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This is my second year doing this show, which takes place in an absolutely gorgeous spot in the mountains of west/central Virginia.

My first year was not a bang-up show, but was solid enough that I thought I should try again. I live in Virginia, so it was not such a long drive (5 hours).  In addition, I'd been amazed and honored to find that the show had chosen my art for their postcards, posters and program this year - and I thought this might help with sales. 

Alas, it was not to be. 

I am an oil painter with large, bright pieces. My prices run from $125 to $8500. I do not have prints. 

The show's topography is interesting, and was different this year than it has been. It takes place in Claudius Crozet park, a beautiful spot with big green fields, a YMCA building with workout room and pool, and a playground. You can camp there during the show, and I did this, which of course cut my lodging costs deeply.

The largest group of artists and crafters is under a huge tent. The tent is open at the sides, and is lighted, but is still very dim. The booth fee ($300) includes electricity. In past years, there has been a second tent, not as large as the first, but this year, that tent was not used. There was a row of tents outside the big tent; artists choosing to set up their own tents in this row got a $50 discount. An artist I know who took this option was not happy with his sales, and said that basically, no one made it out to the tents. There are two small pavilions, also, and these are the prime spaces, brighter than the tents, cleaner and with easier load-in and load-out (I think). I asked for one but didn't get it.

Load-in runs the gamut from fairly easy to very difficult, depending on where you are. There's a large grass parking area across the entrance road from the west edge of the tent. I was on the west edge, so I was as close as one can be to the parking. Still, I had to use a dolly, and wheel my stuff up and down a small hill. Load-in and -out on the other side of the tent - and from the outside artist tents - was difficult, I was told.

There are good and bad parts about being along the edge. There is storage and seating space behind your booth if you're on the edge; if you're inside, there is zero storage space. It rained on and off all weekend, though, so I had to cover my stuff, and couldn't sit outside. 

An additional issue for me was the height of the big tent at the outer edge. I use a Showoff tent, and my sidewalls attach via zippers along the bottom of the roof. The big tent started about an inch above the upper edge of my tent frame, so I couldn't put my roof on, and had to jury-rig the back wall. If it hadn't been drizzly and wet all weekend, I could have simply not put the wall up. 

Turnout seemed to be lower this year than last year, especially on Saturday. On Sunday, Mother's Day, the crowd also seemed light, and there were lots of people with little kids, which bodes poorly for me. People wheeling strollers don't buy large paintings, I've learned. 

People around me seemed to fare better than I did. A glass artist on one side, a photographer across the way and a jeweler across the aisle (I paid $25 extra for a corner), all seemed to do well. They were all from the area, and friends and family came to see them throughout the show. A painter friend from the Norfolk area did better, too, though her price points are generally lower than mine. A jeweler from Pennsylvania told me she had an excellent show, as well. 

The quality of the work in this show seemed very uneven. There was some excellent, very high-level art and craft, and also some lower-end, lower-priced items. I didn't see any buy/sell, or at least none that I could identify, but some of the items made me shake my head and wonder a little bit.

Lodging is scarce in the area, and what is available is stupidly expensive, in my opinion ($135 a night was about average). Sleeping in the van has been a good option for me. You can camp on a level concrete area that is probably a basketball court. I have camped, both years, in a second grassy area fairly close to the concrete area, but quiet and more solitary. Showers and indoor bathrooms are available for campers, in the YMCA building. 

Communication from the show was pretty good throughout. You pay your booth fee via an invoice that is not through Zapp, so that had me confused for a while, but the director was patient with me. 

Who we are:
A 55 acre historical former prison and Northern Virginia's premier center for the visual and performing arts. The center features 60 working studios artists, regional, national and international exhibitions and performances. The center is a unique arts destination with 100,000 visitors annually located 20 minutes south of Washington D.C. in Fairfax County, VA, the 5th wealthiest county in America.

