Blog

July 2 & 3
South Haven, Michigan
Stanley Johnston Park
Saturday 10am-5pm & Sunday 10am-4pm
100 Artists
Deadline: March 7

Application fee: $40    Booth fee: $275

The South Haven Center for the Arts is proud to host the Annual South Haven Art Fair. South Haven is a coastal tourist destination for over 500,000 summer visitors from around the world and attracts massive Fourth of July crowds. The Art Fair takes place in a beautiful wooded park one block from Lake Michigan and South Haven’s North Beach.

Our goals are to provide a successful environment for exhibiting artists, creatively market the event to a wide range of potential buyers, and provide a professional awards program by credentialed judges. We will also prioritize the health and safety of our community, and will be responsive to current guidelines. We are ready to make this year's art fair one of the best and we welcome you to join us!

Please get more information on the South Haven Center for the Arts Website here: https://www.southhavenarts.org/

Application: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=9997

Contact: Kerry Hagy info@southhavenarts.org

It was a fabulous show, will tell you about it later.

If you want to read about it, go to my headline "How was the show."

First, I will give you a little background about Ft. Myers (FM) from my historical perspective.  Enjoy the journey.

 Stuart Farney.

He was the first person I ever met from FM. Here is how it happened.

I am a Florida Cracker born in south side St. Petersburg, Florida in the mid forties.

I was six years old and I lived on Lake Maggorie in the south side.

I fished that lake everyday with a cane pole, bobber, and bait worms.

One day I arrived at my favorite fishing spot. Lying on the grass by the lake was this bushy haired, cotton hat snoozing kid about my age.

He had a fishing line attached to his big toe.  Had a red and white bobber with a hooked worm on it. Every once and a while I would see the bobber plunge and he would instantly pop his toe high up in air.  And a fish would land on grass.

This was so cool, and I told him so. His name was Stuart but he liked Stu better.

We became best friends. His grandma lived around the corner from my house.

Everyday we brought our fresh catch home to her.  She would grease up a big cast iron skillet and fry up our critters.  We washed them down with sweet ice tea and a mouthful of gram's homemade hush puppies.  Yum,yum.

So one day Stu invited me to visit him in his hometown, Ft. Myers.

His family lived on an island out in the river near downtown.

I had these romantic visions of FM. Thomas Edison doing a walk while talking to Henry Ford. Majestic palms towering over them while sultry afternoon breezes tried to blow their hats off.

Well, I made it to the island and it was just like a tropical dream.  Ft. Myers was the berries.

As we aged, Stu and I drifted apart, he did not visit his grandma anymore, he had discovered girls. Me, I kept on fishing and playing baseball.  But, FM would always be on my mind.

So much for Stu because SweetSue was next.

In the sixties, after high school, I started dating and found SweetSue.  She lived in FM which was a long five hour drive back then, no interstate yet.

Gas was 14 cents a gallon and I had a powerful hunger for the kisses of SweetSue.

So, I would leave early, from St. Pete and barrel across the Sunshine Skyway on US19 thru Bradenton, Palmetto, Sarasota and past the Shell Factory to FM.

SweetSue's parents liked me a lot. I think they admired my tenacity to date their daughter. They would let me sleep on the open air back porch so I could drive back home the next morning. After six months the drive became a bore, SweetSue and I were done.  No more lashing kisses from SweetSue, but I had found Robin.

Now, that is a story for another time.

So, the next time I experienced FM was the mid-eighties.

In 1985 the first pop up canopy was invented.

Prior, everybody had homemade booths.

KD Canopy changed that, big time.

Trouble was, in bad weather, it easy easy up and easy down.  Bad engineering.

So, photographer, Ft. Myers boy, Clyde Butcher asked Newton's Canopy to build a new booth for him.

It had screened panels covered with white lawn chair fabric to show the work. It was a eight panel, 10x10 setup.

What was revolutionary was the roof design.

