Blog

Life requires so much less than we sometimes demand of ourselves.This is so because often we fail to realise that the requirement of life is Elegant In Its Simplicity.

Life asks us to be here and now;To be present during this moment

We often demand of ourselves to be there and never:To be absent during this lifetime

There is more to life than we know. Our longing for fulfillment and contentment directs our search for Truth And Transcendence.

As Artists we are more fortunate than most to both be aware of this and to realise its signifificance as our Creativity constantly calls us in the direction of this Otherworldly Reality.

We need not be afraid of this beckoning once we realise that Courage is never the absence of fear but rather the Acknowledging of the presence of that fear while Denying it Place.

True Greatness arises from Simplicity,Elegance and Endurance In its Season.

What tree did ever not blossom before bearing evidence of its fruit

What flower did ever not bud before blossoming and blooming in all its Brilliance.

So too there are Seasons in our lives.

As artists on the art show circuit we Transcend Time and Space so our works may be seen and sold.

In a simple yet profound way this allows us to Creatively weave a Tapestry of Protection and Inspiration around a Darkened and Despairing World.

Well, we will still call this a Tequila Report even though I had iced tea.  Had some smooth stuff a week ago with Lou Garofalo, but they will be few and far in between.

Anyways, I did the Great Gulf Coast Art Fest in Pensacola,FL last weekend and on Monday, the way home to Tampa, I decided to do a little side trip to Apalachicola (Hereafter referred to as APP).  Had not been there in 20 years and was curious about how it was doing.  Seen many articles about it, and they all sounded good.  APP is known for their oysters.  It lies right at the mouth of the APP River as it empties into the Gulf.  Plus I figured there would be good photo opportunities there.

Anyway you travel, it takes a while to get there and it is worth it.  A charming village by the sea.

From Pensacola you head back east either along the coast on Route 98 which takes you thru a gazillion traffic lights in Destin, Panama City and Port St. Joe.  Another way east, which I took, is to go I-10 and get off at Marianna.  Don't visit the Boys Correctional Institution.  Instead, go south on Route 71.  It will take you to Port St. Joe and then a little jog left gets you to APP.  If you are coming up from south Florida, like from the Tampa area it is best to take the Tollway up to Brooksville, get off and head a short distance west on Route 98.  Then turn north on good ol' US 19 up to Perry than follow Route 98 on an eventful journey thru pine forests, little towns like Carabelle and you will get to APP.  Took me 90 minutes going the way I went.  Should have gone right back up Route 71 after leaving--but NO!, I wanted to take the scenic route back to Tampa, via Perry.  A half hour  down the road I got pulled over by an  unmarked Statey(highway patrol}.  He clocked me 71 mph in a 55mph zone.  Yikes!  Knock on wood, I haven't had a speeding ticket in ten years which amounts to 275,00 miles driven.  Not that I didn't deserve one once in a while, just they never caught me, I was too slick.

Well this guy had me good, checked my driving record out--and issued me a warning citation--no money fine.  In my book this guy was a Prince in the pine woods.  Well, as I left him, still going to Perry on 98 (not mph) I got about 30 miles from it and guess what?  A local Sheriff followed me all the way there.  Put it on cruise control at 55 mph and sauntered on.  It is slightly un-nerving when the Law follows you like that.  The good thing was, I was high on the sugared ice tea and not worried about getting a DUI.  He turned left, finally, and I went on to Perry and then  home to a grateful wife.

OK, by now you are wondering, "Where the Hell is the Tequila Report?"  Its coming "pardner", its coming.  Up in the panhandle we do things nice and slow, not fast like you city-slickers in Naples and Ft. Lauderdale, hell, put Ft. Myers and Tampa in there too.

If you look on a map of Florida you will see where APP sticks out into the Gulf, it is right at the bend in Florida leading to the Panhandle.  It takes a while to get there.  Eat more oysters, slam some shrimp and quaff some beers and stay there for the night.  They got several rustic, but good, inns there.

Which now leads me to the Tequila Report.  See how I made ya read all that other stuff before I got here.  Well, by now, you are either a fan of my reports, and want to know all, or I just lost you somewhere between Panama City and Perry.

It is a delicious trip, stay with me.