Testimonials:

• "Loved the venue." 2015 Artist
• "Excellent [art]. Nice variety and balance of mediums." 2015 Artist 
• "All my customers said they heard about the show from your advertising-fantastic job!"  2015 Artist
• "Couldn't ask for more [amenities].  One of the staff even brought my Saturday lunch to me as I couldn't get out of my booth!" 2015 Artist

Every year for over 20 years I dutifully applied to the Laumeier Art Fair in St. Louis because it seemed like a better alternative than any other Mother's Day show within a days drive.  After rejection after rejection my luck finally changed and I got in!  (Maybe it was because applications numbers were down- possibly due to last year's bad weather which I heard all about from everyone)

So after you try so long to get into a show it's hard not to have your hopes up. The weather was looking pretty good for the weekend.  Set up on Friday afternoon was very easy except for the slope.  I was on the outer circle which meant my van could be right behind my booth for set up.  The slope was the steepest I have ever dealt with but I made it work- though I kind of felt like a drunken sailor every time I walked up and down my booth.  The customers commented on it too- one said they were feeling a little "sea sick" from it!

Friday night wasn't bad for a "preview party" I got two good size purchases and covered my booth plus a little.  Other artists reported the same though my next door neighbors did not fair well through the whole show.  Saturday was very disappointing.  The crowds were very thin- my booth was empty way too much and sales were only of items under $40.   I was pleasantly surprised to win an "Award of Excellence" with a nice cash prize.  (Isn't it ironic to take so long to get in a show and then win a major award?!)  Also along with the prize is to be juried in next year which I wondered all day if I wanted that part of the award.

Weather turned a bit in the late afternoon and some gusts made us all jump.  I heard that a few booths went down on the far end of the show from where I was.  My slanty booth nearly came apart but I was able to save it with trusty zip-ties.  Luckily it never rained but the customers were few and far between for the last few hours (we heard it was raining torrents in other parts of the city so people probably thought we were rained out too).

Going into Sunday I had hopes that the show would redeem itself so I could take advantage of the juried exemption for next year.  And it DID!  The weather was near perfect and the people came in droves!  Sales were still mostly of smaller items but I had a lot of them and the numbers worked out in the end to a good solid average show (with award winnings - above average!)  

Tear down was easy but I was very glad to have my husband to get the car- that was a long process. They are very slow to let vehicles into the park.  If he hadn't been able to get the car I would have been another hour.  

Overall a well run show from my perspective.  The setting is really great - being surrounded by awesome sculptures.  I will be more prepared for the slope next year and happy I don't have to wait another 20 years to get juried in!

Last weekend we were in Birmingham, Michigan for the 33rd Art Birmingham Show. Birmingham, Michigan is an affluent city north of Detroit.  The venue is Shain Park which is in the center of downtown.  The show is set up on the wide park walkways and the adjacent streets. The show is run by the Guild of Artists and Artisans in conjunction with the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center. 

This was a 700 mile drive for us and our first experience showing our work in the "North" as we say in Alabama. We are from Ann Arbor which is about an hour away from the show.  Sara's parents live there and put is up, or put up with us as the case may be, when we are in town.  My children and grandchild live in the area, so we combined a Mother's Day visit with an Art Show. Despite the drive we thought our expenses would be low enough to have a chance to make a profit.  

Weather in Michigan is very iffy in early May.  There have been Mother's Day weekends with snow and driving rain.  The long range forecast for the weekend was perfect.  But as the weekend approached, the forecast deteriorated.

The city would not close the streets until 5pm so load in was a bit hectic.  Times were staggered by 30 minutes but it is almost impossible to unload in that amount of time and then move your vehicle for the next group.  As a result when we arrived at 8pm the street was jammed with vehicles.  This situation was compounded by artists who did not know how to drive or park their trucks in tight quarters.  A general rule of thumb is "don't buy it if you can't drive it."  Practice backing with a trailer in a parking lot, not on a crowded street.  It took us our usual 4 hours to set up.  So, by the time we got back to Ann Arbor it was 1am. 

