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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

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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

I cannot wait to see a negative review on this event!  I will blast them.  This is by far the best value in a show that I have found.  The buyers abound.  The promoter does an incredible job - from sponsoring year round "Keep the Highways Clean" signs, to ads everywhere, billboards, and more, to handing out flyers to every patron advertising NEXT YEARS SHOW!  They book great entertainment that draws crowds.  2013 - Oak Ridge Boys.  2014 - Three Dog Night.  Next year - RONNIE MILSAP!! and on his farewell tour?  Incredible!  People will come for the concert on Friday night and stay overnight for the festival.  The Promoters (Chuck and Lori) even bring gifts to the vendors (this year Stainless Water bottles and Zippered money bags) and they are printing with NEXT YEAR'S show dates!  

Do I have anything negative to say?  Of course.  Vendors should read the rules.  They are very clear on the application.  Don't want to hear your complaints when the rules are enforced.  It is a very limited vehicle access venue, and move out is less than easy.  Take a chill pill, don't expect to load up and scoot in 30 minutes, be considerate of others and find a sense of humor.  Sales?  The buyers are there.  If you don't have signs, you don't have a banner, you dress like a  bum, and you sit on your a$$ in the back of your canopy, well......   These customers (like all shows) want to be engaged, hear about your art/craft, and get involved.  They are there to enjoy themselves.  Have some fun with them.  For God's sake don't tell them how slow it is - they can look around and see the crowd.  Get them to spend time with you.  The busier you look, the more you will sell.  If you must sit and demo your craft, hire a booth worker to sell and help your customers. If you think the sheer amazing beauty of your work is going to sell itself, you are sadly mistaken.

We have already paid and booked this event for next year, and I am certain this show will book out very early.  No BS jury nonsense here - Chuck and Lori are the Jury, and they are very, very good at it.  Buy sell is commercial, separate area, and much much more costly.  Oh - the booth has gone up for next year - a Whopping $135.00 if you apply before January 1st.  Best deal in the country, IMHO.

I have to say in the few short weeks I've been here and on some other forums I have learned so much.  And it must be working because I can't believe some of the shows I got into.  Both ODC Winterfairs.  Mellwood, Hyde Park.. 

After being waitlisted for Winterfair Cincinnati last year I decided to really work on my photos.  I read a lot of tutorials and started to use the information from them and I have to say I think my photos jumped in quality.  I do have to laugh because my booth shot for the ODC shows I took with my cell phone at a show I was doing in Louisville KY.  I didn't even photoshop the wrinkles out of the one table cover and I didn't have 3 walls up.  But I think the overall look of the tent - I try to look like a funky boutique must read to the jurors.

I think I've spent a few hours today reading posts about various shows and marking my calendar to apply for show that I never thought I'd get into.  I have to say this site is such a valuable resource for me.

This is the other booth shot I used.. I know.. the tent isn't even white!  the HORROR!  But once again they can see a consistency in how I set up my booth from show to show

Life it is about expectations. As we grew we are teach what a successful life should be. We define what a successful is a person it is by how much financial wealth that person obtain. I always wonder what next idea will come that will improve ourselves. One thing that we forget is the lesson from the last financial crash. We like to blame others for our problem but I just wonder if we had learned anything in the last few years. Are still living beyond our means. It used to be that only debt we will have was our home and cars. Everything else was paid in layaway or cash.

In the pass few years in art fair business we had see things go to the sour side. We had see the fine art shows becomes festival. Shows where showcase fine art only now they had become a fine art and craft mix. With time those shows carrying craft people the vendors became more wise and start introducing imports (profit). When a line  become successful, that means that line is no more  fine art. Does creating a work that target a niche it means that you had soul your artistic values?

Are we in the end of the art fair era? Are the shows will be like Wells Street Art Fair? Artists get angry about the buy and sell but I did not care because it does affect me. It took me while to understand even if I am in photography why I should care about buy and sale. Why should I care if another photographer sale his 8X10 image for 25 and I sale it for 50. I should care why a ceramics artist should not sale functional art in a fine art show. I should care that fine art show should only carry jewelry that you can not find in department store or how much it cost. I should care why they ask the range of your price points at my application.