KDs were famous for collapsing in heavy rains.  The corners sagged from all the pooled water, then it collapsed.

Clyde figured out a better way.  
He had Newton fabricate four aluminum trusses that curved upward and downward when attached to the side panels.  Then a sturdy vinyl roof covered this.

Eureka! No more water pockets, no more easy up, easy down.

I wanted one, really bad.

So I ordered the third Newton's Porto Canopy ever made.  I think Photographer Alan Avis got the second one.

I remembered driving from my home in New Smyrna Beach to FM.

Newton's was on a lunch break.  So I went downtown to get some grub.

Back then, it was very quiet downtown.  Not a lot of people walking around,not much commerce, and very few choices for meals and a drink. The sounds of afternoon shuffleboard clicked in the air.

I got my canopy and lit out of town, Atlantic Ocean here I come.

No more lashing kisses from SweetSue, but I had the best damn canopy on the circuit.

Later, In the mid nineties I discovered FM again.

In that day, like now, FM and Mount Dora were on the same weekend, first one of the month.

Mount Dora was a killer show for me.  Big crowds, big sales. FM was still in the slow lane.

Then in1995 I got juried out of Mount Dora.  Luckily, I had backed it up with FM.

I was pleasantly surprised with the show.  It was by the water, downtown.  The people were mellow, and so was the setup and set downs.

I made decent money, not as good as Mount Dora, but I made a paycheck, could drink tequila for another week.

I could see the potential.  People were moving in here at a torrid pace.  They had plenty of disposable income. The downtown needed a makeover.

Luckily, they elected a forward-visioned mayor.

Downtown reinvented themselves.

Newpaved streets, lots of new buildings--and, lots of new entertainment venues.

Restaurants and bars exploded overnight.

Ft. Myers had arrived, with a new director of the show who ushered into the 21st century.

OK Here is the headline. HOW WAS The SHOW?

This year's show was held in foggy, overcast, cold weather.  It is winter in Florida.

It is a Friday setup with staggered times to come in.

Everybody had three foot spacing on their sides.  Most had abundant storage space in the rear.  You are setup on concrete so bring ample weights.

For whatever reason, they decided to not do artist awards, even though they earlier said that they would.

Interestingly, the school kids art section, held in a big tent, got awards.  Go figure.

The show is well run, plenty of volunteers to give you a break.

The Sunday morn breakfest was pretty disappointing.  I guess it is ok if you like cold scrambled egg sandwiches on a bun sitting under a hot lamp--they need to work on that.

There is ample money in FM, but they mostly spend it on traditional, conservative work. Cutting edge art does not cut it here.

On Saturday I saw lots of big pieces go by my booth, both 2-d and 3-d.

Sundays tend to bring out the lookie-lookers.  More Lowend sales.

That said, I had the best show ever, at FM.

The show is well juried, every booth looked filled with great art.

Overall, this is a great,fun show to do.

I always stay over on Sunday nite, have a great meal, then leave early Monday.  I am home to NSB in four hours via Tampa.

Ironically, guess who came by my booth at show end.

Stuart Farney.

May 28 & 29
Denver, Colorado
Conservatory Green in Central Park
Saturday 10am-6pm & Sunday 10am-5pm
140 Artists
Deadline: February 24

Application fee: $35   Booth fee: $495

The Denver Arts Festival is proud to hold its annual premier event at Central Park's (formerly Stapleton) Conservatory Green Neighborhood. Central Park is in the top 1% of Median Income and education levels in the nation. This large area that used to be the Denver airport property proved to be a great place for the festival over the last few years. It is now home to many upscale neighborhoods, parks, bike trails, shopping and more. The fine art exhibition features over 145 visual artists with over 35,000 people expected to attend.

The festival is outdoors and there is plenty of free parking for both the artists and the patrons. Easy set up and tear down plus you have all day Friday to set up. Plenty of hotels in the area and we partner with the Staybridge which is one block away from the show.   Apply: https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=10022   More info: https://denverartsfestival.com/ Contact: Jim DeLutes jdphotos7@gmail.com

 I wrote this bog for an hour and a half. Saved it as a draft, then it disappeared into the ether.  This has happened too many times on this site.