HOW I WAS HUNGRY FOR LUNCH AND FOUND BOSSES' OYSTER HOUSE/BAR

I walked around took pics and started looking for the  best place to eat oysters--which led me to Bosses'.  I am an old cracker and I love my shellfish, hell, I love anything out of the sea, and will eat them all, that includes Mermaids.

Bosses' sits right on the water.  There is inside and outside dining.  The place is nicely painted, it is no dump.  Who wants to sit inside when you can be outside and duck ravens and pelicans who are looking for free lunch.(They do the catgut stringed effect which keeps the critters away so you can enjoy your food.)

Well, Bosses' has about a million ways to eat oysters, from the traditional, raw on shell, steamed, Rockerfeller et al.  But I spyed several inviting newbies I had never tasted before.  So I ordered two of them.  Darn, a good tequila would have gone great with them, but I had to settle for iced tea.  No more booze in the afternoons or liquid lunches.  I get two glasses of booze a day--usually a good red wine, and that's it.  Gotta do it if I want to stay around for a while and write Tequila Reports.

Well, what did I order?  You would never guess in a million years.

I ordered "Oysters Japanoise"  (that is no misspelling} and Oysters Tacos.

The Japanoise was very yummy and visually appealing.

They brought you this big iced silver tray with six oysters laid out on it,raw.  But it is what they put on it that makes it unique.

On top was some fresh cut scallions, a dollop of wasabi, and two yes two, nicely rounded piles of fish eggs.  We call them caviar, the Japanese call them Tabbiko.  One Tabbiko was red with the hint of smokey , slightly salty flavors.  The yellow Tabbiko was salty and clean to the taste.  These two mounds were piled high on the oysters.  I took my time and enjoyed every bite.  There was nary a fish egg left on that plate when I finished.  I heard three pelicans cry in despair.  Sorry boys, find someone who is sloppy with their  food, but you get none from me.

Next course--the Oyster Tacos.

They put four, lightly steamed oysters in each taco shell, mounded on lettuce, tomato and a little onion.  I threw a little Louisiana Hot Sauce on them and ate with  great relish.

OK, even if you don't like what I had, there were many other choices.  Fresh fish cooked any number of ways.  Fresh Shrimp.  They had it all.

Around APP there were at least twelve other places I could have gone to--they all looked good. APP is charming village with great architecture and a sense of time.  You can feel the time that has been spent in this town.

BTW, that weekend, when I did Pensacola, they had their annual seafood festival.  Over 75,000 people came to little ol' Apalachicola.  That  should tell you a lot.

Well, it has been a while since I did a Tequila Report, hope you enjoyed the journey.  Good eating and good drinking--Nels.

We hear a lot of talk about photo quality and the jury process and, really, it hit me yesterday what we're talking about.

 I sat through the first day of the Fort Worth open jury and it was quite an experience.  It was the first one I’ve ever attended and I was surprised in some areas.  I understand the jury’s only job on this first day was to decide “yes, no or maybe”  so, there seemed to be very little going on.  No dialogue or conversation of any sort.  They went through the photos very quickly with no conversation of any kind.  The second time they looked at them, a very short artist statement was read while the photos were being viewed.    They had a few more than 1300 applications and that’s around 6500 photos they had to look at.  To say they hurried through them would be a gross understatement.  There were 214 jewelers with five photos each and the only thing the jurors will ever know about them is how good their photos were.

I now understand why it is necessary to have photos that blow their socks off.  The person with nice, yet average, photos doesn’t stand a chance.  They don’t have time to study artistic quality so, the photos with the greatest initial “pop” are they ones that catch the jurors attention.   It doesn’t seem quite fair because a lot of outstanding artist are being left by the wayside simply because their photos aren’t eye-popping.

If  everyone could see this they’d be lined up down the street at Larry Berman’s house!  I suppose the bottom line is this:  If your photos don’t snap, crackle and pop, you’re not going to get in.  Simple as that.  The jurors won’t even notice the artist whose photos do not fit this category.  You could be the best artist on Earth and you’re going to be quickly overlooked and cast aside..  I now have a much better idea of why it is so difficult to get into some of the better shows.

