business name would have clued management in that I was also “leather”.  I felt bad for my neighbor, as she did not have good sales.

Finally there was the show crowd.  Noticeably lacking were the wealthy professionals, lawyers, real estate people and ranchers.  There are several businessmen who are “gentlemen ranchers” using their ranches as tax shelters around Steamboat. I only made one sale of a $275 silver mounted hat band to one of their trophy wives this year, and they are usually some of my best customers.  I talked with some locals I know, and they confirmed that the moneyed people have stopped coming to the show because it has become “too crafty”.  I noticed this too, even though there were also high-end artists there like myself, because of historic good sales.  I talked to some artists who had $0 sales which used to be unheard of at this show.

The bottom line is I will not return to the Steamboat show until I hear from other artists that it has recovered.

Sales Analysis

     This year my gross sales were $2.5K and that barely met my minimum for returning to a show of $1.2K average sales/day.  I had 42 sales, the same as the last time I did the show in 2014, but instead of average sale of $85, this year it was only $61. Also, I cannot remember a show where I have not had 6-10 post show special orders to make up. At this one there were no holsters, no belts, just zip.

Fun Stuff

     I have always enjoyed going to Steamboat Springs. It is a neat trip across the mountains and up the valley along the Blue River. Then there is Rabbit Ears Pass and now half of one ears is gone. These are spires of volcanic rocks named back in the 19^th century. Freezing, thawing and gravity took its toll this winter and half of one of the ears collapsed. We took Monday off and spent the night at Hot Sulphur Springs, CO.  The springs were visited by the Ute Indians, and Anglos began developing them in 1840.  There are 21 mineral pools with temperatures ranging from 98-112 degrees. We spent most of our time in the 105-112 pools relaxing. I really needed the break.  

I think the Cherry Creek Art Festival probably gets more applications than just about any other show. Why?

1. The 4th of July weekend doesn't have very many shows so not a lot of competition
2. There is a mystique about it that makes artists decide at the last minute, "why not give it a try? Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
3. It is held right smack in the middle of the country and artists from both sides of the nation apply

This list of prizewinners gives you a good idea of the competition. Congratulations to them! 

• Best of Show: Suzanne Schmid, jewelry
• 2nd Place: Scott Hildebrandt, mixed media
• 3rd Place: Heinrich Toh, printmaking
• Merit Awards:
  David Burton, mixed media
  Aaron Hequembourg, mixed media
  David Kammerzell, painting
  Brice McCasland, mixed media
  Tony Ortega, printmaking
• Juror’s Award: Brian Blackham, painting
• Juror’s Award: Adam Crowell, wood
• Juror’s Award: Christopher Wagner, sculpture                                                           

Click here to view the 2017 artist award winners! 

View more fabulous photos from the festival and be sure to follow Cherry Creek Arts Festival on Facebook!

So frustrating trying to comprehend why providing artists their jury score and position on the wait-list of an event is such a difficult task for shows to perform.  A few do, very much to their credit and thank you to each and every show that does so.  Most do not.  Some actually get a pissy if you ask for the position on the wait list.

First point, we paid a jury fee for the jury process and that jury score.  Did we not?  And for that $25 to $50 jury fee, are we out-of-line to expect to be provided our jury scores, cut-off scores, and thus where we stand on a wait-list?  I hope show Directors will wade in on this with their rationale.  Educate us why they do not think this is valuable to us, or why they do not have the money to do so.

If a show is truly and honestly juried, each artist has been scored by each juror, those scores totalled to determine who is in, who is out and - who is wait-listed. That score determines what their position is in their medium - and on the wait list, does it not?  

As for communicating that information it has bee provided historically by some shows, probably currently is being done by some, and absolutely positively in this age of computers and the internet - CAN BE DONE.  Broadripple used to put the scores by individual jurors online based on application ID - maybe they still do.  Des Moines used to send out a PDF of the individual jury scores - maybe they also still do so.  Uptown used to send out paper forms with individual juror scores.  Most show do not bother, some  say do not even bother asking as we will not tell you. 

As artists, we realize we will not get into all the shows we really hope to have on our schedule.  Duh.  So we typically apply to multiple shows on the same weekend so we have hope of getting juried into at least one of those events.  Increases our cost of doing business substantially but under the current business model of how most shows are runs, seems unavoidable.  Shows have different application dates, different jury dates and different pay-your-booth-fee-by dates. Some shows refund if you withdraw before the event, some depending on how far out from the event, and others just do not refund your booth fee once it is paid.

I say this last part because that, IMO, is the chief reason for shows to let you know where you are on a wait-list (besides the "we paid for it in the jury/application fee" argument). If we are wait-listed, and another show says "come on down!" and they have a non-refundable booth fee policy, it would be nice to know where we are on a wait-list for the show we most hope to do, would it not?  If we were #1 or #2 is it not a completely different question to wrestle with than if we are #8 or #20 on the wait list? (yes, shows do now have wait-lists that exceed the total number of artists in that medium in that event - sometimes by up to a factor of 2 or 3!).

