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A few weeks ago I whined about a show that was not so great for me. During the show, a woman stopped in and looked at one of my pieces - this horse. I have two reproductions - they are mirror images. They can be bought as singles or the duo.

This nice woman said..."these are really great, I am on the board of a nonprofit that is horse-related..." and before she went further, I told her that donating art [as the artist] is not really tax-deductible. And just between you and me and the lamp post, I was truly there to make some sales. She said "I know! But, I am thinking about BUYING these and donating them myself, I can afford them, and I'll take the tax deduction." She took my card and left.

Whaddya know, a week or two went by and I got an email. She not only bought both reproductions, she bought another set as well [full price, mind you] and paid for the shipping. A nice sale, totally unexpected. I expect the work to sell at their events, my name and web site will be seen by more people and I have a new friend. I know every show is a crapshoot, and I know after 10 years of dipping my toe into this crazy business - that anything can happen.

BTW - I have a policy on my web site related to nonprofits... since I get a LOT of requests for donations.

Alyx and I find ourselves with lots of great photos whenever we go on vacation. If we took every picture we love and made prints of them, we'd have thousands, and you would spend days and days sifting through them. So, we need to go through a very painful process of choosing which ones we WON'T post and sell on our website.

So, we decided that this Blog was a prefect venue to post some really great pictures from vacations and trips in our past. Here are some pictures that were taken by me during a trip to Yosemite Valley for Alyx's birthday some years back.

This trip was a single day adventure to the Yosemite Valley. This photo was taken on our way out near the end of the day. I loved the way a few puffy clouds dotted the valley.

This fallen tree can be found on the south side before you get to the valley. It's in one of the first hiking trail areas that have some of the tallest redwoods of the Yosemite area (or the world, for that matter). What caught me about this image was the radial patterns made by the combination of the roots and the shadows and light.

Bridalveil Falls is one of the most popular sights in the Yosemite Valley. We were lucky that this particular spring had a good amount of rain and snow, so there was still a great flow of water in June. We got quite close on this brilliantly sunny day, and the mists made for a wonderfully atmospheric portrait of this majestic waterfall.

For those that have never been to Yosemite National Park, what makes it the awesome spectacle that it is, is just the immensity of the rock formations. Massive boulders of rock, separated by massive amounts of space (air). In this picture I tried to show the comparison between the flat expanse of meadow on the valley floor, and then this massive chunk of granite the size of a mountain (which it is), plopped right in the middle of it. Remember, most of the trees you see at the base are about the size of a 5-story building already.

Even within the massive formations are infinitely numerous and wonderful forms of nature. The above picture is of the Royal Arches, but I loved how the vertical stripes of the dripping water cut perpendicular to the lines of the arches.

Here is your obligatory picture of Half Dome taken from the valley floor.

If you're ever at Yosemite, it's worth it to visit the Ahwahnee Lodge. It's a gorgeous lodge that has nice dining, and of course, awesome views. Even if you don't stay there, or dine there, you can still look around, learn some of it's history, and stand in their huge walk-in fireplaces. Seriously, the openings are about 5 feet tall. This picture was taken just outside and the perfect leaves and the fabulous green makes this one of my favorite pictures, even though there's nothing famous about it.

As you leave the valley, and I'll leave the blog with this, there are mini-falls at the side of the road. Some bigger, some smaller, but all beautiful and dotted here and there as you drive. Sometimes it is hard to find a spot to pull over to take pictures and not stop traffic, but there are still plenty of opportunities to do so. Here is one of my favorite little nooks half way up the valley slope.

I hope you had a good time taking this mini vacation with me. If you like the photos, be sure to visit our website for more. www.masartwork.com. And don't forget to comment below, just for the heck of it.

Thanks,

Craig.

Rebecca Rush Profeta is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Something horrible happened to her this week.

She came home from a 3 day art show to find the police at her home. Her husband had passed away in their home...probably just several hours after she left for the art show. Her husband, Joe had a heart attack on Thursday, and wasn't found until Monday afternoon.

The police took him [and their bed] away and a hasmat crew is trying to "clear the air" in their house.