Also, the entire process can get pretty boring if you‘re a spectator only interested in one or two categories.  To me, one of the best things about it was that it offers up some good ideas for booth set-up.

I have felt like I have some pretty decent photos but, "pretty decent" doesn't even come close to what one needs.  The ideal is to have photos that sort of slap a juror in the face as soon as they pop up on the screen.  Anything less than that is simply going to mix you in the pot with about 1000 other people and then it becomes difficult to stand out from the rest. 

One parting thought.  Is it common practice for a jury member to also be an applicant to the show in which he is jurying?  To me, that smacks of a conflict of interest and should not be allowed to happen.  Does anyone else agree?

For those who have never had the experience, I highly recommend attending a jury session for one of the big shows.  I think it will give you a whole new perspective on your photos and whether or not you need to make some changes.  Larry and others have been "preaching" this for a long time and I've now had the opportunity to see why they stress the importance of this.  It can't be overstated.

Friday, November 9 - 11 am ET

In the aftermath of the nation's worst storm in history, Hurricane Sandy, people on the East Coast are working toward reestablishing equilibrium in all areas of their lives. The heavy economic toll continues to be counted. This coming weekend's Fine Arts & Crafts Show at the Westfield (NJ) Armory has been cancelled by the National Guard.

How does this cancellation affect the organizers of the event, Howard and Janet Rose of Rose Squared Productions, in the short term and going forward? 

We'll be talking about:

• how show organizers make their money
• the economic impact when a show has to be cancelled for show organizers, artists and the surrounding community
• the importance of events to local economies
• developing relationships between promoters and artists, their interdependence

We will be taking calls and would love to hear from you. Call in: (805) 243-1338

Access earlier shows: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artfairs

  My last four shows have not been as profitable as I would like. I am new to the art show world, and I am trying just about every show that I think may be a possibility in my area.  I live in Texas, and have decided to stay in my state for the first few years to get my feet wet, and figure out which shows work best for me.  My fall shows are all new to me, and each have been within at least a four hour drive. 

  What is interesting for me, is that for my past four shows, if it were not for men surprising their wives for either a Birthday or Christmas, I would not have made profit.  These have all been large paintings, and one commission, that have been purchased as a surprise gift.  The wives perused the booth first, and then a few minutes later, here come the husbands ready to buy, and practically whispering just like the knock-off rolex dealer with a trenchcoat on a major city corner.  I love to be a part of this, and I have decided that romance is not dead after all (slight nudge in my husband's direction, bless his unromantic heart...). It made my day, literally and figuratively.

  It does make me wonder though, if this is a common occurance, or if people are waiting to make large purchases for special occasions instead of outright buying something that they like. Since I am still new to this business, I am wondering if this is common?

Every American has a right to vote, even cute puppies.

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

To all of my extended family of artists -- thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your well wishes, your concern, your caring and your support.

It has now been a little over two months since my unpleasant confrontation with my ex-table saw.  (I now have, with the wonderful help of CREF+, a new SawStop table saw that will protect my remaining fingers.)

The progress that I have made in two months is, insofar as I am concerned, nothing short of miraculous.  The doctor is very pleased and so am I.  To give you graphic evidence of the progress, I have posted a photo of my hand on the day of the accident (8-24-'12) and one exactly two months later.  (Warning - the photo of 8-24-'12 could be considered gross - the fingers had been placed back in their normal positions for this photo.)  THE REASON that I have posted these two photos on my page is to show the progress that I have made.  This rapid progress I attribute to your caring, healing, supportive thoughts and prayers which you have sent to me.  Being on the receiving end of that virtual tidal wave of support and caring is so incredibly humbling and so fills your heart with gratitude and love that no mere words can convey that feeling to one who has not experienced it.

Am back doing shows again - taking extra care of the hand.  This has happened much sooner than I dreamed that it would.  It is still healing and I am still working on adapting to the limited movement, grip, etc., BUT I'M GETTING BACK!!!   (an example of adaptation - I am now working on my typing with one missing finger.  Wouldn't be too bad were it not for the "i", "k", and "m".   ght try typ ng w thout those letters for awh le -probably wouldn't wor . 

This was just mailed out to Rose Squared Productions, Inc. exhibitors. We wanted to make sure as many people know about this as possible.

