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In a business full of taking chances the first big challenge an artist has is to make the jury cut at the shows. Mo Riley, executive director of the Ann Arbor Art Street Art Fair, Lyn Sedlak-Ford, jury chair for Art in the Pearl, an artist run art fair in Portland, OR, and Jerry Allen Gilmore, artist, curator and juror for many of the top art fairs discuss:

• choosing a jury, who are those people and what their credentials are
• what an art show organizer does with your submission before the actual jury day
• what an artist receives in exchange for a jury/application fee
• how a juror evaluates art that is not in his/her field of expertise
• what the jurors learn from each other and why the panel should include insiders (art fair artists) and outsiders (teachers, curators, museum folks)
• how the final choices for the show participants are made
• wait lists

In listening I was particularly taken with the seriousness of purpose with which these people treated the jurying. When they talk about pre-jurying and the number of times a juror looks at the images the level of professionalism is readily apparent.

Listen to this podcast and be prepared to look at the jury process in a new way.

Email from a friend after we asked him for some show information:

As to show reviews, I'm uncomfortable about writing anything about an art fair on the internet. I cringe at the idea of a show director reading a bad review with my name attached. Getting into shows in the last decade of my career is so hard. I just don't trust the system enough to put my name on anything.

As to sharing what shows I do, I pass out thousands of card each year with my schedule on it. I put my schedule on my web site. Shows I do good at or not good at don't really apply. If I try a show it's because I've heard of it. I try it, I evaluate it, good or bad, and try to see if I want to work  it for a couple of years. With all the art fair lists and web sites available, how can you not know the art fairs. The fact is that the economy isn't very good. I'm an older exhibitor, not new, not with new work. If I go somewhere, I think of it as, do I want to work at this show and try to turn it into something that will work for me.

These people at the show wanting to know what shows are good. They don't seem to realize that I'm right there next to them trying to make some money. There's no secret shows. I put time and effort into making money at shows. I get into good and bad shows. Maybe your stuff isn't salable. Like the woman who reviewed Edina a while back, there's probably someone looking at her booth thinking if she wasn't there they'd be making money. Every show has good and bad work. Edina, for a fact, isn't that hot of a show, but I've done it for twenty years, do a mailing, try to reach my customers there. It doesn't make much difference who else is there. It's close to home, easy to do. My old spot had a trash can and a porta potty. What more could you ask for? Our joke was wait until it rains when all the blue tarps come out and people's booth fall down because they don't have a center pole.

A lot of these exhibitors seem to think that if so and so wasn't at the art fair, the fair would be better, and they'd make good money.
   

These days the line between good and bad shows is blurred. In crafts, I see a lot of former big ACE guys at the same shows I do. The customers go to all the shows. The line is blurred. You go to the Plaza or Coconut Grove and see the cheap jewelers just like at the little shows along with people with good work. If you get into all the top shows, more power to you, but most of us get into some good shows and some bad shows and learn to deal with it.

My new line with the judges is that I'm just a guy who  talks to himself with his respirator on all day and that's my artist statement. That's as deep as I get. This was yesterday's rant to myself at the felt wheel.

Congratulations to Alison Thomas, Michelle Monet and Warren Townsend -- all nominated from the AFI community as community leaders this month.

AFI continues to grow thanks to everyone's friendly participation and these three people are long time members contributing photos, advice, discussions, blog posts and so much helpful information that has helped a lot of you and kept you entertained along the way.

Michelle has been a member since March 2009 and asks great questions that bring out answers from others. Alison has been sharing her varied experiences (and using photos to prove her points) here since September 2009 and Warren has been lambasting, complaining and questioning everyone's sanity on the site since May 2009.

They join the illustrious group of "Community Leaders" recognized here: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/page/featured-members

Without participation we wouldn't have a community. Thanks Alison, Michelle and Warren!

Double congrats to Warren, winner of the best blog post for October, "Wake Up!", a solid assessment of the state of the economy at the art fairs. Thanks, Warren.

The Naples Fall Fine Art & Craft show (for the detailed 2011 review, click here) gives us SW Florida artists a way to make some dough without driving cross-state to shows in Delray Beach (Howard Alan) or Titusville (Space Coast).  Plus, it's small (down a bit from 2011, at just over 70 artists) and low-stress (with an optional Friday evening, drive-to-your-space setup).  Who wants a long, hard grind on a holiday weekend? 