In the meantime the weather forecast had gone from bad to worse.  Before we left to set up the local weather guru said a front would move through late afternoon on Saturday and then clear out later that night.  By the time we got back it was an 80% chance of rain all day.  We woke up to cloudy skies but no rain and the forecast had changed to a 30% chance of rain.  Despite the improved forecast, the damage had been done.  The crowd on Saturday was sparse at best. You could have shot a gun down the street at 2pm and not hit anyone.  We had a couple of sprinkles but that was it. The side benefit of light crowds is that you can spend more time talking to the people that do show up.  A photographer stopped by our booth to check out our work and said he quit doing the show because the weather was so unpredictable.  We did less that $200.00 in business and called it a day. But, we had a great dinner at my daughter's house.  

Sunday was another story for us.  The weather was perfect as was predicted.  I walked the show in the morning and spoke with some of the other artists who all reported dismal Saturday sales.  At about 11am the crowds showed up.  We made three big sales and several smaller ones.  It was our second best sales day.  

Load out was easy.  We dollied our unsold work a couple of blocks to avoid damage during break down.  By the time we got back, there was plenty of room for us to stack our things.  On our street the booths were packed in as close as possible.  The booths on the park walkways had far more space between them. 

There was an artist's amenities tent with coffee, bananas, and pastries each morning.  The only food vendors on site were a hot dog guy and a kettle corn stand.  However, there was a wide variety of very good restaurants with a block of the venue.  The staff was very helpful.  

The only negatives were the late load in on Friday.  There is not much that can be done if the city will not close the streets.  There was a drummer from the local high school band that chose to practice his art for about an hour and a half near our booth Saturday afternoon.  Poor sales, little sleep, and a drum do not make for a pleasant afternoon.  Sara had a sinus headache Sunday morning and threatened bodily harm if he showed up again.  I said no jury would convict her and to go ahead a do what had to be done. Luckily he did not reappear.  

Our sales were good and would have been great if Saturday had been better.  Not everyone was so fortunate.  A metal sculpture artist down from us had a bad show.  The pen and ink artist next to us was happy with her sales.  So, it was a mixed bag. We did not see a lot of big 2D art walk past but there were several exits so we may have missed something.  

Overall this was a good experience for us.  We proved that our work has legs outside the Southeast. Despite the drive, we had a good time visiting with Sara's parents and my kids.  We especially enjoyed the dog show that strolled by our booth, particularly the Black and Tan Coonhound.  Unlike our mutts, they knew how to behave in polite company and walked well on leash. We made decent money and enjoyed a celebratory dinner afterwards at a close by restaurant my son in law recommended. By the way, the Social Kitchen and Bar has great Martinis and Sea Bass. Our lunches came from a Panera two blocks away. With one exception, everyone in our row we talked to was doing the show for the first time, which is usually a red flag for us. But we think that was due to weather issues in the past. If you are in the area and want to gamble on Michigan weather in May, we would recommend this show.

As an aside, this show fell on the first anniversary of our first show.  To date we have done nine shows.  Obviously, this is not a vast amount of experience.  We have received so much help and advice along the way from other artists and have learned a great deal from our experiences. We believe in "paying it forward". So, in a future blog post we will summarize what we have learned for anyone reading this site contemplating entering the art fair world. Hopefully we can help them avoid some of the costly mistakes we have made a long the way.  

Hi Guys, Yesterday was Mother's Day and my kids chipped in to give me money to finally get one of those Hollywood padded green show chairs that everyone who has done shows for a while has. I have been sitting on a folding stool (mostly standing-really) and I thought I should finally trade up.The ones on Amazon are 400 dollars and I know there are other options. I have read an older review -so I don't want to beat a dead horse but if you know a better price...I would appreciate it.

Anyone here ever done the Stevens Point Festival of Arts?

Thanks in advance!

This show has always been at the mercy of the springtime weather, being held the weekend before the Kentucky Derby. Some years the weather is balmy, sunny, and warm; sometimes cool and damp, sometime cold with frost on the grass in morning and needing space heaters. Sometimes, like this time around it was cool and rainy with the emphasis on rainy. Saturday was rainy most of the day with deserted aisles except for a few moments when the rain and drizzle stopped. Sunday had about half a day without rain and the customers came out. At the end of the day, it stopped raining, the sun came out, and we were able to clear out without getting rained on. My sales were proportional to the amount of time when it didn't rain, and all I did was break even. Regardless, I'll try it again as this is normally one of my better shows and the weather is better more often than not.

