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We were excited to be called off the wait list for this show. It is run by the Decatur Arts Alliance with a large dedicated staff of volunteers. Decatur is a city of about 20,000 on the east side of Atlanta within the 285 beltway. The show is situated in the very beautiful downtown on streets surrounding the historic courthouse which is now a history center. There are any number of trendy restaurants, bars and shops in the area. No vacant real estate..always a good sign.

Check in times are assigned based on booth location. We live about 200 miles away which is a relatively short drive for us. We planned to arrive in enough time to pick up some inventory from our supplier nearby, have a leisurely lunch at one of our favorite spots in the area and then check in. Alas, delays encountered along the way caused us to skip the lunch and arrive at our designated time. After check in you are led to your spot and given plenty of time to off load. The sidewalks in our area were very wide with ample room to drop everything off. There was a free parking lot within 4 blocks of the show that accommodated over size vehicles.

We were on West Ponce de Leon St which had a severe downhill slope. We have dealt with sloping streets in the past but nothing this bad. It took us quite a while to re-engineer everything so it would work. We ended up shortening the legs 3 inches on the high side and using 3 inches of shims on the down side and that still was not enough. If you do this show bring plenty of shims. In the middle of set up the lack of food from the skipped lunch became a problem so we got some take out from a great place on the square called Truman's. I had the second best burger I have ever eaten and Sara had a great salad. We ate there three more times during the show.

The show opened at 10:00am on Saturday but we were there by 8:30 to tie up some loose ends and be ready for any early birds. The weather was a little warm but that is to be expected this time of year in the South. We had shade all day with a nice breeze blowing through our tent. The crowd was strong. We had people in our booth all day. The problem was they were not buying much from us. Our sales on Saturday were dismal. We saw art walking by but it was not ours.

The show closed at 6pm. We headed down to a funky area of Atlanta called Little Five Points and had Mexican on an outdoor patio on a beautiful evening and hoped for a better day on Sunday. It stormed overnight. A couple of tents went down but we did not have any damage. As we were having breakfast at a diner down the street from our booth called the Thumbs Up, the weather cleared at it was a beautiful Sunday. By the way, the Thumbs Up is a great place for breakfast with excellent coffee. The place looks like it is right out of the 60s, including their cash only policy.

Sunday sales were worse than Saturday for us. Again we had people all day long. If even a third of the people who "just loved" one of our prints had actually bought one we would have had a good day. My conclusion is that our subject matter did not appeal to the crowd. We saw people who had been in our booth walk by with purchases from elsewhere. As it turned out we just missed breaking even. We though we were going to have a pretty good sale at the end of the show when a guy with a thread bare shirt walked in identifying himself as a psychoanalyst looking for office art. He carefully looked through all of our images commenting on his patient's expected reactions to each one, some were quite funny actually. He finally settled on one that he liked which we had as a matted print and as a face mounted acrylic. At that point he said " you know I cannot spend ANY money without my wife's approval and she is not here". He made an about face and walked out leaving me to wonder who really needed the help...the doctor or the patient. At that point all hope vanished and we were resolved that we were not going to pull it out at the end.

So, while we did not have good sales others did. Three painters we know including our next door neighbor were happy. A jeweler across the aisle from us did well but I am sure as with all shows there were winners and losers. The glass artist next to us was not happy despite the fact that I had to have this vase I looked at all weekend. I have got to quit doing that.

Load out was easy. I could tell getting our trailer in there was going to be hard so we zipped up, went to Truman's, drowned our sorrows with martinis, had some dinner and then started to break down. By that time a lot of people had cleared out. The show closed at 5pm and even with a dinner break we were on the road by 8pm.

We are really disappointed that our sales were not better because we really enjoyed everything else about this show. The volunteers were wonderful. They were there to help during load in and load out and brought ice cold water by a couple of times a day. They were genuinely concerned that the artists had a good experience including good sales. The area is very nice and is a great place to spend sometime on a holiday weekend. Communication before the event was excellent. If you read the material you knew where to be, when to be there, and the whole thing ran like clockwork from our perspective as first timers.