As of a week before the show, I hadn't received any jury results from the much larger, better known Naples shows coming later in the season.  Most of the snowbirds won't arrive until after Christmas, but for all I knew, this would be my one and only chance to tap this well-heeled market, even if its timing isn't optimal.

This is not a heavily attended show, even though the weather couldn't have been better. Crowds were steady on Saturday, but I wouldn't call the streets crowded by any stretch.  As in 2011, Saturday attendees were in "browse mode": I saw VERY few packages being carried around, and I wound up the day barely covering the $300 booth fee.  Several artists pulled out overnight.

On Sunday, crowds were lighter, but there was a bit more buying energy, at least in my booth.  I took a few orders for Gallery Wraps a bit smaller than the 30x20s I display.  At Sunday afternoon, though, I was barely nudging four figures, and several of my neighbors (2-D artists, all) were getting by on small reproduction sales, if that. 

At 5 pm, I hadn't seen any of the "be-backs" who were going home to measure the walls, show my website to their spouses, or (the phrase of the weekend) "need to think about it".  Then, just as I started stripping the walls, cell phones started ringing in my booth and my neighbors'.  Dave Frutko, a beautiful abstract painter (who also, incidentally, runs the sold-out St. Pete Holiday show next month) sold a piece over $3K.  Another neighbor (also an abstract painter) sold one for $1300.  And I took orders for two canvases and a 4- by 3-foot print that added nearly a grand to my total.  

So, the bottom line turned out not so bad after all.  But it was a bit more of a nail-biter than most would expect in Naples.

The show couldn't be easier to do, and it was pleasantly and efficiently run by the von Liebig Art Center and show director Marianne Megala.  Check-in was quick; goodie bags were full; load-in was quick and easy.  The center's marketing/PR director was on-site much of the show, and took the unusual step of handing out a multi-page flier detailing the show's promotion and advertising schedule to each artist.  Marianne greeted artists by name, made sure everyone had a goodie bag, and stopped by each booth on Sunday to thank artists for attending.  And booth-sitters were around both days to provide breaks. 

Still, one couldn't help wondering: with all the effort put in to marketing the show, why weren't the crowds and sales bigger?  The $4 "suggested donation" may have deterred some, but probably not that many: After all, this is Naples. 

I think a bigger problem is the venue, which is a bit of an "outlier".  This show isn't on trendy, bustling 5th Avenue, but a street several blocks east, bordered on the east by a large undeveloped lot that provides easy patron and artist parking but not much in the way of ambiance. On the south sits heavily-trafficked, six-lane US 41 (Tamiami Trail), which veers east from the downtown area, and the upscale establishments haven't yet followed it.  As a consequence, visitors to Naples don't head east on Tamiami Trail from downtown unless they're headed to Marco Island, the Everglades or the East Coast. 

The venue isn't a show-killer by any stretch.  But it may put a "cap" on the attendance, and (for artists not struck by "last minute lightning", anyway) the amount of money to be made here.  To its credit, von Liebig markets this show as an off-season event, with a booth fee ($300) that's much lower than its January-through-March offerings.  Overall, this show can be decent for local and regional artists, but it's not a sure bet for out-of-state artists hoping for the kind of return on investment they could get here during peak season. 

The Art Police on Venice Beach

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323622904578129650246966768.html

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

 When dining on the road, we don't mind paying a little extra when it comes to CLASS

Has anyone done the Chester NJ shows?  If so, please give us your opinion.  How accessible is the venue?

Thanks - d

Apparently this is the second year that Cherry Creek Arts Festival has done the Colorado Artist Image Review Workshop. I missed any announcement of it last year and thought it might be of value to sign up. I've seen on this Blog that other festivals are also hosting this type of review. I hope the trend continues with other festivals as well!

Terry Adams of the Cherry Creek show was there with his support team, a representative of Zapplication and I especially enjoyed meeting Jerry Gilmore who acted as the juror/review person for this event. He seems to be popping up quite a bit as of late, just heard him on the BlogTalkRadio presentation as well. He was very gracious and generous with his time answering questions for this event.