To Our Exhibitors:

We regret to inform you that the National Guard has cancelled the Westfield show this coming weekend due to concerns about the impeding storm on Wednesday and Thursday. Their need for the Armory grounds, with the additional trucks having to remain on site, is essential with the likelihood of additional power outages and downed trees.

We wish this were not the case since we had hoped to raise significant funds for the Red Cross. The weather and the needs of the National Guard are out of our control.

In the coming weeks, you will receive a full refund of your booth fees.

We hope everyone is safe and has power as we still do not in our home in Hillsborough.

We thank so many of you for your condolences, offers of help, and general support. We are truly grateful to have such wonderful and caring artists in our lives.

Warmest Regards, Janet and Howard

Has anyone done the People's Choice Festival of Pa. in Boalsburg, that runs at the same time as the Central Penna. Festival of the Arts in State College?  I would be interested in opinions on both.  Thanks.

April 6 & 7
Ridgeland, Mississippi
Renaissance at Colony Park

Saturday, 10 to 6 & Sunday, 1 to 6 

100 Artists

Deadline: November 11

• Art Fair Sourcebook's Top 100 Fine Arts Festivals in the U.S.
• Southeastern Tourism Society Top 20 Event

When we say your work stands out in the crowd at the Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival, we mean it. That's because this top-ranked art festival combines large crowds of art lovers and buyers with a more intimate number of exhibitors (only 100 artists), for an inviting celebration of art that showcases your work and enhances your profile even as it enriches the art experience for all.  

An outdoor festival held in the mild and refreshing days of early spring, the Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival presents artists and their work against the splendid setting of Renaissance at Colony Park, a regional lifestyle center renowned for its shopping, dining and entertainment as well as for its graceful Old World architecture inspired by the cities of Europe and the Mediterranean. As for Ridgeland, over the past two decades the city has grown from a quiet suburb of Jackson, the state capital, to a vibrant hub for the arts and a premier retail and dining venue. The festival's new name reflects the citywide support and enthusiasm the event enjoys-support which  includes a robust regional marketing campaign to ensure record attendance.

Chosen by a panel of independent jurors, selected media for the festival include clay, drawing/pastels, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and wood.

ARTIST AWARDS:

$7,500 total cash prizes: 

• $1,500 Best of Show
• $500 for each medium

AUXILIARY ACTIVITIES:

• A fun-filled array of children's activities in our pARTicipate area featuring "make and take" crafts
• Children's storytelling at Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

ARTIST AMENITIES:

• City-wide hotel discounts (see our website for details)
• Complimentary continental breakfast on Saturday
• Artist awards breakfast on Sunday morning
• Box lunch delivered to your booth on Saturday & Sunday
• Bottled water delivered to your booth periodically
• Your name, medium, city and state publicized in our festival flyer
• Complimentary festival t-shirt
• Van and RV parking close to the festival
• 24-hour security
• Booth sitters

The Ridgeland Fine Arts Fair is presented by Ridgeland Tourism Commission, a tax-exempt, state-chartered agency. All festival proceeds are used to produce and promote the show.

Apply:  www.zapplication.org

For more information contact  www.ridgelandartsfest.com

CONTACT BOB MCFARLAND, FESTIVAL DIRECTOR, (253) 275-8108 or  bobmcfarland2@hotmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking for more art fairs for your show schedule? Visit www.CallsforArtists.com where you'll find links to the top shows in the country all in one place.

Im doing a show in Oaks pa this weekend and heading back to NH on Monday. Normally I would take 78 to 287. When driving down to the show on Wed. I could not find gas for miles around the Morristown NJ area. Driving on a 1/4 tank I found a gas station 20 miles, in Flemington NJ and waited over an hour. I understand the gas crisses is much worse now and people are crossing the NJ boarder to PA to find gas. So with that Im going to go head up to Scranton Pa from Oaks and cut over to 84 East to Conn. If you live near the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre area can you tell me how the situation is there. I figure that would be a fill up point and should be able to make it to Mass from there. Obiously I will be filling up here in oaks before heading out. no problems here.

Thanks.

That ad for Romney is offensive to me, especially on my page.

For many reasons, including a date change, this show has some spaces left for November 16-18.

