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Making art and making money is not always a match made in heaven. And ... that doesn’t mean it’s not doable; in fact, quite the opposite.

With the right tools, the right information, and the right attitude you can turn your passion for art into a thriving income.

Join Ariane Goodwin, host of the smARTist Telesummit, at her online seminar.  This amazing, 7-day immersion-in-your-art-career conference begins Thursday with a MasterMind Panel where, if you register, you can submit a question for consideration (but hurry because Ariane needs these by tonight!)

Ariane has been helping artists turn art into money for nearly a decade. And after four years of organizing and hosting the only annual, professional conference for visual artists, she has gathered top information from 49 leading authorities and successful artists who have given keynote presentations at smARTist.

You can sign up right here > https://smARTistTelesummit.com
...and then, be amazed!

Three shows that I know of this weekend just in Florida: Hot Works' Boca Raton show, and Howard Alan's shows in Indiatlantic and Delray Beach.

Anyone want to get the ball rolling with a writeup on their show?  Make it brief if you must; others will fill in the gaps. 

July 28 & 29
Geneva, Illinois
8 S. Third Street
Sat. & Sun.: 10am-5pm
175 max. artists
Deadline: Feb. 1

Geneva, a chic and charming historic town located on the Fox River, will celebrate it's eleventh annual Fine Arts Fair in 2012.

Presented by the Chamber of Commerce, the show is tucked along shady streets among 100+ specialty shops located in Victorian-style homes and century-old buildings.  A "hands on" kids art area, awards for emerging and seasoned artists along with warm small-town hospitality, offer a picture-postcard setting for this juried art celebration.

Note: Prints, photography, digital art and computer generated art: Prints must be produced by traditional printmaking techniques.  The only medium where Giclee (ink jet) prints are allowed is digital photography and computer generated art work.  All artists applying to either print, photography or computer generated art must submit a brief description of creative process from start to finish.

Emerging artists are required to fill out and abide by the same rules as professional artists.  However the jury fee is waived and if accepted the emerging artists space fee is $100.  Please note: emerging artists are considered those artists who have never paid for a booth space at a fine art or craft fair.  Each accepted emerging artist will receive one "wall" to display artwork on that is approximately 6 foot high by 8 foot long.  3-d artists will need to supply their own pedestals.  A limited number of photography spaces are available.

Festival Facts:
     Jury Fee: $20
     Booth Fee: $280
     Checks payable to: Geneva Chamber of Commerce
     No prints allowed
     Ribbon Awards: $4,000
     Attendance: 20,000

This event is organized by Erin Melloy of EM Events, a well established promoter of art shows in the Chicago area. EM Events are held in partnership with local business organizations bringing close interaction between each community and its' local art fair and insuring you loyal patrons.

For the application: please click here

For additional information please contact:
Erin Melloy - 630-536-8416
emelloy@emevents.com or visit www.emevents.com
Please mail application and checks to:
EM Events Ilc, P.O. Box 4332, Naperville, IL 60567

Just curious if other artists have automatic "dealbreakers" when they are filling out applications.

I came across this one again today when looking at the application for the Talbot Street Festival. It's one of those festivals that wants you to include the booth fee check with the application. Which I think is only marginally OK, but the dealbreaker for me is the following clause: "Your acceptance to the fair is your obligation to appear. Once accepted, no money will be returned to any exhibitor for any reason." I feel strongly enough that I should be allowed to accept or decline their application without having to pay an entire booth fee as a penalty that as a general rule I do not apply to these kinds of shows. Period.

Along these lines, I also wish that I could un-apply for shows as well when they announce that "due to artist demand" or "due to an unexpected federal holiday" or some other BS reason that they are going to extend the application deadline.  Now that would be a great feature for Zapplication!!

Any other things that cause people to take an application and put it in the trash?

As I write this, we’ve just had power restored after a 37 hour outage due to the Jan 2012 Snow/Ice storm that has hit Seattle and the suburbs and made the national news.  Talked and emailed with another artist over the past 2 days who is now thinking they will miss their first show of the year in AZ because they didn’t leave the NW before this stupid winter storm hit.  They confided they were freezing in their house without  power, needed to get to the store for a few staples and all I could think was what is wrong with you????  Sorry, I know this is  a bigger than usual storm for us, but the weather people have been hyping it for days.  Did you not stock up? Did you not think about candles, batteries, etc?   And for heaven’s sake, if you were headed to AZ from WA, why wouldn’t you want to leave a little early just to see the sun??   Then she complained about not getting a refund from a show that she’s cancelling at the last minute and they are also re-evaluating whether they should travel that far if they are eliminating one show from their schedule which means they might be forfeiting more booth fees.  When I asked her why she didn’t leave a day or two earlier she said it was because hotels were so expensive.  Hmm, not sure that 1 or 2 additional nights in a hotel would be so expensive that forfeiting booth fees and all the potential income makes sense.

So that got me to thinking about contingency planning which we do all the time.  Remembering times when we left for “spring” shows 24 or 48 hours early due to the weather forecast and the desire to not have to chain up crossing the passes, yes we have a generator, flashlights, candles, extra food and now with the deep cycle marine battery/inverter and LED  lights that are normally used for our booth, we’re more prepared than ever to weather out a storm at home or on the road in our RV.  And yes, we’ve used all of those contingency items as well as discussed the fact that one way or another it would be really nice to be in AZ the next time a snow/ice storm hit Seattle, we know realistically that we need to take care of ourselves, our home and our silly little Tazzy Kat.  The day after power was restored and the roads were once again clear enough to drive around safely, what did we do?  Stocked up at the grocery store, refilled the gas tanks, refilled the propane tanks and went out to lunch just for fun.  Looking around us as we left our neighborhood, seeing all the downed trees and power lines, we realized that while we have power now, there’s still a chance that yet another tree or branch could take it away at any given moment and we felt we needed to be prepared.