To say the least, as Jerry pointed out, if you haven't seen your slides projected before an audience, or even projected them on your own, it is WELL worth it. Terry told of one artist last year who stormed out of a presentation. He followed him out and asked what the problem was. The artist reported being quite embarrassed at the quality of his work when presented this way and he was on his way home to fix it! Although I didn't storm out I too was disconcerted about how one of my images presented when projected. Had I not been in this presentation I might never have known that this one image (out of the 40 or so I have on Zapp) was formatted differently and thus showed up washed out and lifeless. It is one that I have used quite frequently as-of-late so I was concerned about the impression I was making! I too immediately went home and went about the business of finding out what was wrong. I dropped an email to Larry Berman about it and he was quite gracious about helping me as well. It was only after reviewing all of my stored images (not the ones stored on Zapps website) that I found the problem with this culprit. Zapp requests that images be stored in sRGB mode and wouldn't you know it, this was the only one that wasn't.

Although no guarantee of how your images will appear when projected one of the things you might do is preview them in a browser window. When I did the "Preview As a Juror" on Zapp this inconsistency in image quality did NOT show up.

So back to the issue at hand. The other eye opener was the difference in quality of images depicting people's booths. I've done a lot of work this year myself to make the best presentation possible after getting some useful feedback from Jim DeLutes and was rewarded with a complement by Jerry saying that my presentation was very professional. Some of the others at the review had a long way to go. And cropping of your booth shot. I thought that I had it pretty tight but got some feedback suggesting that I crop it even tighter!

Pre-review Booth Shot: Review Booth Shot

I'm especially sensitive to the idea of large blobs of white in an image, especially when you consider that the jurors are sitting in a dark room for long periods of time and a big white area will tend to blind you when it comes up on the wall/screen. I tried to bring down the brightness in the second image but it started to turn to grey so I left well enough alone. You can see in my second image that I removed the bins and really cropped the booth down very close. It should be noted that some shows want to see everything that you will have in your booth including the bins and chairs!

Some things that struck me about some other booth shots were, browse bins that were pointed into the light so that they looked like shining beacons in the sun (see mine above left), bins that obscured what was in the booth, chairs that obscured what was in the booth, etc. Jerry pointed out how backgrounds can tend to swallow the art, there needs to be contrast between your background and your art. For jewelers, especially if your work is small, it's nice to see professional display cases but if you can't see the jewelery, hanging large photo posters on the back wall is better than the lovely swag fabric. Also, it is a good way for people on the street who can't get through the crowd to preview your work. Oh, and by the way, lose the posters with your name or the company name in the background, jury's are not supposed to see names, the same goes for paintings, etc. use a photo editing program and get rid of the signatures or names.

As for cropping those art images, I know this seems quite elementary, but if you have 2D work lose the frame, unless...it is an integral part of the art. It is easier for a photographer to have images of their work especially in these days of digital capture but if you are taking pictures of your 2D work for gosh sakes make sure it is square to the frame! There were several images in this presentation that looked like they were taken from the side which created a distorted perspective (like looking down a tunnel).

Finally, bodies of work, I struggled with this one myself. Juries want to see a cohesive body of work. At first I thought it better to show a range of work, uh uh. Tis better to show that you have an ongoing theme rather than a smattering of this and that. One artist at the review was arguing this point and still insisted that their body of work was ALL of their work, good luck with that. I appreciate that they like to take images of whatever, I like diversity also, but when it comes to a jury I put my best foot forward and show a cohesive body of work, whatever it is.

All-in-all it was really instructive to participate in this kind of event both for what needs help as well as what looks good. If you have the opportunity to go to a show preview do so.

First off, this blog is not just about me--there is some good meat, read on.  

We all, especially those of us on this site, have lot to be thankful for.

Me.  I am so happy to be live and breathing, very well, thank you.  I can now set up my own booth, with no help, and tug those 45-pound John Deere weights into place.  Ellen says I need to get a newer, lighter booth.  Fat chance. I know what I know--and everytime I climb that six-foot ladder to reach my roof on the van--I think,"I knew I'd make it to the top of the art world one day."

Enough about me.

Here is where I think we should really give thanks.  These are in no ascending or descending order, they just fly off the top of my head as I merrily type away this morn.  (Damn!  Where did I put that shot of tequila?).

Give thanks to Connie Mettler for starting this site.  It has changed in many ways, mostly, all for the better. Sure, some of the old vets no longer contribute (but I bet they still lurk).  We don't get as much news about how people are doing at shows.  We get some, but most of the significant shows have scant info.  I know people are reluctant to give sales figures.  I know a lot don't want to blab about a good show and then feel "I will probably never get in again."

We get lots of good info about so many others things germane to our biz.  It is all here on this site, you just got to know how to navigate it.  Be thankful, it wasn't like this years ago.  It took me eons to amass info that is now at the tips of our fingers.

