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Thursday, July 26, 5 pm E.T.

Finally got there. I was like getting to the grand buffet and finding only a few slivers of beat up melon.  

For example: 

Ann Arbor State Street.  

Tuesday night an artists' dinner is held, we had the "privilege" of sitting with the Mayor and the show organizer. Tom, the show organizer, boosted that his was the only show that would allow stores to have street booths and that Urban Outfitters would do more than $250,000 during the four days of the show. That is $1/4 million that wasn't spent on art. That was only one vendor.

Consideration should be given to renaming the event the Ann Arbor Flea and Art Market.

October 27
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha Expo
deadline August 1

**One Day Only**
10am-4pm

Public admission: $3 Adults, children under 12 free
**Get In Free** with 2 can goods for Waukesha Food Pantry
All admission proceeds are donated to the Waukesha Food Pantry

ArtWorks: One of a Kind-One day show.  Artworks is a fine art and fine craft show.  This location, just outside of Milwaukee, has proved to be a successful location for art shows.  Now we are expanding to the beginning of the holiday gift-giving season. Various media will be shown including painting, jewelry, fiber, photography, ceramics, mixed media and wood.

For more info:
Contact: Colin Murray (608)712-3440
Concessions available and Free parking

Application online: www.artworkswisconsin.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking for more 2012 shows? Visit CallsforArtists.com

I just got back from the College Hills show in lovely Cedar Falls, IA.  It is a Fri and Sat show.  Not a Sat Sun or Fri Sat Sun.  It's FRI and SAT.  Setup was Thurs afternoon.  I'm working along all week minding my own business when my friend Paula Grill, an AFI member also doing that show, called Wed at 9:30PM.  She stated that we had made our hotel reservations for LAST wk and not THIS wk, when the fair was.  (I should mention here that Paula couldn't make the show now, because her husband got sick and was in the hospital.)  

Ok, panic no. 1.  Then she started talking something about leaving tomorrow and it hit me like a train - In my brain I had me leaving on FRIDAY!  Panic no. 2.  My van was not loaded, no suitcase packed and it was poring cats and dogs with lightning outside.  Total drought here all month and it decides to rain TONITE.  On top of all this?  No reservation and one that was missed AND charged to my credit card.  All $215 of it.

Somehow managed to pack what I could that nite, then got up super early after a lousy nite's sleep, to load my van. Called the hotel.  It was the "Wingate" by Wynham Hotels in lovely Cedar Falls, IA.  Explained my situation and got a new reservation.  Asked the clerk if it was possible to use last wks charges on this wks stay since I major goofed up.  Used a medical excuse, which is not a lie, because I take this cancer medication that seriously makes my brain foggy.  She said I could take it up with the manager when I arrived.  Wanted to mention that I made the first reservations thru Priceline.  Not a bid, but one that was a sale.  The price was alittle cheaper than what the show got there, for the artists.  I know, I know.  Priceline....

Left about 10am, all well and good but still missing a few years on my life.  And the story continues......

Get to the hotel.  Nice place.  NOT nice manager.  In fact I think a she must have worked at one of those motels where you can stop for a "nap"?  You know the kind.  She proceeds to tell me that Priceline should issue me a refund that they are third party only.  Get to my room to call Priceline.  No way on the face of this earth and then some, was I going to get a refund.  Long story short, they said, "Well Wingate got paid last week so they should honor the request."  

Cue to the show....  Setup was a breeze.  Nice park on the campus of Northern Iowa Univ.  Drive up to your space, unload, no problem.  Still wigging in my head on what day it actually was, but so far so good.   Fri was mid 80's with a good crowd of ohhh 70-80 yr olds.  It's Fri, for cryin' out loud.  Sold like nothing.  Sat was supposed to be a heat wave.  95+.  That did not happen.  Cloudy, a tad rainy and the crowd was way light probably due to the forecast.  Finally towards the end of the day, sold one piece to a great couple for $800.  Again, extremely easy teardown.  Get your car whenever, drive to your spot.  All very relaxed.  Wonderful artist hospitality house with coffee, iced tea, all the water you needed, snacks, fruit and indoor restroom.  Sack lunch for the way home!  Alittle disappointed in the sales, but that's always the risk you take.  Wonderful quality of artists and the best balance of categories I've ever seen.  Promoters were always present to check on situations.  Artist party on Fri nite was good food, jazz band and open bar.  Fun.