November 16-18
Novi, Michigan
Suburban Collection Showplace
Fri.: 1pm-8pm; Sat.: 10am-6pm; Sun.: 11am-5pm
Artist Reception: Sat.: 6pm
200 Artists

Be part of the holiday shopping season!

Art fairs are always looking for ways to enhance the event both for artists and the attending public. This Fall the show will open on Fri. at 1pm and close at 8pm. We will be returning with the hugely successful Friday Ladies Night Out promotion that drew over 2000 women to line up for entry of Friday.

A robust marketing campaign is in effect with a variety of media partners.

Expect an elegant entrance gallery showcasing your art, community partnerships and other fresh components that create a wonderful regional marketplace for artists and their patrons.

Location:
The Suburban Collection Showplace is located in Novi, Michigan, situated in Western Oakland County, one of the nation's most affluent areas. It is familiar to patrons as a premier indoor venue for specialty events.

Attendance:
Over the past decade the Suburban Collection showplace has been host to premier indoor art fairs each year during the months of April and October. Attendance figures from these fairs have averaged in the tens of thousands.

Artist Amenities:

• Custom Great Lakes Art Fair discount coupons
• e-mail blast content
• free tickets, postcards and other collateral materials to distribute to their patrons
• drive up to your booth to unload and load
• artist hospitality area and reception
• artist gallery
• free electrical & free close parking

Please visit our website: www.GreatLakesArtFair.com for images of past events and list of past participants.

We want you to help us build this biannual event into an event that regional artists can count on. Please join us.

Call Andrea Picklo today for details and to secure one of these spaces: (248)348-5660 ext:236

Learn more at our website: www.GreatLakesArtFair.com/artistapply.html

Foxfire Park Fall Fine Arts Festival

 Downtown Nashville, Indiana

"The Art Colony of the Midwest"

October 19th, 20th, and 21st
&
October 26th, 27th, and 28^th

This first time show looked like a good bet to fill in a big hole between St. James and a show in Lexington, KY. Booth fee was low, $120 for one weekend or $200 for both. The time is at the peak leaf viewing for Brown County, Indiana, and hordes of visitors converge on the small town during those two weekends. Seemed like a good idea. The show was scheduled to have about 70 artists each weekend.

The show ran Friday through Sunday for two weekends, and the artists had the choice for either one or both. I figured going for both was a good investment, particularly if the turn out was good.

Set up was on Thursday, and rain was threatening for the evening so the promoter sent out emails Thursday morning that we could show up at 10:00AM instead of 6:00. That was a good idea as there are only a couple of hours daylight left at that time. Half of the artists were set up when I arrived around 4:00. The field was scrub grass with gravel poured to level out spots. Later on they put down straw in the booths and the aisles. I was feeling ill and wasn’t moving fast. After the sun went down there was no field lighting, so I plugged in my inverter and used a 100 watt light to keep working. I finished putting up the tent and offloaded all my boxes by 8:00 and left.

Friday arrived looking like warmed over Hell, dark clouds, intermittent rain, and damned cold. I judged correctly and brought along the 2-burner Mr. Heater. It kept me warm and the rear of the tent was much warmer than the front. That gadget was worth its weight in gold that weekend. Didn’t sell anything at all on Friday. The first couple of hours saw very few people walking the show, and the standing joke among us was asking when they were going to open the gates. There was an admission charge, and many of the tourists passing by wouldn’t come in with the $5 admission. Eventually show management dropped the charge, but someone forgot to cover up that part of the sign. There was a micro rush mid afternoon,  but the rain started again and the crowd dissipated like a puddle of water in the Sahara. The show was supposed to go until 6:00, but by 4:30 some artists were zipping up and leaving. No one around me sold anything significant and most were reporting nothing.

Saturday was equally lackluster, cold, dark, and damp. The weather dampened everyone’s spirits, especially the customers. I finally got lucky and sold a single $80 piece. The jeweler across from me still had sold nothing, likewise a painter, and a potter.

Sunday was beautiful weather with glorious sunshine and a day I would rather have been out taking photos. Regardless, most of were in high hopes we could do a resurrection shuffle and make enough money to turn a profit. It didn’t work. The visitors walked through, oohed and ahhed, said “nice work” and kept on going. Nothing sold that day for me.