Give lots of thanks that we can still find a way to sell our own art in this material world.  People envy our freedom (too bad they don't pay our bills).  To be able to create, market and then reap the rewards is a cosmic art high.  Be thankful.

We are still in a slow upturn.  The easy sales are still long away.  But we are tip-toeing closer all the time.  Be thankful that you are one of the many contributors to this.

Be thankful you don't have to work a job being a greeter at Sams Club,, or Home Depot, or similar ilk.  Yes, you get certain benefits from it, but it is a slow death for those of us who have worked for ourselves over the years.  I begin my 33rd year in the biz this 2013.  My goal is to never work for anyone but Nels Johnson.  He is a tough employer who expects a lot.  Early morn photo-shoots, making mats, long drives to shows--but he lets me play golf and fool around in the garden a lot.  Be thankful you have such an employer in yourself.

Be thankful for all the wonderful personalities who inhabit this site.  Their experience, and sense of giving, is astounding.We have such great, steady contributors.  Learn from them and just maybe, become a contributor yourself.  It is always cool to look at the computer screen and see words that you have written--and think, "Wow!  Tons of people are going to see this, and if it goes out on Facebook too, a ton more will see it, doesn't necessarily mean they will read it."  It is a great high.

Lastly, be thankful we live in the land of the brave and the free.  Say grace at your meal today, remember those of the past who used to partake, give thanks to have such good friends, be thankful to be in good health.  Take nothing for granted.  We are all little specks in the sands of time, but our colors will live on for eons.  That is why they call us artists--not vendors.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, from Ellen Marshall and Nels Johnson.

I reviewed this event last year and am pleased to say that this year the quantity of jewelry wasn’t near as overwhelming as last year.  You can see last year’s post for load in / load out, parking, artist amenities, etc.  None of that really changed.

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/fall-best-of-the-northwest-jewelry-and-art-show-and-yet-more

What did change this year was the crowd, or should I say lack of crowd??  Last year Friday and Saturday weren’t really busy but at least we had one day, Sunday, where the show was packed.  This year it felt like the bottom dropped out of the show with very poor attendance and even those that attended weren’t buying.  I know we’re not alone in saying that this was our worst ever Best of NW event.  Our sales were 50% of what they have been the last 2 years. For us, this meant that the show that was our best show in 2010, second best show in 2011 is winding up as our 3^rd worst show in 2012.   We’re sitting here feeling like someone has pulled a rug out from under us.  One artist, who has participated in the BNW events for over 10 years, commented that she thought the bottom dropped out in 2008-2009 (which is when we first started participating) and were starting to come back.   This year left all of us wondering if the events are once again on the downhill slide.

Each evening as the show wound down for the night we would see many of the artists wandering, chatting with other artists, complaining about lack of sales, lack of attendance, venue location, etc.  Many of the artists seem to be of the opinion that the location is just killing this show, it’s too difficult for patrons to attend, they don’t want to ride the shuttle, etc.   The fall venue is the Smith Cove Cruise terminal and due to Homeland Security regulations there are some restrictions/regulations that make parking a challenge. 

The Spring show is scheduled to be held at the same venue this year, as they once again move locations due to the City of Seattle renovating the location of the previous venue.  Most of us left there with a strong concern that patrons will continue to “vote with their feet” and most likely won’t attend the spring event due to the venue.  We’ve already submitted our application, but this is giving us pause and a lot to think about and consider as we plan for 2013.

Well, after spending most of the summer and early fall in Delaware, NJ and Virginia,  I'm nearly caught up on winter show applications, spreadsheet tallying, housecleaning, cat-feeding, new-neighbor meeting, and mailing out my 2013 calendars (not necessarily in order of importance).  So time to crunch a few more numbers and figure out whether all that travel was worthwhile.

Last year, I spent three weeks with my brother in Pennsylvania and another five weeks at an extended stay hotel in the Jersey-side suburbs of Philadelphia, then rented a home 20 minutes from the beach for my final three shows.  The lodging expenses killed me, and the show revenues weren't nearly able to keep up. 

This year, I drove my van up in the early summer, then flew back and forth between FL and Atlantic City airport on Spirit Airlines.  I booked shows so that I could fly up on a Thursday, drive to a hotel in Delaware (or Jersey shore), and do three shows in 17 days, then return to Atlantic City, park my van in third-party, offsite parking at the Ramada Inn just outside the city limits, and fly back home for a week or two.  Then: Lather, rinse, repeat through the end of October. 