Get back to the hotel....NOT fun.  My room was right by the side parking lot and exit door so I go in that way.  As I walk up to my door, I see it is ajar, as in the metal bar thingie was swung out inbetween the door jam and the door, keeping in open.  Panic no. 17.  I slowly open the door and immediately check for my laptop.  All looked good so I walked in, dropped my stuff and went to the front desk to tell the clerk about the door.  She says the manager will actually be in from 11pm to 2 am (go figure)  so she'll make sure and tell her.  I also said I wanted to talk to her about the charge debacle before the bill was actually processed.  

Called the front desk about 11:30, talk to the manager.  She imMEDiately started yelling, saying she's NOT responsible and can't do anything and she's sick of talking to me and she has to balance her books, etc etc.  Ran the medical thing past her again, of course, she's not budging.  So I hang up.  THEN I realize I forgot to mention the door.  Call her back.  Ask if she heard about the door.... "I checked the camera! which happens to be right in front of your door! and all the doors! in the hall were closed!  I am hanging up NOW!"  I was shocked to say the least.  Asked her if she was calling me a liar?  I'm sure she thought I was trying one last scam to get money off my room.  I start to raise my voice about how dare she accuse me of that and she says "You need to talk to me in a proFESSional way! or I will escort you out of the building!  Do you want me to escort you out?!"

At this point I realized maybe some liquor was involved in her mood and I just hung up.  

Of course, there was the bill under my door the next day for another cool $250.  I wrote her a note and had the clerk put it in her mailbox.  Said that I was amazed at her reaction, calling me a liar, making me feel like I was scamming her for money off.  Said she runs the hotel recklessly and she's lucky this time that nothing was stolen.  Told her to check her tape again.  Also left a note for the housekeeping, telling them that whomever was in my room the night before, left it open.  

Boy is Wynham Corporate going to hear from me.  I realize that I'm probably screwed on the refund but I do want them to know about the Manager From The No-Tell Mo-Tells.  Stay tuned.  If I get anywhere, I'll post again.  

Alot of lessons learned here.....Not using Priceline anymore, getting a HUGE dry erase calendar, talking to my oncologist about this medication and opening a bottle of wine.

Cheers and many sales to all!

I AM POSITIVE. 

I CAN DO THIS.

I CAN SMILE FOR 8-12 HOURS.

I CAN BE FRIENDLY, POSITIVE, AND UPBEAT DESPITE THE SWEAT DRIPPING OFF ME.

OK.  I'm trying to stay 'in the zone' of positive thoughts, positive vibes and auroas.  And people -love the jewelry and the glass.  Lots of compliments.  Sometimes identifying which piece should go to whom.  Thanking both of us for making the jewelry and glass.  Ooos and ahhhs. 

And then they say: 

   Do you have a card (all over the table - cards and postcards).

   Do you have a website (yes but pricing is higher) and I think that the website holds us back at shows because most people - 99.99% do not contact us after shows.

  Will you be showing anywhere else?  (If I say yes, will you promise to buy there?  And what's wrong with buying it at this show).  If I say yes - and tell them, they walk along.  If I say no this is it for this city -- or 'we'll be in  atlanta (not chicago) -- they walk away.  I sometimes think they ask the question and don't listen tot he answer.

    So, does anyone have any suggestions on closing a sale?  Sometimes I ask people - which design speaks to them.  or I see that they keep on going back to a particular design and I suggest that's the piece that is pulling at them ... it works sometimes and not others.

   I'm all ears -- and would love to hear from people before show opens tomorrow -- but even after that, suggestions would be valued.

Thanks in advance - Deborah@DorLDor.com

we are at booth 59 - please come over and say hi to us -- deborah and jay:)

spiritual message (not massage) jewelry and judaica

:)

When applying for a show, it makes sense to submit a photo of an outdoor booth if you're applying to an outdoor show.  And, an indoor booth photo for an indoor show.