I am done with it.

My blog disappeared into the ether.

I am done with this.

I has happened too many times.

Aloha, Nels 

Well, it is always nice to do a hometown show and sleep in your own bed. Plus make moola money.

Images is my hometown show in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on the Atlantic coast.

A three day show with a Friday morn setup.  Not easy to get into.  Many are called, few are chosen.

It was held on the last weekend of January. The weather forcast for the weekend was horrible.

Big front coming thru with rain, really cold temps and  heavy winds, some as high as 30-40 mph.  
Accordingly, about 20 percent of exhibitors cancelled.

Oh well, less competition and more money for the rest of us.

I have done this show since early eighties.  NSB has grown and the sales have grown.

I moved to NSB in 1982 to attend the Photography Program at Daytona Beach Community College. I did art shows while attending college.  In those days if I made $1500 in sales I was ecstatic.

Now,I do that easily, each day.

Oceanfront condos and houses on the Atlantic go for $650,00 and up.

Serious money has moved in.  Lot of it buys very conservative and traditional.

There are a few daredevils who buy modern, we need lots more.

Lots of northerners from Canada and US east coast reside here for 3-6 months.

They have big walls to fill.

The show is well advertised and well attended.  They have a great Patrons program

which the artists benefit from, big time.

Now, I will tell you about the show layout.

The show runs west to east down Canal Street, the main downtown route.

Two story buildings line the street and block heavy winds.  But they also block ample sunlight. Canal booths have backs against the curb with ample rear storage.

Patrons walk down the middle eyeing the art.

At east end the show turns right (south) and runs along the river.  Booths line both sides with their rear to the curb.  Plenty of rear storage.

Frankly, the show has too many booths for this size community.  But, they call it a fundraiser, you know how that goes.  The "no-shows" made it better for sales.

They allow corner booths, but sparingly.  If you want one put your request in pronto.

Setup and teardown are very mellow.No hassles.

NSB offers lots of great eating venues, plus bars. And beachside, there are ample choices.  I will do a Tequila Reportafter this blog.

Tell us about this year's show, will ya, Nels.

Thought you would never ask.

Well, being a local, I had my van in place Thursday nite.

Showed up 8am Friday,checked in, got my packet,and ambled down to my site.

We had to dodge pissy little rain while setting up, temps were in the low sixties.

I had a corner booth with plenty of room from my wonderful neighbor.

Iwas setup by noon and ambled down to Riverpark Terrace for lunch, show opened at 1pm.

We opened with clear skies, temps around 61 and 15 mph breezes.

People were out in numbers and buying.

I sold a $1300 photo on metal to start the show.  And then, we were off to the races.

Usually, Friday's I am lucky to sell $1K, this day was different.

Around 3pm my first judge came around.  This show uses an antiquated system to judge.

You must be silent, no talking to the juror. His assistant has a stopwatch, at 60 seconds he tells the juror to move onto the next booth.  We call this the "Sleznek Method".  Named after retired photographer Les Sleznek.  Enjoy your retirement, Les.

Dumb system but it still lives on.

Oh well, live and let live.

At teardown, I took all my metal photos off the walls.  Maybe, 30-40 mph winds were predicted for the night.

Saturday morn, it was very chilly and windy, thank God, not at the predicted mph.

I dressed with a cotton tee shirt, then a long sleeve cashmere collared sweater.

Over that, I put on a zippered vest. Then a zippered bulky coat liner, then the heavy jacket.

Then a wool scarve that my mother gave me as a 14 year old birthday present.

I had my cool European wool hat to top this.

Of course, I had on my usual shorts.

I do not own any long pants, have not worn any after getting out of the Army in 1978.  Which was the last time I ever shaved with a razor ( I use an electric razor to trim my beard).