I doubt that we will try this one again unless our body of work changes. For others I would recommend you give it a shot. It is a very well run show, pulling in a big crowd, in a nice area. If your work appeals to the crowd you could have a great weekend.

I can't say enough good things about this terrific art fair! It takes place in a small town in southern Illinois only a few miles from St. Louis. I have no idea how they do it, but they bring people out to the show in droves, and they all seem to have money in their pockets to spend on art. But first a couple of qualifications. Not every artist did well at this show. Our neighbor, a very talented painter, was very disappointed. I am a digital artist selling limited edition prints. Could be that the lower price tags of my work attracted more buyers. And a second qualification: My sales this year were down 50% from last year. But, even so, my sales this year were more than double the sales of my average art fair (last year sales were triple the average!).

Here's some of the things I like. Set up was leisurely and easy. We drove to Belleville from Saugatuck, Michigan (a 7 hour drive) on Thursday. The weather forecast was gloomy with 80-100% prediction of rain and storms on Friday and Saturday. We decided to get the tent set up on Thursday evening when it was predicted to be dry. We registered and drove our van into the Square (the show is set up around a fountain and the streets radiating out from the square). We were able to leave our van right next to the booth for the entire setup. I like that, not to have to unload everything and move the van. Although tired after that long drive, we got the tent and propanels up, but decided to wait until Friday to hang the art because of the prediction of storms.

It did storm Thursday night taking out some tents, but ours was unharmed. On Friday the show was scheduled to open at five and run until 10pm, so we had all day to hang the art. And somehow, we used the whole day. Not sure why that is, but the setup always eats up all the time that there is. If there is a 2 hour window to setup, it takes two hours. If there is a 6 hour window, it takes 6 hours. Go figure.

The rain conveniently stopped on Friday morning and held off for the duration. People came out on Friday and our sales were brisk. On Saturday night, it stormed again, but Saturday, while the show was open, it stayed dry. Saturday night, more rain, but Sunday was dry and pleasantly cool. I don't know how Patty and here committee did it, but they had the weatherman on their side. They turned a bleak forecast into good weather, scheduling the rain only during the off hours. 

Saturday sales were good again, and so was Sunday. And to top it off, I won an award for best of category (digital), a generous $1500. I won the same award last year. As I understand it, the large award pool is an annual donation by a local anonymous patron; one of the reasons Belleville attracts such good artists.

Here's another thing they do right in Belleville. They sell advance "art bucks" to locals, and that total, before the show even opened, was a whopping $115,000. And here's yet another thing they do that I like. They give grants of $1500 each to four local elementary schools to buy art at the art fair for their schools. The art is chosen by students from the schools. My work appeals to a wide range of people, including kids, so I sold work to two schools this year. Last year I sold work to three schools. Its a terrific program.

And yet another thing I like. I gained three pounds at this art fair. They constantly feed you. Lunches every day are brought to your booth for both me and Marcia. And in the artist hospitality area, there is also a generous buffet of stuff to eat and drink. And, did I mention the champagne breakfast on Sunday? Yep... champagne. And a great buffet too. 

Finally, at the end of the show break down was easy and uneventful. We were able to bring our van in and load up at our leisure. The show wisely lets the artists negotiate among themselves about fitting the vehicles into the spaces closest to their booths. We packed up and had a nice celebratory dinner on Sunday evening, toasting this incredible art fair and a community that truly supports the arts. We had a special toast to Patty, the force behind the Belleville Art on the Square.

This is a tough show to get in to and I feel fortunate to have been invited two years in a row. Unlike most shows, award winners are not automatically invited the next year, so, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for an invitation next year as well. 

I entered the Art Fair Pledge Drive a little late, never thinking I would win anything. Somehow my mind always works in the "early bird gets the worm" channel. But I donated and entered anyway, and when to my surprise my name was selected quite far down the list I figured I didn't have much of a chance for the prize I really wanted since I was number 20 on the list. But I had nothing to lose, either, so I listed the mesh panels from Flourish as the number one choice out of 4 possibilities.