Being able to return home was great for the psyche and the bank account (it costs me $550-$600 a week to be on the road, plus the show fees, vs. less than $400 for round-trip ticket plus parking).  From summer 2011, I learned that there's nothing worse than staying for a week in an extended-stay hotel with no revenues coming in--unless it's booking a crappy show just to keep busy. (At the end of the season, I nabbed a Spirit Airlines credit card with a generous mileage rewards program, so hopefully I can reduce flight expenses even more in 2013.)

The other difference to the bottom line was that this year, I managed to have a couple of gangbuster shows (Rehoboth Beach, DE and Stockley Gardens (Norfolk)) to offset the dead ones (two wildlife art shows in Ocean City and Stone Harbor NJ, among others).

Stockley Gardens (Oct. 20-21) was the summer's most pleasant surprise.  Held in and along four city blocks in an upscale downtown Norfolk neighborhood, this is one of those shows that residents circle on their calendars and plan for.  Quality was high, as befits this very competitive show.  Crowds were steady from the opening bell through close of the show, and never have I seen customers more focused on purchasing--and purchasing carefully.  They browsed, marked their scorecards with their favorites, and came back to buy.  If they had an issue (size, color, and--more rarely--price), they communicated it and were open to conversations to resolve it.  Only once(!) all weekend did I hear "I'll think about it."  Happily for me, it's a real 2-D loving crowd: painters and photographers did particularly well. 

Despite tight on-street parking that made load-in more work than I would have liked, this show was truly a pleasure to do, and as professionally run (by volunteers) as any show I've ever participated in. 

AFI member Dave Hinde, who lives in the area, also turned me on to a nice little show run by the Chesapeake Art Association in nearby Ocean View the previous weekend.  As the name implies, the show runs right along the ocean, and during setup on Saturday morning the 30-40 mph gusts made setup a back-wrenching challenge.  But the breezes died down a bit by 10 am, and the crowds were surprisingly steady for such a small show, particularly on Saturday.  I wound up with a sales total about 50% more than I'd expected for a small, artist-run event--giving me a nice "bridge show" so I could spend extra time in the Norfolk/Portsmouth area.  I headed out only a week before Hurricane Sandy headed up the coast, dealing a glancing blow to this area before hitting the Jersey shore.

The tidewater area of VA seems like an area worthy of more investment. Besides the shows I did (which included the Seawall Art Show in late August), there's Port Warwick, Virginia Beach Boardwalk, Gosport, and a few others.  

Overall, the Jersey shore area shows were disappointing. Summer weather scuttled all, or part, of nearly every show I did in June and July, and the much-heralded Wheaton Arts Festival of Fine Craft in Millville NJ (also victimized by all-day rain on Sunday) wasn't much of sales event for 2-D artists.  Beyond which, I miscalculated what would sell up there: I took larger canvases with me this summer, which have been selling well in Florida. But up North they didn't sell nearly as well as the smaller ones I'd shown in 2011.  Like all of us, I'm hoping that the Jersey shore and other areas afflicted by Sandy rebuild better, and safer, than ever...but I doubt I'll spend as much time there in 2013 as I did in years past. 

This was a first-year show put on by Bill Kenney and his crew at Paragon and I decided to do the show because it was at home and because I've heard only good things about Paragon.  I have to say I was very impressed.  It was a small show with around 50-60 exhibitors and was held in an up-scall mall in far North Dallas.  The exhibitors were top-notch and I didn't notice a one that was selling inferior work.  This little show turned out to be one of the best shows I've had this year.  It started rather slow but by Sunday afternoon the crowd had grown larger and prople were beginning to buy as we all like to see them do.  I think this show has a lot of potential and is one that we're going to see grow and become more popular as time goes by.  I think it's in the right place at the right time and I think we'll be hearing more about the Dallas Fine Arts Show.  The area needs another good show and I think this may be it.  I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else shares my opinion.

Wednesday, November 21, 12 noon ET

In a business full of taking chances the first big challenge an artist has is to make the jury cut at the shows. After all, if you can't get into the show you aren't in business. I'll be speaking with

• Mo Riley, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair: Mo came to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (the original one) about 3 years ago from the Detroit Festival of the arts. She inherited a complex jury system that has over a dozen jurors from various media who attend on consecutive days, breaking the jurying down into small pieces.