 At the end of the show, a photographer with some very nice landscapes sold a $10 flip-bin piece for the entire weekend, the jeweler across from me zeroed for the weekend, another jeweler didn’t make booth fee, the potter next to me came close to break even, a painter didn’t meet expenses. This was the back row of the show, and my suspicion is that it was death row. The artist behind me sold about $800, and the ones up next to the sidewalk (where people could walk in without the admission) did okay and I heard of one doing $1500.

So what was wrong with this first time show? People were used to seeing flea markets and swap meets on the grounds [edit: Flea markets and swap meets were not held on this site. That was incorrect information given to me. My apologies for the inaccuracy]. The signage was not readily noticeable, and the admission fee wasn’t covered up after they decided to drop it. The rows of booths were parallel to the street and the back three rows weren’t that obvious. Rotating the layout would have made more sense so people could there were a bunch of artists there. Another issue was that the art fair was not the destination draw; the promoters were hoping that they could tap into the crowds of tourists coming into town. It was an older crowd, not a terribly sophisticated one either, for the first couple of days, and the third day was families and kids, which meant we were the monkeys in the cage for their viewing amusement.

Most of us on the back row said we weren’t returning for the second weekend. I decided I wasn’t coming back and would just forfeit the extra $80 booth fee. It would cost $90 in gas to make the 60 mile drive from my home. I decided I had lost enough, and didn’t plan to go through the futile effort of setting up and tearing down again. I saw that I was slated for the back row again, and that sort of sealed it.

An artist friend on mine in Muncie, Indiana has a neighbor who does shows with stained glass. The neighbor dropped an email to him after visiting the show on the second wekend, and he passed it along;

“I did check out the Nashville show.  They weren't charging admission and there was less than 30 booths.  Not much of a variety of arts.  For a juried show I was disappointed.  I asked one vendor how she was doing and she said terrible.  I was there in the middle of the afternoon and there were less than 10 people walking around.  I saw a vendor from Florida, one from Michigan and one from IL.  I bet they went in the hole and were disgusted.”

I checked the revised booth layout before the second weekend. It was down to 50 artists for the second weekend, but almost half of them bailed out. When faced with low sales, the wrong crowd, bad weather in the 40’s and low 50’s, and high lodging expenses at peak tourist season, I can’t blame any one for cutting their losses. I won’t do this one again, barring some sort of miracle like getting paid just to show up.

We received our email from the jury committee today. Rejection number 5 was included in the message:(. Anyway thouth I'd share that they also sent information on the jury, entries and results. It is as follows:

CATEGORY: # of APPLICANTS / # INVITED / # WAIT LISTED

Clay: 86 / 21 / 10

Digital Art: 22 / 5 / 4

Drawing & Graphics: 56 / 16 / 9

Fiber: 43 / 12 / 5

Glass: 57 / 21 / 7

Jewelry: 178 / 25 / 14

Leather: 12 / 4 / 3

Metal: 31 / 6 / 5

Mixed Media: 130 / 21 / 11

Painting: 185 / 44 / 13

Photography: 106 / 29 / 8

Sculpture: 60 / 11 / 6

Wood: 49 / 11 / 9

Just thought some folks might like to see the results. Have an artfilled day!

Things that make no sense and leave you scratching your head.
The latest article on my web site:
http://bermangraphics.com/blog/october-2012-madness/

The art show application that tells you to submit digital photos or digital prints but charges you extra if you send photos or prints because they scan them. They actually want digital images and changed the wording after I contacted them.

The art shows that offer seminars, workshops or webinars on how to set up a profile and apply to their show using ZAPP, but offer no suggestions on how to improve your images so you only have a minimal chance of getting in. For artists, it’s about the images, not about typing words on a web page. And it seems that for shows it’s about the jury fee money.

The artist who asked me to send them a booth image so they could complete an application. When I refused they purchased what they needed for their display and will be setting it up to take their own booth picture.

The artist who sent me images that were so dark, there was no detail in the dark parts of the artwork. The artist who sent me images that were too light. The black to white graduated background went from gray to blow out white and the highlights on the artwork had no detail. The photographer’s response when asked about the images was to tell me that they looked good on his monitor.