I'm wondering how much it hurts if you submit an indoor booth photo to an outdoor show.  Going back to paragraph one, I suppose it would only make sense if your indoor photo is better.  But, unless it is significantly better, would you lose the advantage gained simply because it doesn't match the type show to which you are applying?  I've always hesitated to send an indoor photo to an outdoor show but I'm wondering just how much it really does hurt your chances.  And, I've seen a couple of outdoor show that specify only outdoor booth photos.  But, if they don't specify, does it really matter all that much?

I'd be interested in hearing others' opinions on this.

An exciting weekend for me in St. Joe, July 14-15, where I really got a good art fair "fix." Who wasn't going to be there?

Potter Patrick Dragon who told me about his leaving the art fair business to
return to teaching in the Fall. We'll miss his amazing pots.

Photographer Chris Dahlquist

Mixed media by Steve Cambronne

Sculpture by Scott Causey, on the Bluffs of Lake Michigan

• My apologies for not having more photos, especially one of Geri, who has made so many contributions to AFI, but my camera battery died half way through the day! Another day...
  
  
• P. S. On Tuesday I went to some good friends' house for dinner and lo and behold they'd also been to St. Joe and purchased these two sculptures from Cliff Matyszczyk:
• 

I used to be a corporate person and I met my husband at work.  I wrote my blog this week about one of my coworkers who I used to flirt with.  I wonder if there is any new romances happening in the art fair world?  I hope so!  Work is a great place to meet wonderful people, even if you aren't seeing the same people every day like I used to.

If you're not busy getting ready for an art show, here's a story I hope you'll enjoy:

http://pencilenvy.blogspot.com/2012/07/confessions-of-corporate-flirt.html

Happy selling!

Wendy

The Ann Arbor Art Fairs are the granddaddy upon which many other shows got their get up and go, copycats, improvements, lessons learned, etc.

Once upon a time in 1969 a bunch of people wanted to horn in on the fabulous success they were seeing for artists in the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair and grabbed property nearby and had a "free fair." Yep, you saw the date and I hope a bunch of you remember the '60's. AA was a great place to be in those days. Many of the original group have continued to participate every year since then so I'd like to give a little heads up to these pioneers who helped the rest of us find our art fair legs.

One of the reasons so many of these people could continue year in and year out is that for many of the early years if you joined the Guild you'd be able to participate in the show without jurying and there was a long waiting list of people waiting for that opportunity.

Walt Pinkus sent me this list and these are just the Michigan list. Walt and his wife Ruth are participating for the last time.

Stan Baker, Donna Beaubien, Rex Benson, John Berry, Marilyn Bishop, Bonnie Blandford, Phil Borkowski, Carlye Crisler, Joe Cyberski, Callie Dean, Laurie Fowler, Helmut Goral, Mary Humphrey, Ruth Petersen & David Jellema, Jan Kaulins, Michael Kifer, Esther Kirschenbaum, Sam Machulis, Chris Maher, Rita Meech & Terry Oss, Nels Nelson, Rick Ott, Ken Pellar, Jim Reinert, Sharon St. Mary, Simon & Joy Tarasiewicz, Sally Thielen, Ron & Cynthia Tschudy, Susan Wright, Kay Yourist.

I think most of them are exhibiting there again this year. What a life!

Does anyone have any other names to add to the list? Or can you add names from 1969?

This is a special message sponsored by TheArty.com, a global art competition and show.

I reviewed the Haddonfield Crafts and Fine Arts show, put on by Marcy & Barbara Boroff of Renaissance Craftables,last year.  Rarely have I done a show two years running with such carbon-copy result. The show is held along two streets (Kings Highway and Tanner Ave.) that comprise the bulk of Haddonfield's business district. Haddonfield is a lovely, well-kept, history-rich Jersey-side suburb of Philadelphia. 

Early Saturday setup featured a moderately steady rain that we would have been grateful for at the time, had we realized it was going to rain even harder and more steadily once the show opened.  You aren't allowed to just come in and set up, though: You first stack your stuff along the sidewalk anytime between 5:30 am and 7 and head for the parking lots.  The cops and the barricades keep other traffic off the two main streets of the festival while you unload and stack.  Then, once all vehicles are off the streets, you set up your tent in the middle of the street, facing the sidewalks.  In a sense, this unusual procedure helped us stay a bit drier in the rain, since some of us could stack stuff under the doorways and eaves of the little shops and restaurants that line the streets, instead of having everything exposed to the elements.