I start to notice that I want to aim higher but I can not because our market does not allow it. Our promoters are bringing in low end buyers or simply people can not afford it (wages freeze, cost living increasing, medical cost keep going up, political fights, wars, etc). I will like to charge the proper amount of money for a art piece but that means that piece will sit for months and bills keep coming. I will to get a place where I ask for x amount and people do not ask for a discount. I notice that I need to underprice because to much low end merchandise at the art fair. When I see the list of artist I wonder where the high end  artist are. I walk a show and I see the same level of artist as me. I see very few artists with work that which I can own.

My expectations are so low at this point that people wonder how can you live like that. Those days where I will make work that mean something socially are gone. In these days I make work that is what I call commercial work. I believe that most photographers friends will understand what I mean and funny thing I was trying not be like you but I understand why we all became like that.

I know I’m late with this, but better late than never I suppose…

See also my review from 2013.

First up, the Edmonds, WA show, Father’s Day weekend, June 13-15. Setup on Thursday at assigned times. The show runs Friday and Saturday 10-8 and Sunday 10-6. Booth fee is $150 in line plus 15%. This was my 2^nd year doing this show.

This show is set up in a park near the waterfront in the town of Edmonds, WA, just north of Seattle. I drove up from Portland on Thursday morning. I was a little late getting to the site, but unlike last year I didn’t have long to wait to drive onto the field to set up. Most of the others around me were already set up so getting my car in wasn’t a problem. Again, the booths were pole to pole and back to back with NO wiggle room. It makes setup very difficult. Putting up my sides was a challenge. At least this year, since there weren’t many other artists still setting up around me, I was able to set up out of my car and didn’t have to work around stuff piled in the center of my booth. The weather was sunny and warm. I didn’t see much sun the rest of the weekend.

The weather, pretty much the whole weekend was either raining, or threatening rain and chilly. My Friday sales were almost non-existent. Saturday and Sunday were also down from last year, but not as much. I had some repeat customers. Traffic was down substantially from last year. I ended up down about 35% this year, coupled with the fact that I had to pay more for lodging left me with little profit. I heard some other artists saying about the same.

Load out was a mess. It was pouring rain. It was almost 10pm before I finally got out of there with the help of my booth neighbors. I was very glad I decided to spend the night in Edmonds instead of driving home. I may try this show again to see if last year was unusually good or this year was unusually bad. I like the location, the people and there aren’t many early shows in this neck of the woods. It's a show I really want to work for me.

I should mention that the organization of this show is excellent. Communication is good, there is a frequent shuttle from the artist parking and they provide snacks and coffee daily and an artist dinner on Sat night. They also have wandering booth sitters that come by to see if you need a break. All the volunteers seem to enjoy what they are doing.

My wife is tolerant, otherwise my head would be off after this one. I did Loring Park two years ago and did badly. I did it again, thinking that I had newer work and I had finally gone to canvas prints for my photography. It wasn't working and I lost my shorts once again. She was right, I was wrong, and I won't be back just like the patrons who say they will. Maybe it will work for some, but there will not be a third time looking for a charm. Outside of the lousy sales, I did have a fun time and had some great neighbors.

Okay, let's start off about the show. The promoters were pretty diligent about communications, sending several emails in advance reminding everyone where to go, what the regulations were, where to get the tax info and licenses. Can't fault them there; they were on it.