Five years ago I splurged on a 10' x 10' Trimline canopy from Flourish, and because I'm a big fan of outdoor canopy stability I also splurged on the StaBar set to keep things from shifting around unnecessarily (had a bad experience with a flimsier canopy which shall remain nameless). The only downside was that I had no money left over for the finishing touch--the mesh panels that would make the display of my paintings neat as a pin. 

So-o-o-o...imagine my surprise when I saw that I had actually won those very panels! I wasn't sure at first that I had won--it seemed such a remote possibility--and I thought maybe it was just a list of everybody's first choices. After a reassuring email back from Connie I permitted myself to rejoice!

Flourish makes such a great product that I knew even five years later that the panels would still be the perfect ones for my canopy. I got contact information for them today, emailed them, and they have already scheduled shipping and I shall have my treasure soon. Their customer service is just as outstanding as their products and I will be forever grateful that they decided to support the pledge drive in such a generous way!

Rent Your Display
I added the option to list display equipment for rent in the For Sale and Trade forum. If you have display equipment sitting around that you only use a few times a year, why not have it generate some extra money for you. I rent my Pro Panels out a few times a year and they have paid for themselves a few times over.

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/categories/for-sale-trade-or-rent/listForCategory

You can also post if you're looking to rent a display.

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

Help Getting Accepted into Art Shows - Part 2

My next article is detailed information on how to take good jewelry photographs describing the camera and lighting equipment and some tips on how to use it.

The most difficult type of artwork to photograph is jewelry. That’s because of it’s small size and that it can have many reflective surfaces. And because of it’s small size, it’s very difficult to keep the entire piece in focus. Also the jewelry medium is the most competitive. Most art shows receive more jewelry applications than any other medium. That’s why it’s important to have excellent images of jewelry that make the pieces pop when viewed by the jury.

This article has been posted in the Jurying for Art Fairs forum

To see the examples of my art photography or improved jury images. Also I do free image evaluations and can also make suggestions on streamlining your artist statement.

At any time, artists can call me with questions 412-401-8100

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

Last weekend we were in Florence, Alabama for Arts Alive. It was a positive experience for us and our sales exceeded our expectations going in. Florence is a city of about 40,000 in the northwest corner of the state. It is located on the Tennessee River and is adjacent to Muscle Shoals. There is a rich musical heritage here. This show was recommended to us by a couple of artists friends familiar with our work. We were somewhat skeptical since it is a relatively small city and we tend to do better in larger venues. But, it was close to home and expenses were low ( booth was $170.00) so we decided to give it a try.

The site is Wilson Park which is located in the center of the downtown area surrounded by large stately homes. The arts center runs the show and overall did a good job. The arts center is located adjacent to the park in three large former homes. Load in started at 9am on Friday. There was no set schedule, just show up whenever. Two of the streets adjacent to the park were blocked off and the other two had street parking. We were able to pull up with our trailer and park about 50 feet from our booth. We stayed there for the four hours it took us to set up. Some were able to drive into the park on the sidewalks but most had to dolly. It was hot and humid during set up but luckily we had shade all day. Nevertheless, we were both spent by the end of the day.

The show opened at 9am but it is a free event so we got there at 8am to tie up some loose ends and be ready for any early birds. This is the big art event of the year so while the crowd was not overwhelming it seemed OK. Others who have done the show in the past said the crowd was down perhaps due to the weather. We had a pretty good morning with print bin sales. Then a former customer from another show came by and bought a piece off the wall and ordered some prints. It was shaping up to be a really good day....then the rain hit. It was about 2pm when the clouds cut loose. The show shut down early and everyone zipped up for the night.

There is a very nice reception for the artists on Saturday night. All the tables and chairs were set up in the backyard of the arts center. The rain ended the outdoor plans and everything was moved inside. There was a beer and wine bar in the art gallery. The drinks were accompanied by a jazz trio who were very good by the way. Next door was a buffet set up with BBQ. Awards were announced while we were eating dinner and we missed that we won third place. Despite the weather we had a good time.