The Boroffs remind you frequently in the pre-show literature that if you arrive after 7 am you are out of luck and will have to dolly from the artist parking lots, but every year I've done this show someone thinks they are exempt.  Marcy did a really good job being firm about this with one artist near me who stomped his foot repeatedly while the rest of us, well into our setup, shrugged our collective shoulders.

The rain caused a bit of a delay because it washed the chalk marks from the street, so it took a bit of work for staff to remark them, then abandon that plan entirely when the rains hit again.  I am not sure why the Boroffs don't just use tape or (like Cape Coral FA in Florida) get some wire numbered signs made.  In any event there was plenty of time, since the show doesn't open until 11 on Saturday morning. (It doesn't wrap up until 7 pm on Saturday.)  No generators are allowed and no electricity is available, so good battery-operated fans are a must.

Despite the rain, a fair number of folks browsed the show on Saturday, but sales were light.  Things for me picked up somewhat when the rain stopped in mid-afternoon.  But the extra sales hours didn't help much; I didn't make a single sale after about 5:15. 

Sunday was rain-free but still humid and quite a bit warmer.  And the show didn't officially open until noon (perhaps because of the abundance of churches along the show site) but many artists opened up between 10 and 11 and reported lots of traffic and brisk sales. That continued past the opening bell, so to speak, and throughout most of the day.  In contrast to Saturday's browse mode, folks on Sunday, as they did last year, came ready to buy.  I had an OK, but not super, sales day, which sure beat the Saturday doldrums.  Overall it was a profitable show and a paycheck, but not quite up to the $2K-plus mark I'd been hoping for. 

I didn't have much time to leave the booth, but several AFI'ers and a few friends from Sunshine Artist came by to chat and report in.  No one reported gangbuster results, but only two of about a dozen artists said their sales were poor (both were on Tanner St., where traffic was light compared with Kings Highway). 

All in all, this show gets solid community support, and many of the artists and crafters have cultivated regular followings. The "mix" is a bit heavy on jewelry and photography, and definitely skews to crafts over 2-D art, with a surprising number of wood carvers and hand-made furniture.  Although I probably wouldn't do Haddonfield as a stand-alone show unless I lived within an hour's drive, it's a nice show to have in the middle of my annual July swing through the Jersey shore resorts. 

So, it was Chautauqua weekend and I have nattered on about what an awesome show it is in the past, so I won't bore you with superlatives. This is about an opening sale the likes of which I'll never see again.

I am a book artist, but with the economy the way it is, I had wandered into "trinket" territory, using my scraps to make collage cards and magnets which sold very well but made me depressed when I made them. It also rankled when customer after customer would wander in, exclaim about my wonderful creations and then leave with a five dollar card.  After about a bazillion of them told me they were going to frame them, I had one of those wowza moments and thought that if they were going to frame them, so could I.

With some encouragement and advice from the fine folks here, I started making "real" collage and framing them. I also bagged a bunch of matted ones. They started to sell. I love making them.  As Chautauqua rolled around, I made the leap and put away the card and magnet making paraphernalia and focused on "real" collage. This took courage because those trinkets pay my expenses. But, you know, if I wanted to spend my time doing something I hate, I would have stayed in the government job.

So, I had a lot of collage. (what is he plural of collage anyway?) They hung on the back wall and the sides and I had a come-hither set up with a few in the very front. I had about 30 unframed. (I am not charging a fortune for these things. $30 and $40 for the matted ones, 60-80 framed. They cost me pennies to make and I enjoy it)

OK, so here is what happened. Around 10:30 a gentleman in tennis whites strolled in, looked at all the framed pieces and told me he really liked them. I thanked him. Then he perused the unframed, smiling and nodding. And then, with a huge grin, he said "I'll take everything" I laughed. He asked if he got a discount if he bought them all and I laughed and said "sure, if you buy them all!". I was still laughing. This went on for a bit until he started to take the pieces down and hand them to me. He truly wanted to buy them all.

