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Recent discussions here and on various other forums I am involved in led me to post about the Amazon Local Register in a group I am involved in Creative Bead Chat .  One of the admins asked me to do an article to be published on their website.  They also had just featured my work in their online magazine.

So I got busy and compared Square/Amazon/Paypal one of which I currently use and I'll do an update once I use the other two at shows.  Here is a link to the article if you are interested.

What's an Artist to DO!

Creative Bead Chat has over 9000 members on Facebook and I was there when it started so it was great to be added as a contributor.

Here is a link to the magazine

     This was the eleventh consecutive year that I have done this show.  Golden is the county seat for Jefferson County whose motto is “Gateway to the Rocky Mountains”.  Golden is known for the Colorado School of Mines and the Coors Brewery.  The weekend of the art show is the time that students are moving into dorms.

     The show is set up for three blocks along Eleventh Street.  Food courts and music stages are at both ends of the show.  The Golden Chamber of Commerce manages the event.

SET UP & TAKE DOWN: Both are easy because “Traffic Czars” keep the center lane of the street open.  You can drive to your booth location.

Most booths have space behind them but some have bushes with only a gutter width.

ATTENDANCE: The Chamber states that the attendance is upwards of 30,000.  The event is well publicized in the Denver metro area.  People show up an hour ahead of the official opening time of 10:00am and start buying, and the crowd is there until close ng time at 5:00pm both days.    

AMENITIES: The artist reception is put on by the Table Mountain Inn and they don’t cut any corners.  There was great food and a selection of beers and wines.  This year the reception was in the great hall of the Episcopal Church, which has some fantastic architecture and art work.   The Golden hotel maintained a break room and provided lunch for artists.  There are booth sitters, morning coffee and pastries, and water during the day.  We were the next to the last artists off the street after dark at 8:45pm, and there was still a volunteer on site.   

SALES: My sales at this show have consistently been in the $3K-$5K range.  This year’s sales were down about $700 from last year but the show was a “solid double” even if I didn’t “hit it out of the park”.

My average sale was $59 which was pulled down by little kids buying $3 bandanas from the sets of napkin rings.  The best sellers were belts in the $40-$85 range with some $200 special order belts thrown in.  The rest were a mix of gun leathers, dog tack and personal leather goods.  Artists in my area (wildlife painter, jeweler, photographer and potter) all said they had a good show. Others had a “slow” show.

WEATHER: Friday afternoon during set up, there was a rain shower with some lightning. Saturday was hot in the low 90s, but Sunday was bearable with some cloud cover.

ACCIDENTS: An Easy Up with no weights blew over during set up and dented the fender of my neighbor’s new van.  I didn’t see the other accident, but I heard about it at the reception.  An older woman artist, hit the accelerator instead of the brake, panicked, hit a car then hit a tree.

GENERAL: Nuts and bolts are in Art Show Reviews on this site.  There was a good mix of high quality art and absolutely no buy/sell. There was also a good mix of out-of-state artists with the Colorado crowd.   Artists at other shows have commented that it is difficult to get into the Golden show. City tax is collected at the end of the show, but you pay state and county taxes on line. The tax rate was 7.5%. 

We had a good run of information in July this year. Scott Pakulski kept us abreast of happenings in his corner of the Midwest, including Toledo, Plymouth (MI) and his first year at Ann Arbor. Marge Luttrell got a good discussion going on the big CPFA in State College, PA. Sandhi Schimmel Gold shared the heartbreaking news of a fellow artist's tragedy and Jacki Bilsborrow shared a cops and robbers exploit.

Maryllis Wolfgang and Barrie Lynn Bryant were chosen to receive the coveted Red Dot on their profile for all their contributions to the site. Everyone, please join me in thanking all these people who keep AFI alive and well and bringing you the art fair news.