This is a couple who were living hand to mouth... after the crash in '08, they found they were upside down on their mortgage. He was 64 and had not been able to find much work over the last few years...until this past May. They've been living on whatever pension and savings they had - which is gone. She's not in debt, and this is not a luxurious home, either  [it's probably worth 80K] but she doesn't even have the money to replace her bed right now! 

Because of the odor in the home, she will have to dispose of or professionally clean a lot of items. Other than that...most of her art supplies [paper and fabric] have been compromised and can't be used.

There is no life insurance, and she will have to eventually leave the house - without an extra income, she probably can't afford to live there. She has been making some money painting, doing repair work, and of course, making her hand made books and journals. She is 59.

This is her site... http://www.rebeccarushdesigns.com/index.html.

I doubt if she would qualify for the CERF funding - I am willing to help her financially - but I thought I might also come to the community to see if anyone feels like they can kick in a few bucks to help her replenish her paper stock or a place to lay her head.

I found out her paypal account is rjrush1@gmail.com and her mailing address is: Rebecca Profeta, 1022 E. Weldon, Phoenix, AZ 85014

Thanks

I have had several commissions and so far all clients have been pleased. I usually get 1/2 payment upfront, full payment upon delivery. I  usually have several emails and a delivery date; I've never been late. Three weeks after delivery of the piece at issue I just received an email from the client who " tried the piece in several locations and have decided that it just isn't going to work for them." This was a portrait of their baby daughter's feet (no one else wants this) done in the colors they provided. I  always say to numerous questions about my work that "I stand behind my work". I guess I was thinking about something being damaged or some issue with workmanship- not someone changing their mind. So here's where I need the help- Do I offer a full refund? What about my lost time and materials? I want a good reputation and wouldn't want someone to keep something they didn't love but should I absorb all the cost? That doesn't seem like good business. I welcome all advice and opinions- Thanks in advance.   

A trip to the top-rated 2014 Old Town Art Fair in Chicago in June meant meeting artists from Vermont to California, including some Canadians. Listen to find out what Kina Crow, Steve Olszewski, Dawn Adams, Marjolyn van der Hart, Steve Uren, Jennifer Ivory, Chris Bruno, Beth Crowder, Chris Bruno, Tony Cray, Chris Dahlquist and Carol Boucher say are their favorite shows. You may be surprised.

Do you agree?

Who is a good recommendation for shipping photos on canvas? Every typical vendor has priced me around $50--some artist told me he ships wrapped canvases for $15-is this for real? Thank you!

A friend asked that I post this. This is a great story of how you just can't keep a good guy (or woman) down. What started out bad finished with a happy ending. Plus, this story will alert you to why you need to always be aware of your surroundings, why you need to have a good inventory, and why a guardian angel can be very helpful.

Ok Everybody – have I got a story for you!  And if you have never believed in miracles before, I don’t see how you couldn’t change your mind after reading this. 

My husband makes beautiful, high-end gold jewelry.  Last weekend, we did the show at Lincoln Center in NYC and on Saturday night, after the show when we were getting out of our van at our hotel in New Jersey, 4 guys wearing masks jumped my husband, threw him facedown to the ground, held him down, and yanked the backpack of jewelry off his shoulder and jumped into the car they had pulled up right behind our van. I screamed and grabbed the door handle on the driver’s side, but he just gunned the car and took off, and left me lying on the pavement.  And there we were, stunned and devastated, our entire livelihood ripped from us in less than 15 seconds.

Of course the police came and we filled out a report, then spent a sleepless night just clinging to each other, too numb to even talk.  We still had about 12 pair of earrings and 5 bracelets which I had been holding in a separate bag so they didn’t get, and we actually opened the next day because I didn’t think we would be allowed to tear down early. 

Word spread throughout the show and the other artists were very sympathetic and even took up a collection of about $400 and we were touched and blessed by that. We had decided to be as positive as possible and were thankful that we hadn’t been shot, and I kept believing for a supernatural recovery, because I knew that’s exactly what any recovery would have to be.  Our whole church was praying for the same thing.

And guess what – IT HAPPENED!!!!!!!!   The following day, Monday, we were in the airport getting ready to fly home, when I get a phone call from a police officer in SOUTH CAROLINA, and in a nutshell, they had pulled over a car going down I-95, for some “irregular driving behavior”, and opened the trunk and there they found a pillowcase filled with a bunch of gold jewelry.  They confiscated it and tried to figure out who it belonged to – they didn’t know anything about the police report filed in New Jersey. 