Turns out he is a doctor practicing Chinese medicine who is opening a new facility in New York and he thought the collage with their inspirational and amusing quotes would be a great decorating theme. Russell helped him carry the pieces to his condo on the grounds and they had a great discussion about herbs and ancient medicine and acupuncture. He missed a couple of pieces I had hung on the front wall, so I moved them to the back and re-did the display.

He came back a few hours later with his wife to show her some things in the next booth he thought she might like for their home and he stopped in to say Hi. Noticed the pieces he missed. Bought them. I spent the rest of the weekend studying the one framed and one unframed he didn't buy, wondering what was wrong with them. I know you understand. Both of the eventually sold.

You know the best part? Word of this spread through the show and other artisans either came in to congratulate me or stopped me on the grounds to say "way to go" Some wanted me to touch them for good luck.

I doubt I will ever sell 2 grand in the opening moments of a show again, but the memory of that morning in Chautauqua will make me smile for a really long time.

An artist was kind enough to add me as an assistant to this wonderful festival and it was a wonderful benefit.  At a lot if shows, this wouldn't mean anything but at Krasl it meant I was fed and watered!!

This was a totally different show for me.  I was staying with a friend who prefers the beach to art shows so I had two full days to do whatever I wanted and I wanted to spend it at Krasl.

We actually walked through the area on Friday while people were setting up.  There were three highlights--I got to meet Holly Olinger, Connie Mettler and Patricia McCleery.   Connie joined my friend and I for drinks and snacks at the local hangout, Schu's.   They were really wonderful about letting us sit in the a/c.

On Saturday, we got to Krasl at about 9am and that was not a unique idea.  I usually get to a festival a little early and I have never seen this many people arrive at a festival an hour before.  Most of the art was very good.  There are always a few hits and misses and my hits and misses are not necessarily the same as someone else's which I think helps to explain how they got in the show.  That and they may have had really good jury pics that enhance the work or their booth display is bad, making the work look poor.  I found a lot to buy and had to slow myself down and take a step back so as not to make any mistakes.  Like an artist, I can report my highest spending day in several years. 

I have an expression, "so many artists, so little money"  I have a certain dollar amount that I feel comfortable spending on a piece and I don't go over that.  I also usually have a weekend limit.  There were so many things that I wanted to buy that I had to raise the weekend limit.  I happily purchased things from people I had never purchased from before so I was able to add different looks to my collection.  Sadly for the artists, I am not that 'big get' that makes a show.  I just try to let artists know that I really appreciate their work and want to own a small piece of it.  I am also running out of room in my house and my body.  Don't tell me to rotate my collection, I buy what I really like and want to look at it, all of the time!

Except for the back row at one end of the festival (the lost sales row, as one artist put it) this is an easy show to navigate.  It is pretty long and the main walk can get crowded but it is easy to get between booths and walk in the street.  The festival even provides two name signs with booth numbers and the back of most booths had the signs up.  This helps after you have seen the entire show and want to fulfill your "be back" commitments!!

The one artist area that I can speak to is the food.  My badge allowed me to eat lunch in the artist's lounge and it was great.  Also allowed to eat there were the sponsors and Krasl Buck Patrons.  I had lunch with a wide variety of people:  artists, patrons, helpers, policemen and NAIA members.  When the NAIA member told me who she was with, the first thing I said was:  "what are you doing about buy/sell"  We had a good discussion about what could be done about it.  My badge also included 2 bottles of water which were greatly appreciated because it was hot among the booths.  

The best thing about the art festivals is meeting people who I have been reading online.  I don't think I have ever been disappointed when I met an artist yet.   Leo Charette is as wonderful as his photography.  He has a unique way of seeing an object and getting a fantastic shot.  He also has great captions for some of his pieces that are very clever.  I also got to meet Dave Nagel who has a wonderful touch with wood.  Holly makes really cool wood and glass pieces and wall pieces that are both works of art and filled with symbolism.  I had never met her before and we had a great time.  I finally met John Leben while I was at Nels' booth but left while those two 'discussed' the merits of Florida photos and shows.  Bob and Patti Stern were there and the times I saw Bob out of the booth, he was walking one of their wonderful pieces to someone's car.  I had lunch with both Amy Flynn and Phil Crone which pretty much means I spent a lot of time in the artist's lounge!   Patricia McCleery was nice enough to let me hang a while at her booth and help her with her beautiful jewelry.  I met lots of other artists with wonderful work I had never seen before.