This show is a hard one to get into. The last time I was in this one was four years ago, and was one of my highest grossing shows in a very long time. I kept getting rejected after that, and decided to make some significant changes on the jury images. It worked :-)

Set up was on Friday starting at noon. I managed to get there in mid afternoon, and went off from home without the map and the check-in point, of which there were two. We found the most obvious one, and of course it wasn't the right one. The volunteer gave us directions to the other one, which was on the far side of the city park this show is held in. Unfortunately, the young volunteer was a little sketchy on the details, and it took some back-tracking to find the entrance. Once in, we found the check in tent, and after getting the packet, same problem as before, the volunteers were a little stumped at showing where the space was physically. The park has numerous sidewalks we can drive on, but exact directions are a little spacey. The problem would be easily solved with some 1x2's driven in the ground with a placard stapled on pointed to each grouping of booths. No big deal, but it did waste some time trying to find the space. On the positive side the spaces were spray painted on the grass. I did have a few other artists that afternoon ask if I knew where such and such booth was, so I was not the Lone Ranger on this :-)

Space was adequate, although there was some irregularity with booth dimensions. My neighbor had about 9 feet side to side and I had about 12 feet. The problem was solved at the local level, and I set up on the far side of my space and that left us with a nice gap between the tents. The space behind the booth was about 8 feet to be shared with the artist behind you. Certain sections had no one behind them and could park there the last time I was there. Artist parking was close by on a softball field, that I had no problem walking to despite bum knees.

Saturday opened up a bit overcast, but good weather was in the forecast. large crowds showed up, and you could see the crowds filter in from the show entrance making their way to the further reaches. It was a nicely diverse crowd of all ages,and we had a lot of traffic. Sales were slow initially and I was getting concerned . A few pieces sold, but still not enough to take away the worry. The weather reports shifted during the day and some worries were there. The day ended on a worrisome note for me. The mixed media artist behind me had the magic formula of low price point, $30 for a small nicely matted attractive piece about 6x9 size, and they were flying out of her bins, frequently 2-4 pieces per customer. It's giving me pause to reconsider how I handle my low price point work, i.e.;cheaper, smaller, and interesting matting. Another artist, working with papers, was struggling on Saturday. One jeweler was doing very, very well, and another was unhappy and grumpy with his sales.

Sunday morning loomed nasty looking, gray, overcast, and rainy. The weather radar showed a large nasty, and state sized storm cell coming in from the west around Illinois and lower. It looked pretty bad. We arrived around 8:00 and started setting up a rear canopy and battening down for severe rain. I decided to pass on the awards breakfast and set up the tent and storage tubs for the rain. The back neighbor arrived and we decided to overlap the back flaps so we were both under a roof, as it were. I did find out for myself later on where the holes in my tarps were :-( it's time for new side tarps, no doubt about it. A fiber artist neighbor behind me catty-cornered was breaking down as we were getting prepared. They did poorly on Saturday, and decided the heavy rain coming was going to kill the show, so they were getting out of Dodge. They leave, and about 30 minutes later, the awards are announced. You can guess who won the award for fiber :-) Money was involved, but I don't know if anything was cancelled or not. The organizers did know quickly that the artists had pulled out.

As a side note, Hudson River Industries was in the show initially but was removed.

The rains did arrive, and I had some spray into the booth but a cloth clipped to the awning kept the mist out and the tent open. I was pleasantly surprised that i managed to eke out some decent sales of canvas prints and framed pieces, besides the flip bin work. I was about 40% down from four years ago, but considering the rain and weather, I was happy enough to make a profit after all expenses. I did hear that another photographer was struggling to break even and another one zeroed out. It may be significant that  the one who did zero has primarily large scale and high price point canvases. A couple of well-known photographers who almost call this show home weren't here this year.

The rain came back again but didn't last that terribly long, but it did impact the crowd. There were major concerns about load out due to soggy ground and turf damage. I didn't bring my 4-wheeled cart, just a little folding cart, and if that scenario unfolded with the vehicles on the sidewalks and everyone in line, the estimated load out time would probably extend into next Tuesday. Luckily, they decided to let us drive on the grounds. I took my time loading up, finishing up almost last of the artists still loading up, and got out about 5 minutes before the drizzle hit again.

I didn't get a chance to see Nels, as he was at the far end of the show from me, but I would have told him to check out Joe Balogna's restaurant about ten minutes from the show. They have great pizza and fantastic fresh baked breadsticks with garlic butter. The building they're in started as a synagogue in the 1890s with the stained glass windows still there. I've seen Ashley Judd there before as she always stops there when she's in town.