The call from a local person who wanted a painting photographed to reproduce it. He had purchased the painting and wanted to hang it in two locations. I explained I wouldn’t do it without permission from the artist. He eventually got permission from the artist and I’ll be photographing the painting for him.

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

I  am on my way to Pensacola, Great Gulf Coast Art Festival.

I live in Ybor City (Tampa) and could do Dunedin, but I don't, so does that tell ya something?

Some thoughts.

I still get that excited feeling of heading down the highway to an art show.  This is my 35th year in the biz, I have done more than 2000 of these little soirees.  I still get that feeling of hopeful sales at the show.  I love being on the road traveling.  It is nearly a nine hour ride to Pensacola.  But to me it is worth it.  I pass the sign on the Appalachicola River that says "You are now entering the central time zone.  I just gained an hour.  If I could find 23 more of these signs in a day, I would never grow old.

The times are very tough, my worst in 35 years--I am off by 60% over last year--plus I am recovering from open heart surgery.

But still I feel invigorated.  I am excited, this will be my first show of setting my booth up and stocking it without helpers.  I am ready.  It has been three months since surgery, I feel stronger.  I feel that I can pick up those 45-pund John Deere weights and heft them to my booth  (I will use my Magline cart.)

I believe I will make decent money  How is that for optimism?

I have decent winter/spring schedule shaping up for Florida.  I just gotta survive this month and December.  Daunting, but survivable.  I will triumph.

Does that sound like a good category for the Discussion area?

This is a friendly community, and after all, we all need each other to survive in the business. Nonetheless, I do know some people are loath to ask questions because sometimes the seasoned members have "heard it all."

My take on this:

• It is important for the life of AFI to help increase the sense of community that members feel with one another.
• It’s NOT ok to treat new people in the community badly.
• Newcomers will ask dumb questions. They will ask questions that have been asked dozens of times before. They will make various faux pas. You need to accept this.

But that’s the easy part.

• The hard part is the oldies need to accept this too. We all need to know how to not only tolerate but encourage newbie questions.
• Tired because there is no new discussion or ideas? You want this site to be lively? then we  need to be careful not to deter the newbies from participating again.
• When a long-time regular says "FFS, search the forum for the answer before you post" that's not only unhelpful, it drives away that newcomer and other newcomers from participating.

This doesn’t necessarily we're going to ban or punish those that do respond with a sarcastic comment. It does mean overwhelming such posts with so many more good remarks.

Some people only post once. If they get a rude or hostile answer, do you think they'll be back? Their posts need to be responded to. Respond nicely, usefully, and hospitably. Ask a question in the response to solicit further contributions. This is how we build the community to be even better and more helpful. Can you help out here?

Communities need new blood to survive. If we drive away the new blood, our community won't last long and serve you the way it has in the past.

What do you think? (oh no, was that a dumb question???)

Christmas Made in the South (CMITS) kicks off our holiday tour.  The CMITS shows are a family run business that treats their crafters and artists like one big extended family.  These are indoor shows (love it) that take place in SC, GA and FL.  There are anywhere from about 200 to 400 artists depending on the show.  There is extensive publicity on radio, direct mailers, billboards, TV and newspapers.  There are long lines of shoppers waiting for the doors to open.  Many of the shoppers spend two or even three days with their shopping lists and personal buggies.  At CMITS you will find a huge assortment of holiday arts, crafts, foods, music, toys, clothes, jewelry – you name it.  There are always some fine art offerings that provide an alternative for the high-end shopper.  In fact, many of who buy from us say “I am buying this as a present for myself.”  We also have follow-ups via email and the web.  At this show you will see plenty of shoppers walking out with bags large and small.  Price points are across the board.  I’ve participated in CMITS shows the past 3 years in Macon, Savannah, Augusta, Jacksonville and this year we added Columbus, GA.  In all honesty we have done well in some shows and just OK in others.  And my sales have been good one year and marginal another year.  It appears to me those who sell food, jewelry, children’s gifts or Christmas decoration type items have steady reliable sales. 

Image # 1 - Shoppers with their personal buggies and bags lined up and ready to start shopping.

Image # 2 - Plenty of potential customers all three days.