The show is a long standing one, and one which I've done for over twenty years. it's put on by a neighborhood association staffed by volunteers who have the organization of the show down pretty well. It was only within the last couple of years that the show has gone to ZAPP, as it was by word of mouth before. It started off with slide entries, and after slide projectors became hard to locate, they used print submissions for several years. Eventually, the hassle of wading through all the paper apps was too much and they signed with ZAPP.

Set up is on a Friday, starting at noon although several were already set up by that time. There are four lines of booths in the show for a bit over 200 artists. Two rows face each other across a narrow service road paralleled to a boulevard. One of those rows is on a sidewalk with about one foot of your booth in front of the sidewalk with a dropoff of several inches. Shim blocks are almost a universal requirement at this show. These sidewalk booths stay relatively dry during rain, but there is little storage room behind you unless there is an open retaining wall behind you. Several spots have walkways between them for resident's front door sidewalks, and you can stash some things there, space permitting. This section has issues with limited access for some patrons as there is a stone curb to step up on, and a sloping grassy strip that turns to mud quickly with foot traffic.

Two rows of booths are on grass, on a grassy median that is about 30 feet wide that separates the service road from the boulevard. These spaces are easier to access, and in most cases a wheel chair could be pushed into the booth space. However, set up can be a hassle as most of these spaces are on a horizontal incline side to side as the street runs downhill. In addition the median has a crown, so you are contending with a tilt in two axes. I use 2x8x10' boards to mount the tent legs on and shim like crazy. facing the rear of the tent, my right side front tent leg has to be shimmed up about 6 inches to be level front to back. The left side of the tent has to jump over a pile of mulch next to a tree, and since that side of the space is even lower, it needs almost ten inches of shimming to be level with the back and the other side. 

The grassy median has a row of tents on the other side and the crown is even more pronounced over there with well over a foot drop off from the middle to the street. I find it expedient to get there early, set up the booth, and put up a closed in extension to the booth that is about 3 1/2 deep so I can have a place to sit behind the booth, stash tubs, and stay dry in case of rain. If I don't show up early to claim the space, neighbors behind me will frequently crowd in as far as possible to avoid the slope in front of their space. In the past when I showed up later, I've had less than a foot of space behind me as the neighbors move backwards in search of level ground. Far easier to get there early, set up, and have the space already occupied.

The row across the boulevard is much more level, and on a wider sidewalk, but has the issue of too much room between the facing two rows so people tend to walk further out and not get as close. I've often wondered why the show doesn't just move everything into the wider street as the room is enough, although that would make traffic tougher at set up and tear down.

The show had excellent musicians that could clearly be heard but not too loud around most of the tents. A nice feature for the artists on Friday set up was dollar brats and $2 draft beer after 6:00 PM. Port-a-Pots are plentiful and kept clean, This year the washing stations were replaced by hand sanitizer stations which I supposed cut down on paper towel waste. I still prefer soap and water, but those ran out in past years.

The weather impacted the show badly this year, and that's just the roll of the dice in this business. Show times were 10-6 both days, and I feel that ending at 5 on Sunday is a better bet. Normally everyone waits until 6 before you start hearing the sound of metal pipes hitting the pavement, but this year there were enough disgruntled artists that the sound of tubular bells started around 5:30 and by 5:45 you started seeing artists dollying boxes out of the show. 

September 17 & 18

CenterFest is a competitive, juried festival attracting high-quality fine art and fine crafts.  In its 42nd year, CenterFest is the longest running outdoor juried arts festival in North Carolina. Located in Durham's lively downtown district, the event is a favorite amount visual artists, performing artists and visitors. 

• Easy load in/load out, free parking, 24 hour security
• Discounted rates at sponsor hotel
• 1 complimentary breakfast and lunch per booth per day
• Merit awards totaling $2,500
• Artists and images listed and linked on CenterFest website for 11 months
• Friendly and supportive staff, booth sitting
• Limited to 150 Artists

From my mailbox:

Hi Connie,
I work on the arts festivals for _____ ____ on ___ _____.  We have a show in the fall, where we try to attract more fine artists, and we provide judging and cash awards.  We have one unique very talented artist who has attended for the last several years.  She has won the top prize every year for the past several years.  Some of our return artists have begun grumbling that she always wins, and propose that there should be a “time out” policy.  I think this is probably a good idea, but don’t know how to phrase it. 