Despite some of the young volunteers not knowing the show layout, they were everywhere bringing water and checking to see if you needed a break. Portapots were everywhere in close walking distance, the fair food was unusually good and decently priced. The Thai curry chicken was $9 and the bowl was enough for two to share. Coffee was available from a funky little "canned ham" trailer. Organization was very good with communications several times, and Kelly, the show coordinator, made it a point to come around and introduce herself to every artist. This is a show you can be comfortable with. They can't control the rain, but they were out spreading straw to keep the mud and grass damage to a minimum. It was a show done with a smile. 

I am half way through my second year of participating in Art Fairs and thanks to all of the suggestions and Art Fair critiques each show I have done this year I have been in the "black".  Last year I was fortunate enough to "break even" (booth fee, gas and food) at each show and considered it a "learning year".  Following are my learnings from last year and how I adjusted this year with great results.

- Research the shows that are a "fit" for your work.  Because I still work full time at another job, I keep my shows local and the price point for booth fees is $100.  That helped with expense and was a good price point to let me give this a try without going broke.  I am still struggling a little with "what sells" but am not ready to give up on any of the shows I did last year. I realize sales results can change from year to year and the market is finicky so I look for local, well organized shows.

-While at the show take the time to walk around and look at displays that are the same medium as your work.  In my case photography.  I also spend time with other photographers asking questions about the display and what has worked and not worked in the past.  As stated over and over on this site, a professional display will bring in buyers.  Last year I had such a "hodge podge" of work displayed, I see now how fortunate I was to make any sales.  I don't know how customers could see what I had for sale.  No rhyme or reason, the framed pieces did not match what I had in the baskets.  Also my framed pieces were on a small shelf.  I invested in mesh panels, all pieces are framed in black and my baskets only have reproductions of what is on my wall.  Keeps the inventory down to something manageable.

-Respect the space of your neighbors and do not complain out loud about your sales or the way the event is organized.  Move your vehicle when you are done unloading and don't encroach on their space. I realize I have to spend a weekend with my neighbors and don't want to burn any bridges with the organizers. I know that if my sales are not very good, at this point in my experience with Art Fairs it could be the show is not a fit or I need to adjust my display or sales technique. Be genially happy for those around you that are having a good show and take the time to congratulate them.  I find staying positive makes the weekend much more enjoyable. 

-Get to the show with plenty of time for set up.  I have forgotten a few things and was glad I had time to run to the local Walmart for replacements.  (Last show I forgot the table cloths for my tables).  When those around me saw my dilemma they all were so helpful.  One of the artists offered her rugs for my table but a local caterer gave me some table cloths to use.  (One of the things I have found I love about doing Art Fairs is the camaraderie of all of the Artists and the locals.) 

-I have learned to pack a cooler with plenty of water, lunch and snacks.  Also I learned the hard way to make sure I have comfortable chair to sit in!  I dragged around a card table chair all of last year and have switched to something more comfortable.  I would like to get a directors chair so I can sit and be eye to eye with customers, but that will have to wait until next year.

-Read Art Fair Insider blogs and keep learning from the veterans! And contribute to the Art Fair reviews so others can get the same benefit that I have gotten from this group.

My second year has been great so far.  Not enough in sales to quit my "day job" but the sales are trending up so that is encouraging. I plan on adding to my list of applications for next year and am looking forward to continuing this venue.  My heartfelt thanks to all of you!

I was prepared for this one. I knew about the treacherous terrain, the challenging load in/load out. But folks I know who are in the know, said I would kill here, so, even though we couldn't find Mt Gretna on the map, off we went to Pennsylvania.

Did you know there is a Little League World Series in Williamspot, PA? Oh yes. And the traffic backup was incomprehensible. I mean, they knew it was coming, right? Anyway, Russell was able to maneuver around it using gut instinct and we only lost an hour. Eventually, the GPS was able to find Mt Gretna and delivered us right into the arms of the man with the yellow vest and flashlight. By then it was almost 6, so a lot of the chaos was over. Our spot was off Pennsylvania, in the woods but not hidden and it was in the path to the porta-potties, food court and music, so the hope was that basic instincts would bring the people to us on their way to other things.