Set up was on Friday, unless you were crazy enough to try it on Saturday morning. Space was approximately 12x12, and my space was under a giant Linden tree, next to the trunk. By scooting to the far edge of my space I was able to have an open outside wall. While it was dark under there, I brought 2 boat batteries and a half dozen lights. The back of the booth faced the lake and a few shims were needed to keep the tent reasonably level. Lots of room behind the booths. I lucked out as the prevailing wind came through the back of the booth and kept a nice breeze going most of the time. I brought fans and only needed to use them a few times. My next door neighbor was Dorothy Schutte, a fabric artist who had bought one of my pieces about 15 years ago, and we had a great time. Dorothy is German so we dubbed our location Unter den Linden ;-)

Saturday started off slow with the show opening at 10:00. By 10:45 we were wondering if the gates were opened or not. Traffic was slo-o-o-w. By 1:30 it looked like the usual traffic about 15 minutes before closing. I sold one flip bin piece the entire day. The crowds never materialized as they should and I saw very few packages being carried. WTH? The weather was nice, warm out but not the usual blistering August heat. It never rained although skies looked dark a few times. I did hear that it rained at Uptown and that show closed early.

Sunday was supposed to rain at tear down, so I put up the back tarp as an awning in case it rained. Since the tree over us extended way out past the back of the booth, there wouldn't be any direct rain on us. If I were going back, I would ask for that spot again. Same story as Saturday, slow traffic and thin crowds, and little buying energy. A painter across from me zeroed out for the show, a mixed media artist around the corner did half of what she usually does, and some others said they didn't make booth fee back. I only sold another flip bin piece on Sunday, so my sales were embarrassingly low. Adding all expenses up; gas, food, lodging, booth fees, and some incidentals, I took about a thousand buck hit on this show and didn't even get to the Mall of America afterwards.

I did find out that about half of the artists at the show are new to it, as were the ones around me. That's always a red flag. The layout seems picturesque at first with everyone circling around the lake, but that makes for a long walk. To be blunt, most of the patrons looked long in the tooth and gray of head. Relatively few were young ones until Sunday when a lot of young folks were there looking like it was an afternoon date to check out (not buy) the artwork. A lot of the older folks aren't too crazy about making a long walk around the park.

Now this is the part that no one is going to want to hear. The security folks are not off duty police; they're a couple of guys with a security shirt on and a walky-talky. They can't be everywhere and they are limited as to what they can do. The show has a problem, and always has, with the homeless. A tool bag was stolen from one artist on Friday night and left in someone else's tent after they figured out they couldn't get much money for it. A few people found tarps unzipped the next day, two booths down from me had someone sleep in their booth overnight. Another artist found all the snacks she had left in her booth had been opened and eaten. At least this year, no one had their booth used as a latrine, which has happened before.

Speaking of latrines, we had use of the park facility indoor restrooms on Friday and for a little while on Saturday morning, but someone locked the doors to them and we had to use the Port-a-pots after that. We learned quickly to stay away from the Park dept port-a-pots by the basketball court because they were disgustingly nasty. It didn't help on Friday when one of the artists next to us went down there and found a couple in coitus flagrante delicto inside one of the johns. You would have thought they would have at least locked the door ;-/

Parking was a pain in the wazoo, with no free parking anywhere [edit: close], and the [edit: free] locations were about 3 blocks away. Three blocks is okay if you're young and healthy. I have bum knees, bone on bone, and a bad ankle. I asked about handicapped parking of which there were maybe three spots, all of which were used by residents around the park. One spot was so far away it did no good whatsoever, We were told to not park around the park itself in order to leave those for patrons. The north side of the park, past the tennis courts, was adjacent to a commercial area and far away from any of the art tents, about a 2-3 block walk. Seemed like a good spot as we thought the parking ban was adjacent to the show side of the park. I only had to stop and sit a couple times when my legs hurt too much. So here's the clincher on that good spot :-) Several other artists were parking there also. I found out at show's end that the show folks checked out the parking and took license plate data. Those people won't be allowed back into the show in the future. Ask me if I give a damn, it's a moot point anyway. This is a show I'm permanently removing from future consideration. 

Given that sales were way, way too low, and the overall feeling that the show works better for local and regional artists, I have to say that I won't return to this show. I gave it a shot two times, there won't be a third time. At any given show, there will always be some that do exceptionally well, and others that don't do as well. Unfortunately, I was in the latter group.