St. Joseph, Michigan is a wonderful little beach town.  The water is beautiful, the beach is lovely, the town has galleries, shops and restaurants in a small, compact, easy to walk area, the traffic wasn't too bad, the houses run the gamut from small bungalows to big mansions.  I can see why people love to visit there. 

It was a wonderful show that knows art is the main thing.  There was a food area and an entertainment area (that was only too loud for a little while on Sunday, otherwise it was unobtrusive ) that was separated from the art area.  This show is bigger than Lakefront in Milwaukee but they both have the same sensibilities when it comes to running a festival.  Krasl seems to have a more personal touch with the artists.  

It was a wonderful weekend and I would like to thank everyone who was so nice to me.  

I'm posting this as an attempt to pass on a request from another artist and inform as many people as may want to be informed and perhaps help out. Many of you may know Rick and Linda Bachman, two of the nicest people I've met, from various art fairs. On June 23rd their house, as-well-as the neighbors house, caught on fire. Apparently due to some wayward fireworks, which, by the way are illegal in Colorado! The request from Jim DeLutes follows:

Artists needing our help

Greetings,

Thank you and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions,

Jim DeLutes
Director
Colorado Artist Tour
www.ColoradoArtistTour.com

Someone on the street captured a video of the fire and you can see Rick at 1:40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l64SH3wtoE4&feature=related

Well, both Barry Bernstein and John Lebben have given excellent show reviews.  Let me fill you in some particulars that they did not include.

CHANCES OF GETTING IN NEXT YEAR

First off, I will just say this the best show to do in Michigan especially with how it is run and making money.

I did more on Sat. by noon than I did in almost three days at Boston Mills.  By 3pm I had passed my totals for the Columbus show which was previously my best show of the summer so far.

Everybody wants to be here because it is mostly Chicago and other Illinois money that fuels the show.  The Michiganders don't have the disposable income like the former.

So, next year they are only inviting back 30% of approximately 220 exhibitors.  Two years ago, and for years before, they invited 50%.  That means 66 lucky  people are in.  That leaves 154

spots for jurying into. Your chances of getting accepted are about 1:8 by my humble calculations.

Booth for booth the work looked great.  You gotta impress them good.

A LITTLE NOTE ABOUT THE JURYING AT THE ART SHOW.

On Sat. they send around six jurors who grade you on your work, presentation, etc.

They turn in the scores and the show has some pre-arranged total, lets say 36 points. Them that gets over that get the invitation.

This is the only negative point I will make about this show.

In my humble estimation, remember this is only my observation, some years not all the jurors even bother to walk into your booth.  You get judged from the sidewalk and somebody puts a dot on your sign.  It sucks, usually you get a low score which skews the totals if even the other four judges like you.

I have done this show, off and on, more than 15 years.  I remember one year I did not make the cut and I never saw many jurors come in.  A comment was attached to my jury score, it said, " Too much Florida images."  I guess it is ok to have too many European images, but screw Florida.

This year the first juror in my booth was a thin woman in a striped dress.  She looked intently down the left side of my booth, then walked back out.  SHE NEVER TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED AT MY RIGHT SIDE WHICH HAD A LOT OF GOOD WORK.  Gee, I guess I kinda got half of a jury score from her.  The next juror was a woman, she judged me from the sidewalk and I got my dot.  The remaining three jurors, two men and one woman, all came in shook my hand,looked at my work and even asked a few questions.  I felt, finally I have been judged.

Now I know they were given guidelines for judging--one being that two minutes was the top-alloted time to spend in a booth looking at work.  That's cool.  But it still leaves ya time to come in off that sidewalk.

Oh well, we find out in late August who gets invites.  I hope Christmas comes early this year.