Load in was not too bad. We were able to park on the main road and carry in our stuff. Forget dollying unless you have tires on your rig that were army surplus tank tires. A minor altercation took place on the main road between two guys, each challenging the other to move. I was tempted to advise they pee around their spots and get on with it, but I resisted the urge and kept on lugging gear.

Our spot was lovely, had great back space and we had cool neighbors. We also had a sink hole smack dab in the middle of the booth space. It was deep enough to stagger a person and I knew I had to either redesign the thing or come up with a way to warn people. Eventually, I filled the hole with rocks from the sidewalk, stuck a tree branch in it and made a sign that said "careful!" Not classy, but it made many visitors chuckle. Turned out to be a good ice breaker.

So, Saturday was pretty good. My first customer spent over $300 which is good for me and I was hopeful. Turned out to be awesome, I never had a chance to leave the booth because the traffic was constant, I was jazzed, I had found another good show! And then, Sunday morning it rained.

Now, some folks, wake up, look out the window, see rain and stay home. Smart people check the forecast. The forecast was for a beautiful day after 12 and it was. Sadly, only the smart people came out. The port potties were pristine at 2 o'clock. What does that tell you? My sales tanked as they did for almost everyone around me. Some people did well, but not many from what I could see. Very disappointing.

There was decent food in the food court, the music was loud enough to enjoy but not so close that it interfered with your ability to chat up buyers. You get a free t-shirt but you never see anyone from the organization after that. No, I take it back. One lady in a booth sitter cap stopped by early Saturday. The setting is beautiful, even with the ground being an obstacle course. But when I factor in gas and hotel and booth fee, I would have actually made better money staying with the local show that I dropped in my search for fame and fortune in Pennsylvania.

Wise veterans say you should never judge a show after just one shot. I'm just not sure I have the energy or money to try again. Something to ponder over the Winter.

Well - what a difference a week makes!  I raved about the HDG Seafood Festival last week, and now I must be objective about the Art Fair.  It's not a BAD event.  If it did not follow the Seafood Festival a week later in the same exact place, it might even be a good one.  Here's my 2 cents worth:

• Organization - less than super.  Promoter moving artists around, creating new spots, backing trailers between tents with less than a foot clearance each side, etc.  Need better planning and stick to it.
• Artist accommodations - Pretty much none.  Quite a hike to the porta potties.  They did bring surveys around.
• Artist mix - pretty decent
• Buy/Sell - More than the Seafood Festival!  And this is an art show.  One double space with the word "Craft" in it's name was 80% cheap chinese fake murano glass and Origami Owl knockoffs.  
• Quality of Vendors - all over the place.  One was selling pvc flamingos that come from china, they spray paint them and sell for $25.  They even repacked them in the chinese boxes.  While this is "Craft", it is certainly not "Fine Craft" and has no business in an Art Fair.  Same goes for the $2.00 per strand beads on Elastic.  Craft, but not Fine craft, IMHO.  The true artists were well represented and very, very good.
• Layout - strange, but not bad
• Customer mix - all over the page.  Compared to the prior week, the 'economically challenged' clientele was a larger percentage, and much more challenged, and the upscale customer was more upscale.  Many more customers that were unable to dig into the purse, lots of "I can't afford anything until payday - do you sell online".
• Sales - so-so, but not bad unless compared to the prior week.  Taken as a whole, the 2 shows together work for us.
• Food vendors.  Don't bother.  Bring your own or go down the steps to the Promenade Grill.  Vendors we overpriced and low quality (soft serve was the exception - very good)
• Other notes - too darn many dogs.  We are dog owners.  We love dogs.  If shoppers have dogs that don't get along with people or other dogs, please leave them home.  Vendors - if you have things blocking passage outside your tents, please make this the first thing you move.  Had to walk an extra 50 yards to the truck with the dolly because of a blocked (unnecessarily so) pathway.

I would not drive 100 miles to do this show, but since we are already here for the Seafood Festival, it was convenient, the setting is awesome, the atmosphere was very enjoyable, the promoter was nice and easy to work with.  Next year - double booth please, it will give us a better shot at good numbers!