By Sunday morning the weather had partially cleared and although rain was forecast for later in the day, it looked like we would get the entire day in. The morning was slow but picked up in the afternoon. Our sales were not very good until one customer came in and bought two large pieces. We sold a few other things and by 5pm when the show ended we were feeling pretty good about the weekend. Load out was OK and again we were able to park close to our booth. Unfortunately with about 30 minutes left before we were completely loaded it started raining again. For the second show in a row we were soaked.

We did not understand this when we applied but there are two shows. The first is the Gallery Show (separate application on Zapp). If accepted, you can submit up to three works for gallery display before and after the show. We checked out the gallery submissions during the reception and many of them had sold. The outdoor show is the Park Show. You can do both as long as you submit two applications.

The only negative about this show was security. In previous years there was on site security. This year security was limited to drive bys by on duty police. Four booths were broken into. It appeared that the thieves cased the booths during the show and determined what they wanted. Items stolen were parts of a set or related to each other in some way. In other words, it was not some random theft. There were substantial losses for those victimized.

While we were very pleased with our sales, we did not check around with others for their experiences. Security needs to be improved. None of us can afford to lose inventory to thieves. We will apply to this show next year as it worked out well for us and is close to home. The downtown is nice with several new restaurants and accommodations are reasonable. Despite our GPS taking us on an unwanted tour of backwoods Alabama in the rain after the show it was a good weekend. I am not sure we would have felt the same way if the thieves and hit us.

Asheville Fine Art Show, Hot Works

Asheville, NC -- May 20-21, 2017

I just returned from the Asheville Fine Art Show in Asheville, NC. This was an indoor event at the U.S. Cellular Center downtown. Asheville is a fun, funky town with a big art scene and a lot of food choices, and LOTS of beer breweries downtown. What's not to love?

This show had some amazing potential. There was a boatload of advertising for the show, the weather outside was supposed to be storms and rain and this was indoors, it was a central location, and only about a six hour drive from home. It was an expensive (to me) show, though -- booth fee was $625, add $85 if you wanted electric. I chose to bring my battery setup and skip the extra cost -- make that rig pay for itself, right? Patty (Hot Works) was wonderful in keeping good contact with everyone, sending links to the advertising, news articles, TV spots, and more.

Set up and load in was flawless. You could actually drive into the venue and unload very close to your booth, the day before the show. In my case, about two feet from my booth. It is a relatively small show of about 85 spaces, on two levels -- the Arena floor and the concourse (entry) level. The entry level had about 9 booths, walk down a ramp to the arena floor for the rest of the artists. You could purchase parking about six blocks away for the duration of the show for $20, which I did. It was quite the hike from the parking lot, turns out. There's not a level stretch of road in this town!

There was such a wonderful variety of artists, across all mediums and price points. Looking at the other artists involved made me think "Man, I'm lucky to have been accepted to this show!" A few familiar faces and quite a few new ones, since this was my first NC show and first visit to Asheville. We all had high hopes for the show!

A few photos are at the Photobucket link below, more on my Instagram @joellockridge, then the review continues below.

Asheville photos

The problem with the show is that very few people came. There was a "Gallery Walk" going on that weekend in the famous art district, as well as two other outdoor shows I had no idea were going on. Saturday's two sales totaled $100. Sunday's sales totaled $95. Many artists didn't even get that much, just a few lucky souls made their booth fee back. I don't know of anyone who made a real profit. Even the driving rain on Sunday didn't bring people inside. I've never had such a huge loss for a show before, and after two bad shows in a row, things are getting somewhat desperate around here.

Load out was again, flawless. No shoppers to get in the way of the load-out process.

So what went wrong? No idea. Too much going on? Lack of parking? The locals just didn't show up for this. Any insights?

Help Getting Accepted into Art Shows

I finally got around to listening to the podcast on reasons why you don't get into shows. Listening to the three show directors discuss ways to help your chances of getting into shows made me realize I need to republish some of my articles here on Art Fair Insiders.