I have Nordic genes, grandpa was from Norway, me, I am just a Florida Cracker.

I never feel the cold in my legs, go figure.

I was about the only guy in the show wearing shorts.

The five layers kept me warm, plus, I had a little stash of 100 proof Knob Creek bourbon to sip on occasions.  And I did.

Sales were super, for me.  I did not see many packages in Patrons hands.  Very slim.

You can sign up for a booth sitter, and I did.  The show provides artists with a bag of snacks for lunch.  I passed.

I ambled down to Riverpark Terrace for lunch.  Squeezed my way into a stool at the bar, inhaled the day's chili and fortified with Makers Mark.

I was ready for whatever came next.

Whoo, hoo!

People kept buying from me.  Maybe they felt sorry for me because I was in shorts.

Closed up at five, this time left my art on the walls.

Had a great warm meal with my honey, Ellen Marshall, retired pastel artist, phenomenol.

Sunday dawned with the best weather of the tree days.  Down to two layers and temps in the high 50 ties--a spring day in Wisconsin.

Sales always start slow, no sales til noon.  Show ends at 4pm, thank God.

Again, not a lot of packages in people's hands.

Sundays,tend to be "Tire-Kickers" day.  Lots of lookers, few buyers.

Surprisingly, I had my best Images in 42 years.

Must have been the shorts. 
Gonna post a cool pic of a brave cat leaping thru a ring of fire,

Tell ya about it later along with a Tequila Report, time for a nap, this blogging is very tiring.

Hope you enjoyed, let's see some comments, have not been many compared to all of you who read my blogs.

Next, Artfest Ft. Myers.

Larry Berman's Zoom Meeting - Tuesdays at 4PM Eastern time

Art show artists, tell your friends and feel free to drop in.
We have a few new members this week that are eager to ask art show related questions.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/4338895789?pwd=NXFRME9JRFdMK3VDUEJhdHJ5T2daQT09

Meeting ID: 433 889 5789
Passcode: art-show

Anything art show related can be discussed.

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

Well, not a lot of people blogging about their art shows.

So, I will throw in my 99 cents worth, (Inflation, 50 cents ain't what it used to be).

I am sitting at my fav beach bar in NSB, the Ocean Breeze.  It is Man-day Monday, which means everything is half price-- food and drinks.

I am blogging while sipping Don Julio anejo tequila , lightly salted rim with two limes on the rocks.  With a Yuengling draft chaser.  Gonna have blackened salmon on basmati rice with mango.  Gonna do the tequila again and get out of this place for under $24 while sitting on the Atlantic Ocean and blogging to all you.

Somebody has to do it.

Jeeze! Nels, will ya ever tell us about Bonita!

Thought you would never ask.

OK, Bonita, actually Bonita Springs.  It is like a north suburb of Naples.

Lots of money here, most of it from the Midwest.

The local art league runs this.  Run by Barry Witt. He was a former director of the Naples Art Show.  He started this show over 20 years ago.

Looking at the Weather Channel forecast, we knew we were in for serious bad weather on the Sunday of the show.  This show was two weekends ago.

Forcast for Saturday was sunny, cool, with winds in the15-25 mph range.

Sunday, was supposed to be rain most of the morn with wind gusts up to 40 mph.  Not pretty.

Thankfully, most of the patrons were aware of this.  They showed up in serious numbers on Saturday.

Down here, they like big pieces to go their big walls in their big houses.

Sales were fast and crisp. People bought strongly up to about 4pm.

I had nearly a $3K day.  I was happy, along with most of my neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, my neighbor is a noted glass artist who I first met at Main Street Fort Worth, 20 years ago.

She is my hero. She and her husband are in their eighties, both are battling serious health problems.  Yet, here they were with a double booth.  And she was selling and wrapping all day.  They are my heroes, when I grow up I want to be just like them.

