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My next to last blog.

The succinct description of this show-- it royally sucked unless you won a nice art award.

Why!

No crowds, no sales.

Three years ago I had a super show, this year I did not even break $500 in sales for two days.

This is the very worst show I have done in the last ten years.

It is a lovely show right by the river and shops downtown Daytona.

Booths are backed on both sides of a grass median.  Two sections juried and unjuried.  The show is about four blocks long.

They are known for giving generous awards and the show attracts the usual big hitters looking to bag awards.

The rest of us are looking for sales.  It never happened for most of us.

These we're the thinnest crowds I have ever seen here.

I talked to many locals who said they did not know about the show, they just happened upon it.

Daytona is a tough place to sell fine art.  Craftwork has better chances.

They buy the familiar cliche and stay away from anything that is new and different.

I think serious Art buyers in the area do not attend this show.

People I talked to with not that informed about our art.

Many times I had to patiently explain that my images were photos.

Also, many were not even aware of the concept that photos could be printed on metal.

I mostly sold $40 matted photos, no interest in anything big.

Overall, the show left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I guess next year it will be back to Pensacola.

That is it.  I am done with this.

My final blog is coming next. It will be a goodie-Winter Park in the fall.

Stay tuned.

This is a timely extra blog I am writing.

I still have two more show reviews to write.

I just dealt with Ian in Florida and have some helpful tips for you all.

First off, I am a native Floridian.  I have witnessed at least six hurricanes.

Just had not been in one for a long time and then came Ian.

My earliest hurricane memories started in 1955 when Donna hit the Suncoast, St. Petersburg.

My father worked for Florida Power, he was an engineer.

I remember him driving us out to Pass-a-grille beach to see the damage.

Back then most beach cottages were simple wood structures sitting atop a couple of cinder blocks above the ground.

As we passed the fabled pink hotel, the Don Ce Sar, we saw cottage after cottage sitting 50 yards out in the Gulf, water up to and thru the windows.

The hurricane backwash caused all this.

Only the Don was still standing on the beach.

Nowadays, I live in Michigan for five months and New Smryna Beach the rest of the year.

I usually do not get back to Florida til after hurricane season is past.  Thus no hurricane preparedness supplies.

This year was different.

I did not get back into Kansas City Plaza, so I planned on being home by the end of September.

I had the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival to doin early October.

So we decamped from Saugatuck on Sunday,September 27 figuring to be in NSB by Tuesday the 29th.

I was pulling my usual midsize UHaul trailer behind my Ford E350 van, with Emma the cat and Ellen as passengers.

That night in Nashville, while staying at a hotel, somebody went under my van and sawed off the catalytic converter.

Made for a very noisy ride home plus terrible gas mileage.

At the time I was aware of Ian but figured it would be more of a problem for the Gulf Coast.

Boy was I wrong.

We arrived in NSB around four in the afternoon on Tuesday.

Every gas station was sold out of gas.  I had a half tank.

I found the last two bags of ice at my local Quickie store.

We had two Coleman coolers full of food. We had plenty of liquor.

Dumb me, I did not have a propane gas grill to cook on.

That night we had electricity until about 5am.

THen Ian traveled slowly across the state towards us.

By the time it hit us it had tropical storm force winds.

We had a fierce pounding rain that laid down three to four feet of water in eight hours.

It rained nonstop all day Wednesday, with water slowly rising.

I had 28 inches of rain covering my carport.  Water was well over my knees.

Well, we are surrounded by tidal creeks and bays and ponds.

We went to bed that night, dry inside, but not sure what Friday would bring.

The next morn, my neighbor Chet called me.

"You better take a look outside."

I did.  It was not a pretty sight.  Water was now inside Ellen's car parked by the street. It was right up to my rear cargo doors on the van.

And-it was still rising.

We have three stairs up from the carport to our sunroom. It was over the second step.

I had boxes of matboard and frames stored on the porch. I moved everything inside piled high onto every table I had.

I did not have any sandbags. The water slowly leaked under both the porch doors which were 28 inches above the ground.

We ended up with three inches of water covering the rug. The main entrance to our house was only five inches higher.

Luckily it never went any higher.

When we awoke Saturday morn, the water had dropped down to lower levels, still covering the carport.  It was a sloshy walk anywhere out there.

We had neighbors paddling around in canoes and kayaks because that was the only way to get around.

Electric came back on later Saturday and we slowly dried out our rug.

No vehicles ruined, although my neighbors across and by me lost theirs.

Our AC unit dried ou and I restarted it four days later.

It worked.

So here are my tips.

If you are going to tough it out these are important tips.

First, have a gas grille with a backup tank.

If you can get a generator, do it.  Store up extra gas.

Have sandbags stored up.  Otherwise, bagged mulch will still do the job. Mine did not float away.

Store up candles and lighters.  Have some battery powered lights.

If it looks like you are going to flood inside have tables at least four feet off the floor.  Use cinder blocks to gain height.

Canned tuna fish goes a long way, so does peanut butter.

Register for FEMA pronto. They will come.