The three factors discussed in the podcast are, 1 - your images, 2 - your booth and 3 - the artist statement.

I'll start with my article on how to photograph your booth. It ran in Sunshine Artist, the NAIA newspaper, and is on the ZAPP web site. Look for it in the booth evaluation forum and follow the link back to my web site to see the example booth images.

See the examples of my art photography or improved jury images. Also I do free image evaluations and can also make suggestions on streamlining your artist statement.

At any time, artists can call me with questions 412-401-8100

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

October 14 & 15
Las Vegas, Nevada
100 Artists
Deadline: June 1

Application Fee: $25   Booth Fee: $300-$575

Summerlin Festival of Arts is celebrating its 22nd year in 2017 and its second year located on a grassy park-like area in beautiful Downtown Summerlin. Held in the affluent Summerlin area of Las Vegas, this established outdoor art festival also features music, food and entertainment, but the celebration's focus is to support fine artists and artisans. 

August 5  

Application Fee: 0   Booth Fee: $75 single, $130 double 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Pledge Drive. It was one of our best.

Christine Berthiaume from the New Orleans Jazz Fest pulled the names of the winners of the prizes today, May 18, for the first 24 winners. Altogether there are 39 prizes. These 24 choose their prizes first. If your name is listed below please visit the prize page and make your choice. Depending on how far down the list your name is you'd better make several choices and send them to me: connie@artfaircalendar.com.

Now here's a little more fun. If your name is not on this list you still have a chance to claim a reward. These 24 must claim their prizes by midnight Sunday. On Monday I'll be listing the prizes unclaimed and it will be a "first come, first served" scramble. Everyone who pledged is eligible to choose and if you haven't pledged yet go ahead and do it now and you can join the fun. Pledge here.

We'll pass out the prizes in numerical order starting with:

1. Susie Brindza - Debbie Stillman's necklace and earrings

2. Carol Knox - $100 gift certificate from Red River Paper

3. Gail Lane

4. Karen Hollister

5. Richard Sherer - $100 Amazon card from ACTinsurance.com

6. Wally and Lu Fuller - Ingot Canopy Weight Set from CanopyWeights.com

7. Carol Brink - Watercolor painting by Michael Weber, Weberwatercolors.com

8. Heather Davis - $100 gift certificate from Red River Paper

9. Heidi Barron - $200 gift certificate from ProPanels.com

10. John Desalme - Black & White Photo from Allan Teger, Bodyscapes.com

11. Tom Feltes

12. Joel Lockridge - Fire Tablet from ArtFairCalendar.com

13. Patty DeMaria - Kindle Paperwhite e-reader from ArtFairCalendar.com

14. Judy Zeddies

15. Layl McDill - $200 gift certificate from ProPanels.com

16. Al Scovern - $200 gift 

certificate from ProPanels.com

17. Pam O'Brien - Wall Street Bourbon Pen from Joel Lockridge, BourbonPens.com

18. Heidi Mandich - $150 for photography from Larry Sanders, juryimage.com

19. Pat Falk - Booth space at Rose Squared Productions in New Jersey in 2017

20. Allison Farkas - Mesh Panel Display Walls, set of three, from Flourish.com

21. Judy Rohrbaugh - Art Fair Report from ArtFairCalendar.com

22. Michelle Stoffan and Bernie Atkins - $200 Imaging or Photography Service from Larry Berman, BermanGraphics.com

23. Suzanne Krongold - Level 3 Membership to FestivalNet.com

24. Kristine Ritter - Booth Space at Holiday Art Show, St. Augustine from Lynn Wettach

I put this show among my top seven in the USA.
Only 130 booth spaces, with more than a thousand artists applying.
This was my third time in. It was also my best one there, although it started off scarey.

First, a little history.
In the eighties, when I started going away for five months to do shows in the Midwest, I always stopped in Greenvillle.
I had a solid glass artist buddy named Loren Marshall who lived there.
In those days I was lugging a 21-foot travel trailer behind me, my home and studio on wheels.
I would pull in and park the rig at the Huddle House restaurant, just next to Loren's house.
For the next three days we would kayak the Greene River and hike the mountains.
Back then downtown Greeneville was no-where's-vile. Nothing but shuttered factory buildings and maybe three restaurants which were not very good or exciting.