BTW.  They do an excellent job of notifying you about your score.  Its no "TS, try again next time."  They show your score, they tell you the cut-off score needed and many times they put little comments about your work.  That is so much more than most shows do these days.

About the operations and setup--a few things Barry did not mention.  Lucky guy, got to swizzle wine with Chris Bruno and others.

First off the overall domero who runs this great show is Sarah Shamberger.  She does a fabulous job.  Everything you can think of, she has it covered.  She has run this show for years and everything flows like a well-greased machine.

Here is the most refreshing note I can say about her.  She is readily available by phone.  You can actually call her and get her live.  Good luck doing that with about the other 99% of

directors in this country.  Cyndi Lerwick  who runs the Clayton St. Louis show is another one who is accessible,  There are not a whole lot of others.

The show is a stickler for their rules.  You better follow them to the "T" or you can forget about getting in the next year.  Two rules to be aware of involve both setup and teardown.

You can start setting up your booth after 10 am on Friday morn (it is a Sat-Sun show}.  Don't try to get your van in before 10 am--that is a big no-no.  At teardown, which starts at 5 pm, do not try to come in one second early.  You will be flagged, and forget about next year.

ABOUT SALES--MAKING MOOLA

Traditionally, Saturday is the best day for sales.  They come out early and buy voraciously.  I made my first sale at 9:15 am, 45 minutes ahead of show opening.  This apples to most of us--the early Sat. sales,there are always exceptions.

Sunday crowd is usually smaller, and buys low-end if they buy at all.  It is like the husband says,"Honey, let's take the kids down for a stroll on the bluff and see the art show".  Most walk

down the middle, empty-handed, and never look at the art.  There are always exceptions.

I barely did $800 on Sunday, all low-end.  Saturday, I sold mostly big pieces and very few mats for under $75.

Fellow AFI-er, Patricia Heckler hit the nail right on the head.  She said the Chicago people leave early on Sunday to beat the rush back to the big city.

They are mostly traditional in what they buy.  Contemporary sells, if you got the right stuff.  Gods knows what that is these days.

NOW LET'S GET CRACKING.

i got the news today from my heart guy.  They are real concerned about the water buildup in my legs which is the by-product of my leaking heart valve (yes, the Mitrol.}  I go into the hospital at the Mjier Heart Clinic, in Grand Rapids, on August 9th, right after I survive Uptown Minneapolis. They keep me in a bed for four days and prick me and trick me and try to get my body right for cracking.  On the 13th I go under for the big one--repairing the Mitrol valve and doing one bypass for blockage.

Right before I go under the anesthetia, I plan on saying "Aloha!."  Because it means both "Good-bye" and "Hello."  I definitely need to be breathing.  I plan on it, otherwise I am going to shoot every damn beautiful tropical place in Heaven before Steve Vaugn arrives.

Aloha, Nels.  Don't worry, I will come out OK, I was born under a lucky star and good things have happened to me all my life.  You gotta Believe.

Vegetarian and vegan food will be available at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair July 18-21. Lightlife, a Massachusetts-based company will be making the food as part of a nationwide tour.

Heritage.com has more information.

It seems so simple to get things right.  The thing about KRASL that makes this show stand out is the attention to the little things that make this show great.  It starts with the setup and ends with the breakdown.  This is one hassle free event.  Setup is painless. It starts at 10 AM Friday and you have all day until 10 PM to arrive, check in and set up.  And guess what kiddies?  The artists get to control the whole thing.  There are no committee members with ego problems bossing you around, treating you like it's your first show.  Committees can turn a 2 hour load in into an 8 hour stress fest with load in times, directing you to your spot, etc.  You all know what I'm talking about.  At this show, the artist get to work things out among themselves, so, things go really smoothly.  There is an artist party starting at 5, at the art center, which is at one end of the show.  At the other end is a large tent put up by Shu's restaurant, for artists that was serving drinks. Everyone had free assigned parking lots close to the show, so if you had to access your vehicle it was just a minutes a couple away for everyone.  There is a program where townspeople allow artists to stay at their house.  It's somewhat limited but the people who do this have embraced the concept.  I saw where one artist had their own suite which faced a small lake.  The homeowner left a welcome basket for when they arrived, and stocked their own refrigerator with beer, water, and juices, etc. Of course, they had to post pictures on their FB page gloating about their good fortune.