Do you have any suggestions, or know of other shows that have this policy that we could refer to?  The show is in September but would like to begin to advertise it now.  Thanks for any help!

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for this show director?

Last weekend we were in Huntsville, Alabama for Panoply, which is a community festival of the arts.  There are three music stages,  food vendors, arts activities for the kids, and an Arts Marketplace.  The venue is Big Spring International Park in downtown Huntsville.  The Arts Marketplace is set up along a sidewalk the surrounds a small lake and on the street that runs between the park and a performing arts center. If your booth is on the street you can drive right up to your spot and unload.  If you are somewhere in the park itself you have to dolly.  We were the first booth inside one of two entrances on the street. 

Since we are new at this, we had not done this show before but had heard good things about it from other artists.  Huntsville's main industry is aerospace with a large military facility, Redstone Arsenal, located there. So we anticipated patrons with resources that might want to buy some great art.  We were not disappointed. 

The show has long hours: 5pm-9pm on Friday, 8:45am - 9pm Saturday, Noon-7pm Sunday. Some artists set up Thursday while the remainder set up on Friday based on an on line scheduling system which was very efficient. Pre-show communication was very thorough so there were no unanswered questions before we arrived. Our set up was on Friday morning which went very smoothly.  Two music stages were active during our set up.  One was an orchestra playing classical music.  The other was a band playing classic rock.  When one group finished a piece, the other group would play so as not to compete with each other.  Throughout the weekend, the music was quite good and not too loud as to be annoying.

We finished in time to check in to the motel and grab a quick early dinner.  We were back at our booth at 4:30 for the 5pm opening.  It was at that point we noticed that thunder had replaced the strains of Beethoven and The Doors we had enjoyed earlier. Just before opening time the skies let loose with some beautiful cloud to cloud lightening.  It occurred to me that sitting in a tent with metal poles might not be the best place to be at that moment.  The show did not open and everyone went home at 6:30pm.

Saturday morning was warm and humid, but no rain.  The forecast was for rain later in the day but that did not keep the crowds away. The first person in our booth was a gentleman that seemed very interested in our work.  We had a long discussion about process and materials and we hoped he was a potential buyer once he made his rounds through the show.  It turned out he was the judge and we won a Merit Award! We had a good sales day Saturday.  Most of what sold was from our print bin and a lot of 5x7 cards.  The day was made by one buyer who could not decide between two of our larger pieces and ultimately bought both of them.  That was the only big sale we made all weekend. We had some great sales momentum going by late afternoon.  I was on my way back from the truck on a restocking mission when the tornado sirens went off. If you want to see a place clear out in a hurry, set off a tornado siren two days after the fifth anniversary of the worst tornado outbreak in state history. A quick check of the radar showed the weather threat to be miles away to the North. Nevertheless, the park was evacuated.  We were told the park would re-open 30 minutes after the warning expired.  Several artists around us did not return expecting the crowd would not return either.  They were wrong.  As soon as the gates re-opened at 6pm we had folks back in our booth.  We did steady business until 9pm.  

Sunday was another warm, humid day with rain in the forecast.  We were lucky in that the approaching storms broke up and went around us.  We had a steady sales day with people in our booth right up to closing time. Break down was simple for us as we could drive right next to our booth to load.

Panoply is a beloved community event.  We had the pleasure of meeting many of the vast cast of volunteers that work tirelessly to put this event on in support of Arts Huntsville. It was very well organized and staff was always available if you needed them.  The quality of the art varied widely from birds made from soda cans to really wonderful paintings.  We saw a lot of art walking by our booth to new homes both big and small.  Many of the artists that do this show have done so for many years and keep coming back. Most of the artists were within 200 miles of Huntsville, but our neighbor was from Michigan and a couple of others had traveled long distances.  There was an artist's hospitality booth with coffee and pastries each morning.  The food vendors offered artists free food or discounts which were listed on the back of our name tags.  The free ice cream cones each afternoon were much appreciated. The only negatives were the long hours and we had to pay for parking ($5.00 per day).  I am sure our sales would have been better if the weather cooperated.  As it was we were pleased with our sales volume.  We were surprised by the interest in our work with Birmingham subject matter.  At any rate we had a great time, met some new friends, saw some old friends, and made a little money.  Not a bad weekend at all. Thanks Huntsville! 