I remember us going to a Mexican restaurant there and ordering margaritas.
Back then SC had quirky liquor laws. All booze was sold in those one ounce nip bottles. Bars would have big slotted racks with nips piled on top of each other.
So that nite we were celebrating, I bought three rounds of Rita's for the four of us.
When I got the bill, I about shit in my pants. It totaled $148.
See, each Rita was made with three different bottles of booze, and each bottle cost $4--which made each Margie a $12 drink,
I kept visiting Loren over the years but I never ordered a round of Margies again.

Then in the early nineties Greeneville changed for the better. They got great retail and restaurants to come, high rise condos got built. BMW relocated a plant here, complete with high spending Europeans on their staff. They had expensive appetites and Greeneville stepped up to the plate. Then General Electric put up a big plant.
Pretty soon Greeneville became known as a community where pioneering automotive industries relocated to.

As the town grew and prospered, the local arts scene saw equal opportunities. Hence, Artisphere sprung to life. It was a winner from the get go.
They were smart. They kept the show small, they looked for real creative artists and crafts persons to fill the booths.
The patrons responded. This was their art show and they really supported it.

Last time I was in was four years ago.
I did real good. It was a $5K plus show for me and most others.
When I returned this year I was amazed by how many new restaurants had sprung up, and they were all filled.

I took my time getting there. It is a three day show and we all set up Friday morn and the show opens at noon.
So I made it to Fernadina Beach Wednesday and stayed at my buddy Aileen Moore's house.
Just a four hour ride from Tampa.
Thursday morn I headed to Greeneville, a six hour trip. Made it into town just in time for a late sushi lunch at Tsunami, on North Street.

That nite the show hosted a Gala for the artists and patrons at the downtown Embassy Suites hotel. All food and booze was catered by the Ruth's Chris restaurant there.
Everything was free.
They had Makers Mark, Titos and every top shelf liquor you could think of. They had killer red and white wines, even Champagne. All you wanted. I carefully paced myself. In three hours I had one Makers and two glasses of red. I was staying the night on the interstate at a Red Roof. About a twenty minute drive.
The food was was equally impressive.

Waiters had trays festooned with mushroom and beef Tartares. There was roasted brisket with good horseradish. There were trays of tuna tartare, tons of iced, fresh shrimp. There were at least ten other eating options. They even had oyster-vodka shooters, and of course there were amazing desserts.
The place was packed with patrons, most of them young and stylish, wearing amazing colors and jackets.
Thank God most of them showed up to buy at the show,

Oh yeah, there was an art show.
Wanna hear about it.

We thought you would never get to it. Just keep rambling about Makers and Titos.
On with the show.
I was worried about my space location. I was the third booth in at the beginning of the show.
This was very worrisome.
People tend to gallop right into a show. They do not want to commit right away. Too much art still to see.
Then, on the way back out, they are done, they want to get the hell out of dodge.
Bottom line, I figured at least 50 per cent of the patrons would never see my work.

Then let me tell you about my booth area.
The show gives everybody a 12x12 area, which means you have two feet for rear storage and room on the sides. Not bad,Main Steet Fort Worth, are you listening?
Most spaces had ample room behind them and artists used the spaces well.
Not me.

I had a solid ten foot construction fence behind me. Two feet for storage and a wall. Also the street was a hill. So my booth tilted downward right to left. Oh, we were also on a crown so the booth sloped downward fron front to rear.
When you get a spot like this you know you might be spending some serious time with a "chiro" afterwards.

I got set up in three hours and collapsed into my bed at the Marriot Courtyard right by the show.
I thought the show began at one, not noon, my bad.
I woke up at 12:30 and scurried frantically to the show. By that time there were five posts on Facebook wondering what happened to me since my booth was not open at noon.