My husband stamps the inside of his rings with his first name, but it’s extremely difficult to read because it’s so small – you really have to use a magnifying glass and even then sometimes it is illegible.  But they figured it out and googled him on line and FOUND HIM, and that’s when they called me at the airport!!!!!!! 

The stolen loot after it was recovered

Of course I was screaming hysterically with happiness in the middle of the airport. The officer said he wasn’t sure how long we would have to wait to go get it because of paperwork and whatnot but then he called a couple days later and said they were releasing it!  So we dropped everything, jumped in the car and drove till midnight to get there, and after spending most of the following day in the police station inventorying everything --- WE GOT EVERYTHING BACK EXCEPT THREE PIECES!!!!!!!!!

Not only that, there are more layers to this miracle.  Out of their entire police force of 127, those two officers are the only ones  on a special team called an “interdiction” force, and they are trained NOT to be just regular traffic policemen, but to specifically look for certain driving behaviors and other things they couldn’t tell me that alert them to thieves and drug runners and stuff like that, and THOSE two officers happened to be at the right place at the right time when these guys went zipping by on I-95 at 5:00 that Monday morning, and they pulled the car over for a “slightly irregular lane change”.  The Good Guys

One more layer – those officers were scheduled to work that evening from noon until 7:30, but they said they just had a feeling they would catch more bad guys in the early morning, so they came in to work at 4 a.m. instead.  Unbelievable.

And also, another little part of the miracle and a lesson to all of us about keeping a good inventory system:  up until about 3 weeks before this happened, our “inventory” system was a big unorganized MESS, but because we had gone about 2 months without doing shows, we had just gone through and taken pictures of every single piece and organized them into folders of Pendants, Rings, etc., and had made a new notebook where we wrote everything about each piece and its price.  That notebook was actually in the back pack that they ditched after they dumped everything into the pillowcase, BUT, we had made a copy!!!!  And with that in hand, we were able to identify all of our pieces to the police!!!!

When you think about the odds of us recovering that jewelry, especially in the way it was recovered, they would be astronomical – it truly is a miracle.

The Happy Reunion with the Recovered Loot

A few after notes:

- We donated the $400 that was collected for us at the show to C.E.R.F., and told them the story as well.

 -  We learned that the bad guys were part of a Columbian gang working with the drug cartel, and they were heading to Miami when the officers stopped them on I-95 that morning. 

The police made them open their luggage, and there they found the masks they used when they jumped my husband, one of those tools that are used to open a car by going in through the window, and – get this ---- they also found a GPS tracking device that they had used to track us!!  In other words, they had put some little device on our van, and with that GPS tracker that they had, they knew where we were even without physically following us. Very scary.

- And scariest of all – these guys are not in jail!!!  From what I understand, even though they had enough grounds to apprehend the jewelry, the police had to let the guys drive away because they claimed that they had bought the jewelry all in a big clump from a jeweler and though the police knew they were lying, since they didn’t actually have a victim at the time, and the guys said they would send a receipt (riiiiiight……), by law they had to let them go!!!!!  And even though now they have a victim (us), nobody has arrested them because they don’t know exactly where they are and the information I have is that “the investigation is still going on and they are looking.”  Isn’t that terrible???  I just hate it when the law protects the bad guys more than us!!!

Well I am finally get around to talk about my TRAF experience Connie! LOL 

2014 TRAF was the second year for me for this show and my first return to a big show. At first, I did not think it was going to happen as I was placed on the wait list but I received an email that there was an opening!! So of course I was super excited to be back! Why? It is a great show! 10 days of music, art and awesome food. 

Now my BBB (Best Business Buddy), Cathy, was also accepted into the show and here is where it got fun! TRAF is 10 days long and they have to divided into 7 different artist sessions in three areas. #1- Point Park, #2 Gateway Towers, #3 Liberty Ave   If you are in the park, there is the South and North Walkways. This is where the huge stage is set up and great bands play all festival long. Cathy and I were in the North Walkway but in different times. She had the first 7 days and then I was in the last three days of the festival. Since I have the "Big Girl" tent i.e.: Light Dome, I let her use it. When her session was done, we literally walk the tent down 7 spaces to my booth assignment! It confused a few people because the artists are to be open from 12 -8 every day and when your time is up, you only have 2 hours to get out of the park so that the next artist can get into the spot. So there I was tent already up and over half way done!! 