October 18 & 19

Atlanta, Georgia

Olmsted Linear Park

125+ Artists

Deadline: August 22

Join AFFPS for their three time award winning Fall Festival on Ponce on October 18-19 in Atlanta.  This event will feature over 125 local and regional artists with the beautiful back drop of historic Olmsted Linear Park.

The Fall Festival on Ponce is an Atlanta arts and crafts festival. Visitors will enjoy the gorgeous landscape designed by one of America's most celebrated landscape architects,  Fredrick Olmsted Sr., which was carefully restored by the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance.  

An estimated 20,000 visitors will attend this event with over 125 displays of fine art and crafts, folk and "outsider art."

In addition to the abundance of unique art, there will be a children's area, local gourmet food, beverages and a small stage for acoustic musical performances. Attendance is Free.

This is the third year the AFFPS will hold an outdoor arts and crafts festival in the chain of parks on Ponce de Leon Ave. in the historic Druid Hills neighborhood. This event supports this historic park and we use it conservatively with sensitivity and consideration for the park and surrounding neighborhood.

Learn more : www.festivalonponce.com 

Apply today:  www.Zapplication.org

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

2014 shows are NOT all closed, find more right here: www.CallsforArtists.com

You know you want to say, "I was there!" Then stop dawdling, head to Zapp right now!

Newest news to give you pause: 

• We are receiving huge support from art community
• Over 15 national recording artist performing
• Our Media Campaign is in high gear, blanketing the region
• Social campaign is driving over 300,000 impressions a week

The Huntington Beach Fest has major promotion partners, a great relationship with local art museums and is hitting your demographic in an underserved area. Be there! 

September 5-7
Huntington Beach, California
Pacific Coast Hwy & Beach Blvd.
150 Artists
Deadline: August 15

We know we were late getting the announcement out on this new show, but we have been working over time ever since to make up for that lost time. Lots has happened on this show since the initial announcement. Artists have many questions and the organizers are eager to answer the most frequently asked ones: Answers Here

More questions? contact Jay Freedman now for answers: freedman@nfse360.com

A long time valued member of this site says he is tired of no action being taken on issues related with our business and will be leaving the site.

An advertiser who has tantalized me with an opportunity fails to complete the deal.

Poor attendance at an art fair which has delivered well in the past deals a blow to the pocketbook.

Unprecedented rainfall in NYC (13" in 24 hours!) destroys millions of dollars of property.

A beloved entertainer takes his life.

Endless problems of insurrection and political mayhem in other parts of the world seem unsolvable. And who is even thinking about how climate change that will affect future generations?

Feeling low this morning I turned on Morning Joe and then Good Morning America before I came to my computer. How long could I listen to that? It made things worse. Syria, Iraq, the Kurds, Gaza. OMG -- that was a wrong decision.

What do you do?

This first year event took place in my hometown of Jackson MI and was a combination of Fine Art, Taste of Jackson (restaurants) and a Run or Dye run. The fair took place in downtown Jackson on Michigan Ave which is a very wide street with plenty of room to set up. This was a juried event with a $35 application fee through ZAPP and a $100 fee for a 10 x 10 space. A $5,000 1^st place, $2,500 2^nd place and $1,000 third place prize was given for booth presentation.  There was also three $500 “people’s choice” given.  However the people’s choice was online voting and the total votes was close to 75,000 so it was more of an online popularity vote.  I would have liked to see that vote take place at the event with a ballot system.

Set up took place on Friday night, however registration started at 4:00 and the streets were not closed yet so the Artists had to wait until the streets closed at around 6:00.  There were some stragglers still parked on the street after the road closed and some of the Artist began set up before the road closure.

Saturday arrived and I was ready to go.  There were a few “first year misses”.  There was a volunteer tent set up but no “Information” area for those attending the fair to get information on what Artists and restaurants were at the event.  The participants were not given a sign with identification and booth number to place on the outside of our tents, nor was there any kind of name tag provide (which did become a little bit of a problem when the tent was full). Also, no “Artist Parking” space was identified.  Being familiar with the area, I found a spot very close to my tent. Traffic was steady all day Saturday and I did very well with my sales.  My price range is $5 to $130 and I made sales at all of the price ranges.  There were many Artist that had items for sale in the $500 to 2K range.  I talked to a few of the Artist and they were having difficulty selling anything in that price range.