Got home today from Bayou City Spring Festival in Memorial Park, Houston, TX.

I just live 205 miles from the show and I am not sure I should continue doing this show even though it is so close.

Now a little background.... this past weekend was my (I believe) 37th year in a row in the show.  If I lived 206 miles from the show I might just give it up.  My time at the show dates back to the old Westheimer Arts Fest. days.  The show was at deaths door some twenty years or so ago and a young lady came is as the new director with almost no experience.  However, her brain, her personality and her desire to pull this show from the ashes along with her flaming red hear and grit made possible the new birth of westheimer into Bayou City.  She stayed thirteen years and turned the dying show into one of the best in the country... twice a year.  The name of this savior is Lynnette Wallace.  She has been gone from the show for a few years now and both spring and fall have been dying ever since.

To save Bayou City Arts Festival, bring back Lynnette Wallace and any cost necessary ASAP.  Please do the same at The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival.  She built it perfect and has been gone long enough to see a large decline at the Waterway show as well.  The show is still beautiful but the things that made it good are declining.

It is just that simple.  Make this very necessary change or perhaps both Houston shows will not exist in six more years.  I have watched the huge decline in attendance year after year.  Raising all of the prices for the public as well as such things as trying to make the spring show even more huge and the zillion mile walk to the artist parking will all come together and not be a good thing.

RIP Bayou City.  I will keep coming, selling less each year and continue to check the pulse till there isn't even a faint one.

August 6 & 7
Detroit, Michigan
Presented by Integrity Shows
Deadline: May 15

Application fee: $25; Booth fee: $295-$590

The show is near the entry bridge across from the stunning Scott Fountain.  There is ample parking.  As with other art fairs by Integrity Shows, artists are juried on a three year basis.  If you are accepted by the jury you are assured of acceptance annually and re-jury in the fourth year.  Of course you still need to apply on time and your work has to be relatively the same.  We believe that artists should be able to plan at least a part of their schedule.

A healthy advertising budget along with extensive marketing is sure to bring out art lovers.  We partner with local organizations to support the arts and to increase the shows visibility.  The fair is limited in artists to maximize your opportunity for success.

Melanie Rolfes:  I love to read your show reports – they are always full of useful information.  One of the things in your reports that always baffles me is how you get your booth set up and broken down so quickly.  It takes my wife and me between 5 and 7:30 hours to load in and set up our booth, and 3 to 4 hours to break down and load out.  And that is for a single Trimline, not the double you are setting up.  How you are able to get it done in 1:30 hours and 45 minutes amazes me.  What is your secret?

(Rather than post this comment in response to one of your reviews and hijacking the thread, I thought I would start a new thread, hoping others will chirp in with “tricks of the trade” regarding efficient setup and break down, making for a lively discussion on this topic).

I just checked the site and I couldn't find any write-up for the Downers Grove show, mid-September. Anyone out there done this show? Any comments? It is one of Amy Ardmur's Chicagoland shows. She does so many in that condensed area during the good weather months. Is that a good thing or bad? Is it just too saturated with shows that the buyers are fed up; or, are there so many shows because one can't feed enough to the beast?

I am In the middle of the spring marathon of shows. First marathon for me so as already stated my reviews are a bit shorter and pics not included. Just completed two HAE shows in the DC area. Arlington and Fairfax. I have reviewed Arlington a few times already so if you want more info search here on AFI. Fairfax was a first time event for HAE.

Love love the DC area for sales. Have done Arlington as a single show traveling from Atlanta and well worth it. Was excited to have another show in the area to pair up this time. Both are Saturday morning set ups and both are very easy set ups. What a treat. Both shows are about 125 artists both of the areas have $$$. Both shows had amazing work at the shows. For relatively new shows the communities are lucky to have such amazing work to experience. Both shows are extremely well run. Thank you HAE. You make our life easier.