Now to those who have no idea about the festival, here is the scoop. It is located downtown Pittsburgh. If you ever see a shot with the fountain flowing and the city behind it, well that is where it happens for the most part. 

Check in can be a little confusing if you are not from here since the check in area is 2 miles away in the a parking lot in the 'Strip'. The Strip District is where one can get their fresh goodies and go shopping and at night go to one of the clubs that used to be a church. Once you are checked in, you head to Gateway center to unload. There is lots of walking involved if you are in the park FYI! You can't drive up to your booth since it is in a State Park. BUT - they have loads of volunteers to help you unload and carry it to your booth! They are extremely helpful and nice. Once the car is unloaded, you have to move it somewhere else. Lots of peeps get pissy about this but seriously there where lots of street parking around that was free that I saw and was using! 

The electric is free as it comes with booth fee, 500 watt I believe. Which is nice if you are in the second session, because it is dark by the time you start setting up. My neighbor guy was so mad at the late set up time saying that the artist should close earlier so we could set up earlier. But that would not work since being in the park, the bands are still playing until 8pm. Cant please everyone. And yes it sucks to have a very late setup, and set up until 1 am or whatever and then have to be there at noon the next day…. but I rather do this any day than be back working long hours in the mall! 

So what else can I say? I really believe this is a great show to be in for many reasons. The staff is informative and helpful. The weather updates for any pending storms by receiving texts on the phone help a lot. Because over 10 days, it will rain but how badly is the question. (AND it was proven that over the last 40 years, it only rains 34% of the time during this festival. There was an article in the paper about it!) The crowd was amazing as tons of people were there and were buying. There were only two crabapples that we had to contend with the whole time as I was my friend's assistant and she was mine during TRAF. It was delightful. 

In my opinion, this year show had tons of photography booths but a good even mix and good quality of art. There were a just a few booths that I was asking myself 'how did they get in?" as there are 700 artists over the 10 days. I know I maybe bias since I live in the area for all my life but it is a great show. Also there is a stand in the park that is always here and has the best hummus! I was going to turn into a chick pea if I ate anymore. 

As for parking, I parked in a lot that is by Heniz Stadium for $6 and I take the free subway ride to Gateway (which is the main center point for the festival) and walk in. I do get my exercise in during this time. There are other places to park that are closer but are $10-20 daily. 

The only thing I can say that was negative was a few of the artists, and just a few, that were are upset with 'all the rules.' One being you cannot use the benches in the park as storage, they are for sitting on. The show will be fined, not the artist, for doing so. It is a state law not a festival one. And since the artists in the Gateway Tower area can't have things outside of their 10x10 space because of how it is set-up, the artists in the park can't either. This is done is be fair and even across the board. Also I found these same people did not read the artist packs. All the answers are there along with maps, and info to where to eat and special promotions around town. 

Also I had the best new customers! One of which came back a few times bringing her friends which helped my sale greatly. PLUS, she whipped out a small bottle of booze and gave it to me! AHHH Bailey's, thank you!

I know I had a great time being there and being apart of the festival. I look forward to being there again! If you have questions, please ask! 

TUESDAY - JULY 8 - 5 PM ET - Call in with your questions: (805)243-1338

In the beginning art fairs were created and artists and art buyers flocked to attend. You were one of them. Your mother and your friends thought your work was wonderful and maybe they were right, so off you went to the marketplace. How did it go? Was it a triumph or a humbling experience?

A panel of beginner and experienced artists from various media discuss their "first time." What you will learn:

• how they prepared
• where they were, big or small fairs
• how it impacted their lives
• their biggest disappointments and their biggest surprises
• the good, the bad and the very ugly

Read more: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artfairs/2014/07/08/my-first-art-fair-a-zero-or-a-hero#ixzz36mgDBDM6

If you can't join us at 5 pm you can always listen later at this link: www.ArtFairRadio.com.

Deadline: 7/13/14 midnight

Many thanks to Karen Holtkamp, Kathleen Caid, Mark Loeb and Carrie Jacobson who shared helpful info on AFI in June that led to good discussions.