When storing the debris from your yard plus ruined items from the house.  Make two separate piles. One set of trucks picks up yard debris. Then other set comes and picks up ruined items.

Get a canoe, they can be very helpful.

Otherwise, do your damnedest to get in the Plaza and avoid all this shit.

Hope this was helpful.  
Two more blogs to go and then it is aloha.

I am not retiring from shows. I am just going to be semi-retired, only two shows per month with December and August off.

This is my second to last blog I will ever write.

Hope you are following with baited breath, and possibly a few tears in your eyes.

Nobody tells a story like me.  Done it 10 years plus.

Read on.

This show was held on the last weekend in June.  A three dayer with setup the day before as well as a Friday morn setup.

Grand Haven is a wealthy lake front community, an hour north of me in Saugatuck.

Lots of people from Chicago who buy art live here.

I had previously done this show when it was a two day show.  Never made much money, usually a $2K show at best.

But, since I did not get in the Des Moines show, same weekend, much better show, I decided to give it a try,

I had a great corner spot with ample storage behind. Was able to park the van a block away.

I setup Thursday afternoon, very leisurely. Slept in my own bed and returned Friday morn around 10 am.  Show started at 2pm that day.

I was making sales two hours before official show opening.  Who-hoo!

This is a small show, less than 125 artists. No vendors!

I sold a lot of 16x20 framed photos at $200 each.

People kept coming all day long.

I went home to Saugatuck that night, a very happy camper.

The weekend turned chilly, with a strong west wind off the lake.

I wore a sleeved wool pullover plus a vest.  Kept me toasty warm.

Saturday was like Friday.  Lots of interested patrons and they were spending big bucks.  Everybody was making moola.

The chamber of commerce runs this show, it is on Zapp.

The committee kept us well provisioned with food and water.

Grand Haven is a spiffy lakefront town, almost as cool as Saugatuck.
People were well dressed and well behaved.

Went home that night even happier than Friday. Who-hoo!

Sunday ended up being chillier than Saturday.  Unusual for late June.

Crowds were equally strong and they were buying.

I ended up with a record show.

Next day,though, had to check into the Holland hospital, ended up staying three days.  But that is a story for another time.

Gladly will do the show again.

Enjoy.  Only two more blogs to come, then it is riding into sunsets with margaritas in both hands.

from Artnet News.  Which one of these would you stay in?  My vote is for the camera house.

Ever Wanted to Sleep Inside a Giant Acorn? See the Winners of Airbnb's $10 Million Contest for (Rentable) Architectural Fantasias | Artnet News

I turned 77 today.

Thought I would write a great blog.

This is going to be one of my last four blogs.

I am retiring from blogging after 10 years doing it.

Will you miss me?

This is an Amy Amdur show held on Labor Day weekend in a great location.

The Third Ward is right downtown.  Full of happening retail and bars and restaurants.  Lots of young people everywhere.

My best bud, Jim Wilbat--outstanding glass artist-- has done the show for about three years.  So I tried it for the first time.

A welcome addition to my show schedule.

We were able to park in a lot and dolly right to our booths.

Friday setup with weekend show.

Held on street pavement, plenty of storage space behind.

The Amdur team are pros, everything flowed smoothly.

We actually had nippy weather both days, I was in a long sleeve pullover both days. 
Small shows, well under 130 artists.

Noticed I said artists, not vendors.  Enough said.

Lots of well dressed patrons, and they spent money on art, what a concept.

Saturday was a Lowend day, barely did $1.5 K. Mostly prints out of the bins.

Sunday was different. Sold lots of framed work.  Saw lots of others float by my booth.

People were very engaged.  Got asked lots of questions about my work, how refreshing.

The show is a winner, will gladly do it again.

The Marjorie Strider Foundation offers two grants for artists who have been undeterred in pursuing their vision. Selected artists will each receive a $5,000 grant to support the creation and production of new work, as well as their professional advancement. Applications are due November 1. Apply here.

The Center for Craft is offering unrestricted $10,000 grants to twenty-one mid-career craft artists who will participate in an 8-month cohort experience, in which they will be guided through training that encourages and sustains a generative practice as both artists and educators. The Center intends to develop and strengthen a network of craft artists through peer-to-peer learning and connection to enrich the impact on their communities. Applications are due November 30, 2022. Apply here.

On September 18, 2022, Hurricane Fiona, a Category 1 storm, devastated Puerto Rico’s southwest coast triggering destructive flooding, mudslides, and an island-wide power blackout. Four fatalities have been reported, and more than 778,000 residents were without drinking water as of Monday. Rainfall totals exceeded 24” in several areas. 

Fiona’s landfall coincided with the 5-year mark since Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that decimated the island’s power grid and claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. Since Hurricane Maria, infrastructure in Puerto Rico remains fragile, and many homes still had temporary blue tarp coverings, making the impacts of this storm more severe. 

CERF+ shares your concern for those impacted by the storm and we need your help. If you know craft artists who suffered significant losses as a result of the severe weather, please help us spread the word that they can apply for CERF+’s Emergency Relief grant program. Questions? Please contact relief@cerfplus.org.