Surprise!! Surprise!! The show starts at 10AM on Saturday and people are streaming into the show.  I started making sales immediately.  I think my first sale was at 10:05 and it was steady until about 3PM.  Then it slowed down but at no time did it stop and there were people walking the show right up until the end.  Same thing with Sunday. Unfortunately for me, but not really, all my sales were $130 and under.  Two years ago, Nels Johnson chastised me for not having low end pieces for the Ann Arbor art fair.  So, I made a bunch of $40 pieces and plenty in the $120-$130 range. Well, I still won't have many of those pieces for Ann Arbor because I sold a lot of them this past weekend.  Everyone around me was selling steadily and just because I didn't sell any high end pieces it didn't mean that everyone had that experience.  One friend had a $1600 sale.  The person next to me didn't sell anything until after 3 PM on Sunday and then they had two sales in the $2800 range.  I even sold my most expensive piece at 5 PM right at the end of the show.  At every show there are a few who do great and a few who have goose eggs.  The thing that made this show great is that the majority of the artists had decent sales, not great, but, healthy.  This is one show where they invite a number of artists back, not just the award winners.  I know that some people are going to be unhappy because they will have to jury in again next year.

A word about the quality.  The quality of the artists and the artwork was excellent.  This was my fourth year and by far this year had the best artists.  There were some questionable work, like in "How did they get into this show?" Guess what kiddies? Sara had a couple of us go around and note the booths that were glaringly not up to quality of the rest of the show.  They will not be returning next year.  The show is limited to 200+ booths, I'm not sure of the actual number. Every year there is a suggestion made to make it bigger.  Sara, who is the long time director, will have none of that.  She wants a relatively small intimate show of high quality and she achieves that.

The show is on one long street facing the sidewalk with booths on both sides and then some booths in a second row on the grass in a row.  I don't believe there are any bad spaces.  You get extra space on your sides which makes this show really comfortable.  The helpers are friendly and eager to help with any request.  There are water booths strategically placed.  One great thing is there is an artist lounge in the upscale hotel in the middle of the show on the other side of the street.  There is a free artist lunch. Or, if you want to get out of the sun, you can just go there to rest and recharge.  There is plenty of soda and water to drink, too. I almost forgot to mention that Shu's puts on a nice breakfast for artists in their hospitality tent on Saturday morning.  This is another nice touch.

One of the best things about this show is how the artists treat each other.  There is a spirit of we are all in this together.  I had a ball.  Shu's is a really nice restaurant and groups of artists like to go there together for dinner at the end of the day.  There is a really fabulous pizza place at the train station down underneath the show closer to Lake Michigan, where we went one evening. Tosi's has great coffee in the morning where people congregate. There are a number of online web sites where we all have made relationships with people that we never met in person.  I got to see a number of these people at KRASL and the real time experience was as good or even better than the online one. One night, after dinner, a couple of us gravitated to the about mentioned hotel where a few people were closing down the bar.  After the bar, Scot Causey, Chris Bruno, and I finished off a bottle of wine in a little park by the booths.  It turned into a night of testifying.  Chris was one of those people I wanted to meet because our group of trouble makers had gotten into it with him at another popular FB artist's site.  He turned out to be a great guy and we hit it off right away.  He kept telling me that he was prepared to really dislike us.  Reluctantly, he found us all to be really great people and that it was impossible to not like the few people who had gotten into it with him.  That night was a hoot and I found myself having a hard time keeping my eyes open at 1:30 AM.  I never do late night partying because I need to be really fresh and alert during the show.  I didn't suffer too much and was in great shape Sunday morning.

Even the weather cooperated.  There was a storm coming in Saturday evening.  Miraculously, it missed us by a hair.  South Bend, Indiana, which is just south of St Joseph got the brunt of it which turned out to be 4 inches of rain. All we had was nice weather with a breeze coming off Lake Michigan to cool us down.

That's it for now.  I have to be somewhere soon.  If I forgot something I will post it.  I'm sure Nels will cover anything I leave out in his blog.