Please vote now to determine who will win AFI's coveted "Post of the Month."

Click here: www.FrameDestination.com

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

August 9 & 10 
Monroe, Michigan
Sat. 10am-7pm, Sun. 10am-6pm
around 90 artists
Deadline: July 17

Monroe is halfway between Toledo and Detroit, easily accessible for the many artists who live in this region.

The 11th Annual Downtown Monroe Fine Art Fair is located in the Historic District of Monroe, Michigan.  Our art Fair corresponds with the River Raisin Jazz Festival.  Enjoy a relaxing weekend in our downtown full of spectacular Fine Art juried in from around the country.  

The Downtown Monroe Fine Art Fair has an elite number of artists.  Jurying to select only fine Art has limited the attendance to around 90 artists, but gained in the quality of work.  The true art lover will enjoy a sophisticated show and the Fine Artist will be in good company with others who share the same quality of work.  Because neither the Downtown Monroe Fine Art Fair nor the River Raisin Jazz Festival charge an admission to the public, the shows are very popular with tens of thousands of people in attendance.

This in a non-profit show, all of the booth fees and donations go directly towards growing, improving and promoting the show across the Midwest.  Monroe is in an optimal location for pulling in crowds we are a short drive from Detroit, Ann Arbor and Toledo.

The show is run by a group of volunteers who are friendly and willing to help everyone have a wonderful and successful weekend.

For more information and an application:  www.monroefineartfair.com 
Christy LaRoy: www.christylaroy.com 
 

September 19 and 20
Adrian, Michigan
Main and Maumee streets, downtown Adrian
Friday 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
80 exhibitors
Deadline: July 7

Art-A-Licious has set a goal of becoming the best small-town art fair in the region. Supported by numerous foundations and grants, a passionate committee, and the businesses and the citizens of Adrian, we aim to put on an outstanding event.

I am in my second year of art fairs and have been using square since the beginning. This weekend in Chicago at the Highland Park Fine Art and Craft show I had a disaster happen. I had a $510 sale which looked like any good sale I've ever had. The payment authorized. The signature line was given,  the people signed, they declined to give me an email and they accepted a paper receipt. I pressed the "no thanks " for the receipt page and continue, and we were done. Off they went with the art. That evening I went thru my square payment activity and the sale wasn't there. I thought maybe because it was after a certain hour on a Sunday. I called square to ask about it, as it never appeared, and the reality is the horrifying part. The sale was voided apparently during the authorization process. Square said it could be an incoming call, a text or questionable wifi which may have faded for a brief moment and that's all it takes. The authorizing process failed but you won't know that until long after your buyer has left. I didn't do a good job on my end getting the buyers info which I should have done as a part of doing good business, but I didn't get contact info and now I have no recourse. There is no way to tell when a payment is voided. Square does not notify you. This is a truly sickening live and learn experience . I hope this information saves someone else a lost sale in the future. 

Des Moines, IA - June 25-27

Best in Show: Dylan Strzynski - mixed media
Not only the changeable weather but the rest of the story caught him off guard. First he was on the wait list, then he got interviewed by the Des Moines Register about his successful Kickstarter Project, a video called "The Life You Make" about earning a living at art fairs, then he won Best in Show! Congrats, Dylan. 

(Detail from Dylan's mixed media painting, "Is that a barbecue I smell?")

The rest of the winners:

• Longtime exhibitor and frequent winner Nicario Jimenez of Naples, Fla., for his intricate, shrine­like dioramas inspired by the "retablos" of his native Peru.

• Grant Silverstein of Mansfield, Pa., for his detailed black-and-white etchings of allegorical scenes.

• Deborah Mae Broad of Hawley, Minn., for her elegant wood-block prints of real and imaginary animals.

• Susan Frerichs of Abiquiu, N.M., for (mostly) silver jewelry designed to suggest scenes from the Southwest — tiny buzzards circling above miniature train tracks, telephone poles and animal skeletons — all dangling from delicate silver chains.

• Anthony Hansen of Morro Bay, Calif., for his brightly colored scrap metal sculpture.

Each of the three jurors also awarded a prize for one of his or her personal favorites: the mechanical-parts sculptor Michael Schwegmann of Champaign, Ill.; the nature-inspired drawer Helen Gotlib of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and glass artist Patty Roberts of Marysville, Wash., who makes jewel-toned, gritty-surfaced bowls.