The Sunday traffic was very slow and I did hear from many of the attendees that they did not even know about the event.  Another “first year miss” was the marketing campaign (plenty of marketing avenues but the marking only took place one week before the event). I did make some sales on Sunday and I would say that, for me, the event was a success.

All in all, I think the event was a success and the event organizers were very receptive to constructive feedback.  I will be attending next year and plan on providing the organizers a link to this blog, so please “pipe in” with any constructive feedback that you think may be helpful for next years event.

Note:  Just before posting this review I saw another review with a very different take on artshowreviews.  I suggest you read them both for the different perspectives.

We had wanted to do the Rehoboth Beach show this weekend but didn’t get in.  I went looking for an alternative and came up with the Lewiston Art Festival in Lewiston, NY. 

It turned out I was wrong about this one.  In an earlier comment on Connie’s “What are you doing this weekend?” discussion, I said we applied to Lewiston because the $5,000 in prize money implied to me quality artists with quality art.  I should have dug a little deeper.

The $5,000 is spread over 4 awards in each of 9 categories plus Best in Show and Best Booth.  No one got a lot of money.  So there was no chance that big money would draw quality.

It also turns out that I overheard two local artists talk about the number of times they had each won at Lewiston (six for one, four for the other).  Draw your own conclusions.

In case you think this is sour grapes, it is not.  It was a case of selecting a show with incomplete information and inadequate research.  I have always wondered about people who post on AFI that they just got accepted to a show and could anyone tell them whether it was a good show or not.  What a backwards way of applying to shows, I’ve thought.  Well, I was susceptible to that same sloppy thinking.

Here are the details.  The show is set up along the main street through Lewiston, NY, which is a delightful village about 6 miles north of Niagara Falls.  The street is very wide with one of those center turn lanes.  Set-up and tear town were very easy.

We followed show directions and arrived about 5:00AM Saturday morning.  We were practically the only ones there.  Others started drifting in with most exhibitors arriving between 7 and 8.  One of our neighbors showed up at 10 as the show was opening.

There was tons of storage behind our booth but it was luck of the draw.  Some booths had telephone/utility poles behind them; others had big shade trees.  Worst case would probably be that you would have to ask a neighbor if you could stick a bin or two with their stuff.

Artist parking (for our location) was in a shopping plaza right behind the booth.  There was a wall between the lot and the street so you still had to walk a short distance to reach the van that was only 6 feet away on the rhumb line.  No big deal.

Port-a-Potties were also in that lot (and in many other locations throughout the show).  They were expertly serviced on Saturday after show hours so they never got in super gross condition.

One of the show’s major sponsors was a waste disposal/management company who touted their “green” programs but it seemed like the frequently mentioned recycling cans were pretty thinly spread out.

Security was provided overnight but this village looked so quaint that it was hard to imagine there would be any big problems.  (As we drove away Monday morning we did see an overturned port-a-potty so maybe there was the potential for a little miscreant activity after all.)

Food was the usual festival food truck fare but prices seemed a little more reasonable that what you often see.

We never saw any booth sitters (but with two of us we didn’t need them).  We ended up watching a neighbors booth a few times each day so he could get some lunch, etc.

There was an artist breakfast/awards ceremony at a local restaurant on Sunday morning but we didn’t go so I can’t comment.

The weather was perfect and the crowd was very strong between 11AM and 4PM.  The show ran until 6PM each day, which was probably an hour longer than necessary. The prospectus claims 30,000 people over the weekend and that‘s probably pretty close.

Was there high quality art here?  Yes there was.  There was also a lot of junk and some buy/sell.  Also, Hudson River Inlay was in the show program.  I assume that one of the “Jeff Nelsons” was there but I never saw their “production” works.

Here is a booth selling “Hotel Bamboo Pillows” (made in China) by the pallet load.  The also had some plastic gewgaws that the kids found amusing.  Not good for artists.