• Lyn Sedlak-Ford, Board Member Art in the Pearl, Portland, OR: one of a group of 14 artists who started this show 17 years ago. There are 3 left of the original group. We'll talk about how an artist's organization chooses a jury and what they expect from their jurors.

• Jerry Allen Gilmore, juror for many of the nation's best art fairs: with an MFA in painting and drawing he has had a career both as an artist, exhibiting internationally, and as an arts administrator in Colorado. Currently he is concentrating on curatorial projects, artist portfolio reviews, jurying for regional and national art institutions and on his own artwork.

We'll talk about:

• how to choose a jury, qualifications, diversity, experience

• demands on the jury

• how they showcase the applications

• jury instruction
• different kinds of jurying

Do you have questions you'd like me to ask? Please add them below.

We'll also be taking questions from callers at this #(805) 243-1338

Hi all, I had the pleasure of witnessing the afternoon jurying for Artisphere yesterday.  I won't go into all the details as much has been written about the process but will share a couple of observations.  I especially wanted to view the photography category, my media, and was astounded by the quality of the category.  There were 87 entries and last year i believe 9 were chosen for the category.  My immediate thought was "How is it possible to consistantly get into shows with so much quality work being submitted?"  This IMHO was also true in the jewelry category.  Having seen this,  I feel even more so that getting into top shows is quite a challenge and a bit of a crapshoot (of course).  I feel that when I don't get in, I will never again feel I've been slighted.  I could have easily selected 40 or so from that group. Perhaps many more.

The other big revelation was that I noticed that the jurors were not scoring.  I asked about that during a break and was told that the jury at Artisphere gets the images well in advance of the show to view at his/her leisure.  I asked if to their knowledge most other shows let the jurors have them in advance and was told that Columbus and another show that they consulted with did it this way.  It's good to know that the work is seen more than the 5 second group overview  and 10-15 second  viewing with artists statement.

I also noticed that Artists who used their full artists statement had a better chance of being viewed  longer than very short statements, but that may be inconsecuential  in light of the judges studying the images in advance.

Kathy Czopek's report on her recent attendance at a business conference on "How to Apply" in St. Louis is full of good information. One of the presenters at the meeting was Laura Miller, operations director of the St. Louis Art Fair. I attended that show in September. Here are some booth images to illustrate the information that Laura shared at the workshop:

Painting by Daniela Ovtcharov

Jewelry booth Ronald & Leigh Linton

Who can even see the booth for the crowd? Woodworker, Matthew Hatala on the left

Nice portable booth, easy to ship - jewelry by C. Hoffnagle

Porcelain by Robert Hessler

Amy Arnold, fiber sculpture

Ceramics by Nathan Grubich & Amanda St. Hilaire-Grubich

Glass by Sam Stang

Jewelry by Jonathan Rutledge

This is not the booth shot Robert Longyear would have sent it in, but wanted you to see the add'l tie downs and lights on the very nice panels which set off his work

Jeweler Matthew Naftzger's work is constructed from found elements, as is his booth, distressed metal cases and wall hangings reinforce the recycled element of his work

Two people who contribute a lot to AFI:

Artist David Bjurstrom

& Photographer Mark MacKinnon

Sorry, no photo of John Leben's booth, as it was blown to bits!

So, I met with my accountant today.  I mentioned that I started doing art shows in neighboring states.  He says that if I go into another state I need to file a tax return in that state, because I made income there.  Are all of you filing income tax returns in every state you do a show or how do you handle this?  Seriously, it is hard enough to make any money without having to pay my tax guy to do additional work! I'm having a tough time with this one.

So, I've been talking to someone in the travel industry -- with the hope of providing everyone going on his tours to get a piece of jewelry. 

Now he said that instead of just him, he will speak to the umbrella organization in which many of his tours (and others) first go to and perhaps we can do a pin or a pendant for all those going on these tours.  Wow - that would be great!

But now the dilemma.  If they want a commission piece - not one already in the collection - how does one charge for that?  And then they 'own the piece?  Or would I get a 'royalty' for each piece? If we made the piece, then we could price.  I wouldn't want the piece to go overseas ... and yet, if it's commissioned and sold to them, then i don't have any rights to that piece any more - do I?  I just looked up the umbrella organization - there's about 37,000 young people participating in this specific tour a year. 

Please help guide me.  If we get to the next step -- just talking - I want to come to the table in strength and knowledge.  Thanks in advance.