So this is the communication/courtesy factor:  if we are so far down on the wait-list that given how far down a show has historically ever gone, why not let us know our position on the wait-list and how far down you have ever gone on the wait-list so we can make a meaningful decision to either commit elsewhere or hold out - or even drive to the show and see if a spot opens at the last minute if we are high on the wait-list?  If show Directors and Promoters truly care about the artist base and the success of artisans, is this an unrealistic expectation?  To provide us what we paid for and what we need to make our economic/business decisions?

I think that is a rhetorical question.  It is not an unreasonable request.  Though I open the door to be convinced otherwise.

If you jury into this show and are accepted, plan on bringing plenty inventory.
Melanie Rolfes has already written a thorough blog about the nuts and bolts about the show.

I will try to give unique insights:

• I have done this show three times in the last 10 years.
• It is not easy to get into. About spaces for 130 artists and almost 1500 apply.
• Des Moines is a prosperous town, lots of insurance and medical. Lots of young people with disposable income.
• They are mostly traditional and conservative in their purchases.
• Abstract does not do as well.
• Many artists with big prices on their work zeroed.
• I am a photographer and sell in the $30-$500 range. I did extremely well. Best three day show for me since 1999.
• This is a very treed town with great old neighborhoods and solid houses.
• Lots of new condos are going up downtown. Lots of new restaurants going up. I will tell you about them later.
• Patrons wait all year for this show. They show up well dressed and act very polite. They think highly of their show and appreciate your presence here. Here is a little point that illustrates that:
  
  Not once, but twice I had a patron buy a $50 item and hand me $60. When I went t give them change they told me to keep it. They said,"You deserve it." I have never been tipped at a show before.
• I only had one person, the whole show, try to take pics with their smartphone, that is a rarity.
• They have lodging program where artists can stay in a patron's home.
• I have been lucky to stay at Dean and Diann Payton' house all three times. They sometimes house two couples in their upstairs bedroom. They are nicest people ever.
• When I walked the show I saw a lot of fresh new work, especially photographers.
• There were a lot of artists with big prices there, and most of them did not fare well.
• People were buying in the under $1000 range.
• I saw lots of packages in people's hands.
• They had a VIP tent right around the corner from my booth.
• Artists were allowed up to 10:30 am everyday to imbibe all the bloody Mary's they could drink. I imbibed every morn. Did not hurt my sales one bit.

This show is run by director Stephen King. He is on the top of his game. Every detail is taken care of. He is lucky to have a huge volunteer committee to draw on. Overall, this is a very mellow show to do.
Yes, not everybody makes money at Des Moines, but the majority does. Anyone who aspires to big sales should give this show at least one try.

OK here is a little Tequila Report.

Met up with old bud John Stillmunks and he took me to the Flying Mango restaurant. The smell of smoked brisket permeates the air. The taste of Templeton rye goes well with the deviled eggs appetizer. You must eat here at least once. Each morn I ate breakfest at the Waveland Cafe.

When you enter thru the front door, the decorated carpet proudly proclaims "Best home fries in the whole galaxy." They are.

For great southern cuisine (I know, in Des Moines, yes) go to Bubbas in downtown. Try the fried chicken or the ribs. They make a mean Manhatten also.

Well, I think I gave you enough info to try Des Moines.
Later, gators.

Trying to get some info on Promoter-ColoradoEvents.org and specifically their Handmade in Colorado Expo (Estes Park in Aug and Boulder in Oct).  They are downtwon Denver in Sept-but not ususally great luck there.

Any past experience?  Comments? 

Not finding much when trying to research them. Seems like a great idea in 2 great cities, just curious as to experiences that others have had. 

thanks, 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find more art fairs to fill your season: www.CallsforArtists.com

I don’t know how the year has been for most of you so far, but its been a weird one for me.  All my shows have been flip-flopped from 2016. 

Arlington in April was barely worthwhile in 2016, but this year I had a killer show even though Saturday was almost totally rained out so everything sold Sunday!  I did Art Birmingham in May (a first for me) and it completely SUCKED.  Then I got off the waitlist pretty last minute for Round the Fountain in Lafayette IN also in May which I was really excited about because I had a great show there last year, its an easy show, there’s a great restaurant called RedSeven and its just a short 3 hr drive from my home.  And while it was a solid 1 day show grossing over 3K, it was still down by over 2K from 2016.  Last year I sold a ton of $400-600 paintings, and this year I sold one painting for over $1000 and the rest were prints under $100.  Very different….

I went into June really hopeful and really needing some good shows.  I don’t travel to FL in winter but instead hibernate and just build up stock.  That means I live off of my business savings until spring shows when I can start building savings back up.  After a very lackluster May I was really needing June to be a good month for shows.