Also, the rule of art show decorum were frequently violated.  Here is an artist a few booths away who migrated his space well out into the street making it impossible for patrons to walk a straight line down the tent row.  He also thought we should all have to listen to talk radio and music on his boom box; the operative word being “boom”.

Another artist (bow ties) thought it would be cool to mark the length of the street with bow ties and arrows pointing to his booth.  When I called him on it, he said “Don’t worry.  It’s only chalk spray and it’ll be gone with the next rain.” I think he missed the point.

The Lewiston Council on the Arts has a strong Kids program and an emerging artist program and overall, they put on a highly organized event but one that seemed weakly juried.  Having said that, they obviously know the community and delivered what the community wanted,

Our challenge was price point.  We had plenty of great compliments but a glance at the price tag caused people to scurry out of the tent.

We were next to an artist with very clever functional ceramic work.  Among his other pieces he had bowls that were priced around $20.  On more than a few occasions when he told the enquiring shopper that the bowls were $20, the response was “Each??” followed by quick booth departure.  At the same time, he did end up having a very good show because his work was clever and unique and because most of his price points were below $45

Bottom line, craft worked best here and the less expensive the better.  We managed a few hard earned sales but inexpensive wearables, quilted bags, gimmicky wood carvings, SOS, etc., etc.owned the day.  I suspect some jewelers did pretty well too.  However, If you were 2D wall or sculpture with most price points over $50, you probably had a tough time.  I know we did.  (Of course there are sure to be some who did okay.  In contrast to the other review, I did not see much 2d other than matted prints being carried out)

We ended up calling this a “vacation” show.  Staci had never been to Niagara Falls before and we had a great time doing all the touristy stuff.

As for the show, how does that line go? “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars…”

Off to Mt. Gretna!

Perfect festival weather brought out the crowds and buyers for the 48th annual Lewiston Art Festival, held on August 9th-10th in the quaint village of Lewiston, NY. Both days were sun-filled with temps in the upper 70's to mid-80's with a slight breeze at times. Direct sunlight overhead brought patrons into tree-shaded booths. All artists' booths, with the exception of the emerging "College Alley" participants, were lined up on both sides of the closed-to-traffic Center Street, facing towards the street. Most of the public walked up one side and down the other. With 165 artist booths, this was fairly easy to do, especially since there were many decent food booths and specialty foods peppered in between with simple, outdoor dining tents at a few cross-streets. Strolling musicians and artist demos were also interspersed throughout the street.

Sponsored by the Arts Council, there were two sets of awards: one for the street chalk competition and one for the participating artists with $5000 being awarded at an artists' breakfast at a local restaurant on Sunday morning. The judges awarded 4 awards in eight categories, though only for specific works at the artist's discretion, which were brought to a judging hall. In addition, one award for overall booth design was given.

This was a fun, casual show with easy set-up and breakdown (no advance check-in as all artists are "pre-registered" and cars were ready to come onto the street just five minutes after the show closed). The people who visited the show are regional (Lewiston, Niagara, Buffalo, Rochester with a fair amount of Canadian visitors) and seem devoted. I juried into two categories, exhibiting my line of porcelain jewelry and decorative porcelain wares. I enjoyed brisk sales all day on Saturday and almost equally on Sunday, with many of my "be-backs" actually returning to purchase. Overwhelmingly, the sales were of the jewelry (about 80%) to that of my claywork, though I was awarded a Third Place award for a sculptural vessel. The photographer next to me had been there for three years consecutively and was pleased with his sales and the airbrush artist with animal portraits was almost giddy regarding her sales. I witnessed many large paintings being walked down the street. Though most of my sales were single sales under $50, I did have several decent multi-purchases and the largest, single item was just under $200, so I do believe that the patrons are a tad price-conscious. Overall, I thought the balance of media was very good with a lot of diversity and the quality was good (7 on a scale from 1-10), though some of the art was outstanding.

I was very pleasantly surprised by many things. I had only participated in this show once before and that was about nine years ago. THIS was not that show. It was staged differently, no vintage cars, the street was closed to traffic, it was so much larger and far better attended. If there hadn't been the poutine fries and the French artichokes, I wouldn't have thought I was at the same show. I thought that the Arts Council did a fine job and I will be delighted to return next year.

