I am unpacked from the 50th Annual Havre de Grace Art Show - which is put on by the local Soroptimist group (Women's Service Group). At one point in time, this juried event was very large with upwards of 300 vendors. These days, it is about half that number of exhibitors, with more craft than art. The show has shrunk over time as the volunteer staff has greyed and fine art draw has decreased.
The booth fee for the event is very reasonable (under $200) and the venue is a mostly level and somewhat shaded Tydings Park in Havre de Grace, overlooking a marina populated with large powerboats, and small yachts (which might seem a good demographic). The whole venue overlooks the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay, just south of where the Susquehanna River flows into the bay... There are plenty of eagles, osprey, heron, egrets and other cool birds to see... It is usually a two day event, with a relaxed set-up on Friday. There is food, music and kid activities. The event is held close to Aberdeen Proving Grounds (military base), which hosts a huge number of military personnel and contractors. Many of these folks were unaffected by the 'sequester', but you couldn't prove it by my art sales this year...
My wife and I did a booth apiece - side by side. She staffed the River Road Candleworks booth and I the Art of Mark V. Turner booth. This year being the 50th Annual, the management added a 4 sales hour stint on Friday night (normally just a set-up day) from 5 PM - 9 PM. There was a good latin jazz band and a very small fenced (as reqd by Md law) area which dispensed adult beverages.
Small Problem: It gets dark around 8PM.... Most vendors didn't have lighting. So most closed up as darkness fell. My wife and I used my LED lighting system off the deep-cycle batteries and were able to stay open until closing time. The soy candle booth did over 100$ that evening and I sold one $50 original acrylic painting.
Saturday dawned to good weather and we arrived and set up uneventfully. The weather was good all day and the event was well-attended by the public. My wife did well selling our ~$6.00 scented, dye-free, hand-poured, all soy jar candles. We had lots of repeat business and referral customers. Meanwhile, I was only selling two additional small originals. However, I was awarded the blue ribbon for painting! This came with a check that was equivalent to selling two additional small original paintings.
(Photo by Leo Heppner, Heppner Imaging, Copyright 2013 - Used by Permission)
The show director also picked out a small painting for her grandson (no, she wasn't one of the judges). In fact, I didn't actually recognize any judges as such during the event... This is not the first blue ribbon I have collected at this event for painting. However, I am honored by the judge's decisions as there was good competition in the fine arts category this year. The show closed up on Saturday with the threat of rain overnight and into the AM on Sunday. We buttoned up the booths and went home (Nice to do a show where one can go home and sleep in one's own bed).
Sunday dawned grey and overcast. It rained overnight a bit and also briefly on the way down I-95 to Havre de Grace. We left a bit late and were not quite set-up as the crowds came on. For some odd reason, this event seems to have a rain event in the overnight Saturday to Sunday time slot each year. However, this year it didn't come down in buckets like it usually does... Last year saw several tents wiped out from water weight, but none were noted this year.
Sales over at the candle booth were steady, while I racked up next to nothing for my part. However, I did get to flaunt my blue ribbon in my tent during the day and many folks stopped by to admire the work....just didn't buy....
In the end, our craft division sales were same as last year. However, my art sales were approximately 1/4 of what they were last year. But as so many know, fine art painting sales at any given event are a total crapshoot if you do not produce and sell prints...and I don't/won't...
There was some buy sell at the event - notably a male vendor with Virginia plates, who was selling colorful Ghanaian style woven baskets at high prices. He has won ribbons in times past for his merchandise (note I didn't say 'his work'). Many vendors have seen him before and knew him for buy/sell, but show management didn't seem to know and he got in again... I sent show management links to web pages where you can buy the merchandise he sells....
Overall, this event was good for my two businesses - the craft business b/c we made money and the art business because I was again honored for my creative abilities - even though my inventory didn't shrink much.
Here comes the Opinion RANT.... All jewelers and wearable vendors without thick skins need to go do something else now and not continue to read. While I admire most wearable vendors abilities to generate considerable revenue for themselves, they are like too many ants at a picnic. Show directors, I propose a way to weed out some of the plethora of wearables with an honest criterion for decision making
All the jewelers I spoke to did well in their sales, with almost all who would say, reporting thousand to multi-thousand dollars in sales. And as usual, there were a lot of jewelers, but most whined about the overall number of jewelers and all the other artists who had a 'jewelry' component as part of their merchandise mix...ie glass and ceramic artists with pendants. I have very little sympathy for them seeing as their booths probably took in 30-50% of the gross sales overall - while despite being best painter in show, I did less than $500.00 in sales...
I am looking for non-jewelry fine art events. Jewelers and wearables need their own events in order to understand what fine artists endure season after season. Fine artists take a beating at most events because of the number of jewelers and wearable vendors... If you look at the demographics, the majority of attendees at these events are women (most with non-buying or non-buying decision-making male companions). These customers will almost always buy something to wear in preference to or before buying something to put on the walls or on an end-table.... Wearables suck the revenue out of too many events - leaving very little for fine artists. The number of 'jewelers' at events is confirmation that artisans know where the money is to be made and many have chosen to go the wearable route b/c of the guaranteed sales factor - to the point of 'wearable; saturation at many events. Many events are at 40% or more of vendors having 'wearable' merchandise
Very few 'jewelers' make their own findings, settings, chains, pull their own wire or half-round ring shank stock, cut cabochons, cut stones or create other components for their products. It is the extremely rare and talented Jeweler with a capital J who does all of the preceding... Those rare birds are not part of this discussion.... The same goes for many wearable vendors. I do not include those who do their own weaving, spinning and dye-ing as part of their process as being part of the problem I am seeing - which keeps most fine fiber artists out of the discussion. I also do not consider quilters to be part of the issue b/c they make their component forms out of what used to be scrap...
As a fine art painter, I use paint, hardboard and frame components. However, the only obvious store-bought item visible to the customer in un-altered form is the frame which I assemble myself and I minimize this aspect of my product. If a jeweler was only allowed to sell products which they made completely from feed-stock materials rather than incorporating out of the box ready-made components, there would be only a few who could compete at each event - rather than the over-supply of wearables at every event I attend as either an exhibitor or attendee..... Show directors if you are still reading, this aspect of outdoor shows has to change....
Plenty of jewelers and wearable vendors will tell you that there are too many of their discipline in any given exhibit or festival. Yet, none will suggest a method by which to reduce those numbers. This is one way to up the quality ante and increase the originality and hand-production aspects of the exhibitor. It would also reduce buy/sell wearables at all events... It would eliminate the store-bought "bead-ers", store-bought component assembler jewelers and most of the ateliers mass-producing jewelry in general...
I am quite ready for the flames - just look at the number of wearable artists on this board. So if you have a blowtorch out and at the ready because you buy most of your stuff ready made and only do 'creative assembly', I encourage you to make the most of your opportunity to cook me in the shell so to speak...
Please join us for the Wilmington Art & Craft Show, Thanksgiving weekend in WilmingtonNC. This is a carefully juried, fine art and fine craft celebration of the arts.