First stop was Three Rivers in Pittsburgh.  I am on Penn Ave just for Sat/Sun of the first weekend.  I have a 2 yr old at home, so I try to limit my shows to only 2 days if possible and only 2 a month until she gets older, that way I’m home on the weekends at least half the time.  Anyway, last year Three Rivers blew me away with sales, and this year it almost literally blew me away.  That wind can be NUTS going through those tall buildings!  We had to have 4 volunteers help hold my Trimline down during teardown while I removed the propanels.  Once that first panel came off the wind tore through it and the whole thing went walking!!!  That’s NEVER EVER happened to me before.  And yes, I had almost 100 lbs of weights on each leg and even with the 4 guys holding onto the legs it was still blowing all over the place.

Anyway, the important information: 2016 I sold 14 originals and 76 prints at Three Rivers; this year I only sold 6 originals and 65 prints.  I left down by about 3K and was feeling rather downtrodden.  I DID end up having 2 follow up sales and a commission that I’m currently working on, and those will put me only about $1300 down from 2016, so that’s not too bad I suppose.

Then came the Columbus Arts Festival the next weekend of June.  This is my 4^th year doing the show and I’ve always always always had a solid show, but with the way the rest of the shows had been I was not feeling optimistic anymore.  I calculated that I needed at least 8K to put me back in the black, which is totally doable in Columbus, but the year just wasn’t shaping up well for me.  I live just south of Columbus so I can drive home every night and save the hotel money and also restock prints every night.  This is a huge print show for me and I always run out of some print image every day and need to bring more.  I have a really good location on the Rich Street bridge and I always pray every year that I don’t get waitlisted that way I can pay ASAP and request that same location. 

This year the weather was the best in Columbus that I’ve ever had.  No rain and it wasn’t ridiculously hot like usual.  Especially on the bridge, there is always a nice breeze.  I think that really helped.  The crowds were huge and fortunately for me in a very acquiring mood!  I sold a record amount of originals: 25!!!  And a whole slew of prints and 37 copies of the children’s book I wrote and illustrated!  There really wasn’t one day that was any better than the others either.  I sold equally Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Needless to say, I well passed my goal and ended June feeling really good!  Amazing how our artist moods can flip-flop so quickly too…

And then my mood crashed down again.  I did the July Boston Mills ArtFest show.  I was so excited because I got into the show in 2013 and 2014, but juried out the last 2 years, so I was thrilled to do it again.  Both years before I’ve always managed to pull out at least 8K, so I was thinking I was surely going to be having a good July.  Not to be…. For anyone there I think!  I’m honestly so baffled about what happened here.  As I heard from so many artists, this is a “tried and true show” for years and years for many of the artists there.  And I didn’t talk to one artist who was happy with their sales.  I don’t know how the June show was, but it was like zombie land for the patrons at the July show.  Numbers were definitely down from what I remember, not many were carrying packages, I had a couple patrons complain about the rising gate fee, and 3 clients who had come before to the show and only knew to come this year because I had emailed them.  Maybe Boston Mills is slacking on the advertising and just assuming patrons will come every year?  I don’t know.  But it was definitely not the same show. 

Friday was had the most torrential rain during the Preview Party, so that was a big bust.  Saturday it was calling for 50% showers but they never materialized.  So I thought maybe everyone was just waiting for the nice weather on Sunday.  Sunday morning I was able to walk around and talk to other artists.  By Sunday morning most artists who I spoke with had only made a few hundred dollars and some had zeroed.  I told everyone “today is the day!  Be positive!”  For my neighbor it did turn out to be a better day, but still not what it usually is for him there.  For me, it was my worst day yet.  If it’s any sort of a sign, I didn’t restock my business cards one time the entire weekend (at Columbus I restocked about every 2 or 3 hours).  Sunday we all packed up, made that looooong dolly load out, and left grumpy.  Every artist I saw was baffled at the events of the weekend.  I left with only a third of what I have done in the past there…. And I think I was actually one of the lucky ones!  I’m sure there were some artists who were happy, but I didn’t hear from any of them.  The 1 day Round the Fountain was better for me than all weekend at Boston Mills….. so, yeah.

I’m counting my blessings that I’ve always come out with a profit of each of the shows but its just been so backwards from what shows have been the last few years.  I’m so so so sooooo glad I have 6 weeks off to take it easy, take a breather, recoup, and restock.  This business certainly does test your mental and emotional stamina.  Gotta step away every now and then, even if just for a few weeks.  I’m sure after 6 weeks off I’ll be itching to hit the road again.  My next show is the Howard Alan Flats show in Cleveland in August, then Upper Arlington in Columbus, Howard Alan’s show in Alexandria VA, and Bethesda Row.  I have absolutely no expectations for any of them anymore….