Mini rant of the day.  I am sure I am not the only one.

Why do artists / crafters think we need to hear how badly they are doing?  Now, I am always willing to help out in any way possible, but this is my peeve:  Please don't complain about the show, the customers, your terrible sales, it's the worst show you have ever done, then tell me that you are coming back next year?  I can only think of 3 reasons:

• You think I am stupid
• You are stupid
• The worst show you have ever done is still very profitable for you! (I hope this is the one)

I love 99% of the folks in our business, and love to hear success stories.  It just seems that far too many of us would rather find fault in everything.  My motto- "If you are up to your neck in Horse crap, there must be a pony in there somewhere!"

Yorkfest Festival is coming up on August 23-24 in York Pennsylvania, and yes, we will be there.  We had been hoping for an art fair that would put us out close to Pennsylvania Amish country to visit a dear aunt, so when the jury gave us the thumbs up we were excited.

But i dont know alot about the show, and wonder if you have done it, and what suggestions you might have for the show.  We are located in what seems to be a good spot on the Rails and Trails section, close to the action, near a corner.  

I would really value your feedback.

After having bilateral hip surgery - right hip replaced and left hip revised in March and a right shoulder replacement in June, my wonderful surgeon has given me the ok to start doing shows in a slow manner without too much lifting (and I am still working on raising my arm).  He's told me to keep being creative and designing.  We didn't sign up for anything because we didn't know how long my recovery would be (and I am still doing pt 3x a week and have limited stamina).  But we want to get our 'feet wet' again so we are going to see about doing a show here and there.  It's hard for us to decide anything for the spring -- my left shoulder is failing and I will be needing to have it replaced.  I have wonderful genes -- but those little osteoarthritis 'pacpeople' love my joints so much they can't stop chomping away!!!  I have just started polishing the jewelry -- a good activity for arm/hand strengthening.  Jay and I are beginning to think about how we can do shows and preserve my joints as long as we can -- knowing that he uses a wheelchair so we have always had challenges.

The things I love about this show.  I have been doing shows for 25-30 years. I have done Uptown and Powderhorn.  I have been with the Loring show from the beginning and have found it is very successful for me. The set up is great, easy access to the booth and a little extra space for inventory. Sales were great for me, although I did have a little more inventory going in. As far as security, it is a homeless area as Powderhorn and Uptown which have the same issues. I did have a zipper opened in the back but nothing was taken. I do secure all my items in Plastic containers and cover it all with a tarp overnight.  Most of the shows I do, and I do about 14 a year have parking several blocks away. Parking  is never a fun thing for any artist or artisan however the promoters are trying to make spaces for customers and try to accommodate us. At least we don’t have to cart our things in, which is a big plus for everyone.

I want to begin with Sam Serio who owns and runs the event, fantastic guy always smiling and keeping sure our experience as a vendors is the best. He has great experience as a vendor and now running shows.  He is also part of the Jury, and according to the products exhibited, he is doing a great job.  

For the clients is a small fee of $5,00 admission, it is a large tourist which normally come to the Island to spent money and they love this event, they come to the event to buy and enjoy the music and of course the great Blueberry deserts. 

The location " Chincoteague community center" has both indoor and outdoor booths.  We were outside in a 10x10 location, however it is in a grass the place is well keep it. 

The Vendors, well selected, friendly, smiling people and always with great attitude to help and support each other.

It was a great event and the sales were great to good.  

Lately there seems to be an epidemic of artists forgoing their cameras to shoot pictures of their artwork and booths with their iphones or ipads. Over the weekend, I received unusable images from four different artists.

In all cases, the artists thought that the pictures they took with their iphone/ipad were better than they could have taken with their camera - even the camera in the one megapixel ipad 2. Actually most people have no idea of the pixel dimensions (height and width) of the pictures taken with their mobile devices. About the only thing they are good for is taking a selfie of themselves with their friends or pets.

My advice is that any point and shoot camera, when set up on a tripod and set for maximum image quality, will blow away pictures taken with mobile devices that blow out highlights and are usually not sharp because they don't take well to being used on a tripod.

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