For the second year in a row, Sodam Lee of Iowa State University won best of show among the Emerging Iowa Artists for her dreamlike prints of landmarks and fairy tales.

Fun for me to see is that Dylan and his long time partner Helen Gotlib (both from Ann Arbor ) both were winners. I first met Helen and Dylan at probably their first art fair, in Detroit's Greektown, where they couldn't afford separate booths but shared a space. 

Nice article in the Des Moines Register with a cool video: Weather keeps artists, visitors on their toes

The Other Show in Des Moines, Iowa.

I apply to show before but I needed to cancel due a death in the family and my divorce. The show is very organize and seems to run extremely well. Another artist told me to give a try and I apply and got accepted. Main reason to do show instead of the downtown: Hours are normal, indoor, no worries about your tent, people park in fair ground and the take the bus to the downtown show. These weekend and rain very hard in the area and flood warnings. Sunday it was under Tornado Warning.

This was the third show of the month and needed the show to be good. I meet Nels at Virginia Beach I told him I was doing this show and his respond was that show produce more losers than winners. Munks told me that people in Iowa do not support art buss as well as you hope. I could misunderstood the comments but that what I got from what I understood. Still I was willing to give a try because I could be a winner.

To get from Chicago to Des Moines it take 5 hours. The set up is Friday at 4pm sharp. You have 4 hours for setting up and 3 hours before the show start Saturday morning. The hotels in the area was full due to the Rodeo so I took a hotel for Friday night near to 80 (bad idea) and Econo Lodge across the Fair Ground  for Saturday and Sunday night (very good choice). Since is a short trip I took off Friday morning got to my hotel by noon. Check in and head to Fair Grounds. I ate lunch and just wait until 4pm. The only part that is hard about the set up is dolly in and no AC.  

Saturday and Sunday you can see a good amount of people walking but very few sales in my end of the show. There was and Artist that paint his cooper with a flame and he did very well Saturday. At the End of Saturday I decide to head back home Sunday night and give my hotel fee to another artist instead. Sunday it was very slow sales wise for everybody. I did my expenses on Saturday and have a normal day on Sunday but it was a very difficult crowd, polite but difficult.

This a show that even if I would made 10,000 I will have a hard time doing again but I made still give it one more try.

Why, in general people do not want expend money in art or paid for what I consider a fair price. It was dishearten to see at least five artist next to me no make enough to cover expenses (painter, drawing, jewelers) I saw things that look like buy and sale but that was my concern. PRICE POINTS WAY BELOW THE NORMAL.  I think what I got was this year people walking the show was looking for bargain and is the second year in row that the newspaper are telling buyers to get things below 200 or less because people complain of things that they can not afford or do things that had nothing to do with art. When I see things like this makes me wonder.

So one more time Munks was correct.

Like or not it could be a down year but something is wrong.

So I had good sales at the Crosby Festival of the Arts (at the Toledo Botanical Garden) this year. I jumped my 2013 total by over two hundred dollars. But I overheard a lot of artists were down this year. The weather was mostly dry this weekend with a one minute passing shower on Sunday. But boy was it hot! Sweated the show out both Saturday and Sunday. Just standing in your booth, it was very warm and a constant sweat poured off my head and body in general.

Ah, art fairs in the Summertime. And a few visitors in my booth did sing "Everything is Awesome". Well, I did not earn a ribbon this year. But sales were much needed income for my two big July shows... Plymouth's Art in the Park and the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair. Plus, I am still baffled why I did not get into Ludington's West Shore Art Fair this year. You would think with my two big July shows, Ludington would be a piece of cake.

But the focus of Crosby was the sales. I like Crosby. They feed you with an Artist's dinner on Friday and have breakfast for you on Saturday and Sunday. Snacks are out during the fair in the artist's lounge. And a family member is a volunteer there. I also like when they schedule your breaks for the day. They roam around the fair with a clipboard and ask you when you want to take a break. Being a one man show, this is great. The only fair that I know if that does this.

Some sort of GoPro drone helicopter thingy...

The cramped red section. Good thing I was not there...

My yellow section..

My blog post today... taken at the Toledo Botanical Garden