Jeez! I remember the early days at shows where we sat in our vans, at the beginning of the show, and smoked big numbers. Then we get out, laughing and giggling, and got to
do biz. Now, Big Brother, social media, is on your ass if you are a minute late.
I guess it is nice to know people care, they are concerned for my wellfair, so God Bless, social media,anyway, I can withstand the storm.
After ten thousand piercing arrows in my back from the "Pufferfish affair at Pensacola", I can withstand anything.
Jeez Nels, screw the Pufferfish, tell us about the show.

Thought you would never ask.
Well, my goal for Friday was to do $2500. This was a realistic goal for a show like this. Do not forget I was only up against about ten other photographers, and I had a lock on the humor market, the rest of them did serious, arty work, and it was seriously good work. But it gave me niche to exploit.
Well I exploited, but I was not seriously anointed.
I barely did a grand. I was not a happy camper.
I ate very slim sushi that nite. Still had a great bottle of red.

Saturday, we awoke to crisp temps and an overcast sky with a slight chance for rain after noon.
A perfect day to make serious moola.
It only slightly happened.
I saw mostly small packages go by my booth, no really big ones.
I only sold four 16x20 frames, priced at $150, the whole day. The rest were precious prices of paper out of my browse bins.

The crowds were steady and well-dressed. Most carried no art in their hands. Lots of them had little cups of wine or big glasses of beer in their hands. They were exuberant, but not many sales came out of it.
I saw lots of serious eye candy all day long. The Carolina women are an eyeful.

That nite I ate slim fish for dinner. I felt like I was at least 50 per cent off my expected goal.
I always set a goal for a show. After doing this 42 years I have a pretty accurate gauge for what I will make, especially at a great show like this.
So I was under $5K and seriously worried.
I drank some more great red and went to bed.

Sunday dawned brightly.
I got the van out of the Marriot lot and got it parked in "position A" ready for tear down.
I found the Starbucks, grabbed a NY Times and scampered off to breakfest.
I was at the booth two hours before the show opened.
I made some quick sales and felt slightly emboldened. Like, maybe I will kick some serious ass today and make serious moola.
Between eleven and two I averaged $350 per hour. That was a good sign.
Still, I was only selling out of the bins.

Between one and four all hell broke loose.
I did $5K. Actually sold four big framed ones, ended up selling about 17 16x20 frames.
It was Mothers Day and everybody was well dressed and buying.
It was not just me.
My neighbor who sold custom made bird houses for $160 each, sold out.
The guys two booths away with homemade barbecue grills sold out.
I saw big framed pieces go by my booth all afternoon.

Guess what folks? This is a Sunday show.
I ended up pleasantly exhausted and very rich by six close. I was packed and out in one hour.
That nite I ate very serious fat sushi with copious cups of primo sake.
I awoke Monday morn and was home to Ybor in nine hours.
Got a big kiss from my sweet Ellen.

Life is very good.
This Sunday we leave for five months to live in Saugatuck. We got Columbus and Des Moines in the near future.
Oh in case somebody out there is thinking of robbing our Ybor house, I got news for you, my neighbor Joe watches it night and day, and he is just itching to use that shotgun.
Also our eight backyard feral cats are karate canine trained.
Saugatuck, here we come.

Before the show:

During the show:

After the show:

I would love to know your thoughts and tips !

November 17, 18 & 19 
Richmond, Virginia
Main Street Station
Presented By: Visual Arts Center of Richmond
120 Artists
Deadline: May 26

Application Fee: $45  
Booth Fee: 7x10 $900, 10x10 $1000, 14x10 $1100

Craft + Design, which always takes place the weekend before Thanksgiving, kicks off Richmond's holiday shopping season and brings out a crowd of over 3,000 art collectors and connoisseurs who are interested in museum-quality craft.

This year the show is moving to a new venue at Main Street Station. The Station's newly renovated train shed is a 100,000-square-foot space, built in 1901 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recently renovated as part of a $90 million effort to restore Main Street Station. Glass walls offer visitors panoramic views of Church Hill, Shockoe Bottom and downtown.