Arlington (as posted above do a search to find out more info where the show is located) is a Saturday morning set up. The street I am located on is wide. We showed up around 6:30-7 am. Drove up right to the booth. Unloaded and parked in the parking garage (we need 7'2" clearance for our truck) costs $4 a day. There is artists parking but for $4 we have our vehicle right near our booth. The weather was perfect both days. In the 70s. If you were on Washington you were in the sun and warm. If you were on Highlands you had lots of shade and needed a jacket. All was good. The crowds were good. Lots of interest and savvy art buyers. As other artists noticed this show now gets patrons from other parts of DC besides Arlington. It is getting a strong following. This show has been very strong for many of us that have done the show a few times.

I have said in the past I believed this show was a strong contemporary show BUT a good artist friend of mine who does traditional small ink drawings tried the show. When she told me she was going to be there I was a bit worried for her. She killed it!!! One of her best shows. Many artists said they had done better this year than in the past. We had a good show but not as great.

It was wonderful to be around for the week in between the two shows because we were able to do some home visits and close some sales. Making Arlington another great show. If we would have gone straight home to Atlanta it would have been ok. We lined up a couple commissions right from the show. The extra sales in the middle of the week was a bonus.

Load out easy peasy. We had always dollied out but that was dumb. By the time we were walking out our last dolly they were letting vehicles in. This year we took it a little slower and waited about 5 minutes more to bring the truck in. We were off 1.15 minutes after the show closed and we're feeling good.

Fairfax. I will try to give a bit more info but for those who were there please contribute. This show is on the streets in a higher end out door mall. Lots of resteraunts. Very pretty. Suburban area. Suburbia is not my usual market. Went the day before set up on Friday to scope it out. This set up looked easy. In my area there was a parking area behind my booth. We showed up around 7am. You could pull into the Main Street to unload but were able to park right behind my booth and stay put until done. Set up the entire double booth in 1.5 hours. That is when it started raining. Parking was not too far for artists. I have my Fitbit so no issue for me and really it was close parking.

Probably Because of the rain on Satirday morning the crowds were not huge. The rain stopped I think about 11 amish. It was a nice day. I saw others making some smaller sales. Originals only large scale for me and didn't have much interest on Saturday. I chalked it up to being a suburban show. This was not my market. Sunday perfect day. Decent crowds. Nothing for me until around 3pm. The show seemed to change and we had lots of interest. This show worked out with folks shopping as we loaded out. We will be in Reston in a few weeks and will be bringing closed sales.

Load out was perfection for us. We got our vehicle behind the booth at end of show and were out in 45 minutes. Would have been 20 minutes if we weren't talking to patrons.

These two shows together were physically easy to do. Since this is my first art fair marathon I was worried about our lineup of shows. Somethings we did to make this easy peasy for us. We rented a house in Vienna. The town is pretty much in the middle of the two shows, about 7-8 miles from each. Only cost $69 a night, cheap for DC and I was able to bring meals with us. I love to splurge on fancy resteraunts but after a show I just want to go "home" and have a healthy meal. The town we stayed in was on the metro line and the bike path that covers 60+ miles of the DC area. As an artist DC is an amazing area to explore. Most museums are free. Love the "vacation" we can have between shows.

I normally am willing to pay extra to stay close to a show especially if they have a Saturday morning set up. Didn't do that this time. I was comfortable with Arlington and knew we didn't need to stay close. Fairfax I was not so sure.

Here is where my spoiled self comes out. My only real issue with Saturday morning set ups is feeling grungy after set up and working all day and talking to patrons, whatever if I am tired. I have been tired many times. Since we didn't stay on site for Fairfax, after setting up I went to a salon near my booth and had them wash and blow out my hair. Cost me $20 and I had a wonderful salon to freshen up. Made all the difference for my spoiled ass. For future shows with Saturday setups I will be looking into this option versus spending extra $$$ for a hotel on site.

Next two shows in town for me. Another two Saturday morning set ups that won't be as easy:(:(:(:(.