Aware of the weather, Barry made a great decision and told all artists they could pack up Saturday night and nobody would be blackballed.

Earlier in the day, the Naples show, down the road, told artists to pack up, the show was cancelled Sunday.

I think almost 99 per cent of our show packed up that night.

Most of us had a great day.  They bought knowing there would be no Sunday.

In Florida, January shows are hostage to the weather.  And usually we have some brutal fronts come along with heavy winds, rain, and cold temps.

My roomie for the show, jeweler Phil Hall and me slept in on Sunday morn, happy to know our displays and Art were safe.

It rained hard and the wind blew very nasty.  We were glad to not be in it.

We are both from New Smyrna Beach.  We knew the weather was tracking southwest to northeast.  We headed home just after 11am.  It was a piece of cake.  No bad traffic or weather, I was home in less then four hours.

My next blog will be about my hometown show, Images.

Later, Gators, I am in my 48th year of doing shows, and I still love it.

On a cold morning in January 2018, I was asked by a client who has bought images of horses why have I don’t have pictures of big cats. I was surprised. I smiled and answered if you are interested I certainly will attempt my luck on the big cats.

After she left I sat in front of my computer and started my search; I am very attracted to the snow, so the first question was how do I find a big cat that lives in the snow. It was not too long before the pumas showed up in my search, I soon realized that Torres del Paine National Park has a lot of pumas. It was the start of my research on the pumas.

I researched Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia and its accessibility on allowing photographers and videographers to take photos or film in the park. Will I need permits? Will I be safe sleeping in the tent? How close can I get to the pumas? Will I disturb them? What will I do with the puma pictures to inspire people? And so the questions came to my mind.

How I captured Images of Puma

After a good eight months, I made my expedition to Chile to take images of the mighty puma. I flew into Santiago also known as Santiago de Chile, which is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. From there I took a flight to Puerto Natales and then drove with my tracker to Torres del Paine National Park. It was a very scenic route I photographed a lot of landscape images; the lakes were blue as though the sky was on the ground, it was a feast to my eyes I just could not put the camera down. Before we got to my hotel, I saw a lot of beards and the famous guanacos. Guanacos are a cousin of the lama they inhabit both the Pampas plains and mountainous regions of South America. Found in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, and Patagonia, with a small population in Paraguay. In Argentina and Chile, they are more numerous in Patagonian regions, as well as in places such as the Torres del Paine National Park. I kept stopping our car and taking pictures of the guanacos, after the 5th stop I made my tracker politely remind me that I was there to take photos of the big cat puma also known as cougar or mountain lion. He then pointed up at the mountain and said they are watching you.

Next morning we got up at 4.30 am and started our search for the mighty cat. After driving for 1 hr I asked my tracker to stop again, he looked at me and smiled, I had just seen the footprints of a mountain lion in the snow. We parked the car on the side of the road and followed the footmarks for 30 minutes and then I was rewarded. I saw and photographed the puma on my first morning. From that day onwards I came across the big cat for 9 days, I had a great time photographing and making videos it was an amazing experience. My tracker had never had any trip where he saw the cougar for 9 days straight he told me I was very lucky.

The memories of those 9 days always make me smile when I look at the black and white photo prints and the short film at my New York art gallery. Chile and the people I met will always hold a special place in my heart.

View more black and white wall art

More info: ejazkhanearth.com

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Early Morning. Photographing a horse in the ocean has not been one of my favorites. When in this location, I am normally playing around and not focusing. I’m just present physically, not mentally. I have also never taken a good photograph from here, I blame it on the quality of light, location, horses etc; never taking responsibility.

This day, a friend of mine got upset at me because I was joking around and distracting him not allowing him to focus. He said, “why are you here if you don’t want to be?” That put me into place. I decided to focus on fine art photography and make it work, even though I didn’t like anything about the location. After looking at some of the images from this location, I realized it was all in my mind. It had nothing to do with external elements.

View more photos & stories at ejazkhanearth.com

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