Even better: The venue, which sits squarely in the middle of the Shockoe Design District, is highly visible from Richmond's I-95 corridor and accessible via train. Amtrak passengers from Washington, D.C., and beyond will be able to debark and walk directly into Craft + Design.

As a result of the change in venue, VisArts plans to double the number of participating artists at this year's show. An average of 60 artists have participated in the show annually since its move to the Science Museum of Virginia in 2008; the new space will accom-modate 120 artists. Longtime exhibitors will remember when the show was held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center and featured more than 200 artists. 

Organizers have said they feel like 120 exhibitors is about the right size for the show, and look forward to using the new space to expand the size of the booths and offer more food and beverage stations, educational programming and entertainment. Seventy-five percent of artists who exhibit at Craft + Design are from outside Virginia.

Marketing: Craft + Design is heavily promoted across a wide range of communications platforms. Highlights include outdoor advertising, a public radio partnership, extensive social media campaigns, print advertising and special promotions with corporate partners and luxury brands. Last year's featured artist was jewelry artist Ashley Buchanan.

More Information: visarts.org/events/craft-design-show/
Contact: Lizzie Oliver, lizzieoliver@visarts.org  (804) 353-0094 

It is almost six month into the 2017 calendar and this had been my experience so far. 

I choose at the start of the year cut my post on a different forum on Facebook and other outlets. I came to that conclusion that I recognize that art fair industry it is a spiral and should work in craft and sales techniques. I hope that last another 20 years but I do not know. My friends that been doing show longer than me are seeking for a safe way out.

I was doing postmates for the past years to supplement my income as I wait for art installation to pick up because I understand how art show business can be cruel.  I had been bless that my art installation service has taken off and I had been doing at 10 hours a week of art installation and doing less postmates. That is not a lot money but when your expenses are almost none and no show schedule for the week it is welcome income. I even went as far as telling an artist friend I will prefer doing 20 hours of installation than shows. He told me you should see it this way that will allow you to do the shows that you really want to do and skip shows that you feel on the fence.

What I want to you to understand is that we all have bills to paid every month and having other source of income other than the art fairs is very important because we are in different era. If you look at people that come to shows you will notice the lack of younger people. The younger people are purchasing edgy work and more SCFI or animation type of work. I will guess is because they want escape our reality and not remember a bad experience when they go home. Happier and more relaxing work appeals more people than well intellectual work (at least at the art fair) in my opinion. I personally see some younger people purchasing my work to my surprise which is very traditional. With that observation, my sales are ahead from last year or simple terms I doing better than last year. 

Why should I care you may ask? 

Two years ago I was doing whatever I can to stay at float and feel up beat. A set of artists make me feel like it was my fault that was falling behind. I find myself treat as an outsider and looser. Talking to veteran art fair friends had change my approach to every single show. Best advice do everything in my power to come prepare to sold out. Focus in correcting mistakes that you had done in the past. Keep yourself near to my booth and engage every person comes into my booth with out doing hard sales. Have a clean presentation. The most important thing, you need know that you did everything in my power to have a good show and if did not happen is not your market not your work or your crowd did not show this time if you had done well before at the event. You may feel sad but is not because a bad show is because your way home you wonder how to cover the bills. You should understand that is a problem that all artist have in common at least once a year. Those people that will make feel that is only you and only with that problem they are just b.s. you. The reality is that you do not want a set bad shows in row during starch of three months because that is the road to the poor street house. 

With that said, the other thing that keeps coming up: our gross sales comparison and we do not talk about our net sales. We envy the artist making big bucks but I believe we should worry about how much net I make at the show, my personal bills and my cogs can a lot less than other artist sales. You do not know the bills, struggles and needs that person had. That is why I always answer it was good or bad for me. 

At the end it a risk we engage and we should do everything we can to have good show and move on. Be happy that others are doing well because that is the hope that you seek. Enjoy the ride because we have a great life even we may not have a lot. Please have another source income or ways to move your work or use your art skills to create income other than shows.  Do not forget to have a savings account.