Yet today I’ve seen way too many friends, work colleagues, artists, etc. posting on email, Facebook, etc. that they just weren’t prepared.  I understand not being prepared when an unexpected storm hits, but this one, really?  Our local news media has been warning about this for more than a week before it hit and it isn’t even as bad as predicted although I’m a bit disgruntled that it seems to be lasting longer than predicted, but we’re okay.  We’re warm, dry and safe even though there  are a few of life’s normal things, like turning on a light switch and having a room remain dark, that kept me a bit frustrated, I know we’ll weather this and be glad when it’s over.  One colleague was complaining about the fact that they ended up in a hotel for 2 nights, meals out for 3 days for a family of 5 and now she was heading home to throw away any food or supplies that were no longer safe to eat in her fridge and freezer.  When she asked how we were coping and I mentioned we were using our generator, she said, oh they are so expensive.  Hmm, more expensive than 2 nights at hotel for a family of 5 plus all those meals out and the cost of replacing all the groceries in your freezer and fridge?

All this has got me to thinking about contingency planning, when we’re on the road, when we’re home with a show scheduled and weather is not cooperating, etc.  Being a “Type A” personality, I’m always watching out for these things, planning for bad scenarios although I don’t think we’re ever 100% prepared for the “worse case” scenarios, but after seeing the silliness on friends FB pages, co-workers emails, etc. I’m wondering what happened to common sense?  Am I the only one?  Has common sense disappeared?  In my mind it’s common sense and our responsibility to take care  of yourself, your family, home and business.

Boca Fest is held in the parking lot of a very nice Boca Raton strip mall on the west side of I95. The parking lot is along Military Trail, which is a main street so it is impossible for people to miss the show if they are driving by and easy to give direction to your clients.

Set up is the HA early Saturday Morning set up, but easy in and out since you have the whole parking lot to maneuver around. There were many ways in and out and ways to get your stuff to your spot. Pretty painless set up. Artist parking was convenient, just across the main street and behind a building. Booth spaces were a very nice size. We each got a parking space basically.  It was a deep space with plenty of room to blow out the back of your tent. The spaces were back to back and then artist across from each other. The spaces between the tents were very large and lots of room for people to get around. Break down was also smooth. Break down to the ground and then they would give you a pass to get your car. They were all on bikes handing out the passes really fast. Tons of people were out of their booths and driving off within 30 minutes of breaking down. I got my pass 30 minutes after close and didn't have a problem getting to my spot with the cargo van.

Saturday was cold and cloudy for this part of Florida and people there don't like that. I thought it was great, no sunburn or sweating, but the Boca Raton folks don't like to go out when it is below 65. The image I have is from Saturday morning, (hadn't even trimmed the zips yet ;) so less people on that day. Sunday the weather was perfect for me, around 70 and sunny. LOTS more people that day but not too many people, just right. All the 2D artist around me and the 2D friends I knew sold at least 1 large piece on Saturday. Sunday sales and interest was even better. I only knew one 2D artist that zeroed, but it was their first show ever, and Boca Raton is not an easy crowd. The artists that had price points under $200 were very happy with their sales by the end of the show. The crowd in Boca Raton has very nice shoes, purses and dog stroller. Plenty of money with this clientele and the show is just down the road from Polo Club. I haven't done a ton of shows in Florida, but out of the 4  I have done in South East Florida there are always buyers from Polo Club. Since I have to deliver my work usually I have been to this community a few times. They are very proud of their art in this development and have beautiful work even in their yards. I am not talking about SOS, but real art. At one home I was at there was a beautiful 8 foot fiddler on the roof sculptor and it was over the garage. I don't know many homes that place fine art over their garages.   There are many more large gated communities with large homes that want lots of art in this area as well.  I didn't meet many people in the high rises along the water at this show, except for past clients.  It was very interesting to compare the difference in clientele from the east side and west side of Boca Raton.  Both sides have great customers, but they are not looking for the same things.  Just another piece of the puzzle to figure out as I learn my way around Florida. 

As a young child I always created art -preferring to paint and draw rather than  join my friends at the mall. I loved copying Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Matisse.

As a college student I studied art, design and painting.  As an adult I found, not only did I have a desire to make art professionally but also to teach people,  young and old,  how to express and explore their own creativity through art making.  I strive to insure the students understand there are no mistakes in art. And to recognize that what they perceived to be a 'mistake' could actually be far better than what they intended.

I taught my first art classes to some of my neighbors' children many years ago in my garage and have always wanted to do more of it. A couple years ago I made a proposal to a local preschool to teach a pilot art class once a week, and found that I still enjoyed teaching art, very much.Preschool Artwork Exploring Textures

It was another 3 years before I got up the courage to teach adults.

I had studied felt making for a number of years by now and believed I had something worthwhile to share with others who wanted to learn the craft. I have taken many classes around the country with many teachers. Some much better than others. In my teaching,  I wanted to incorporate what worked for me and eliminate that which was not helpful.

What made a successful class for me was based on several different factors. Did I learn what I signed up to learn? Was the instructor organized and their instructions clear? Was the class well paced?  Did the teacher understand my questions and answer clearly? Were they patient and take the time to explain something in a different way if I wasn't able to understand their explanation? Were there hand outs or reference materials I could take home? Were all the supplies there that were supposed to be ? Was the equipment in working order and were there enough supplies for everyone? Was the space pleasant to work in and did it function well?  Did the teacher have enough samples to show the class? These criteria are what I hold myself accountable to.

Surprisingly enough,  if I didn't have 'fun' at the time,  I didn't count that against the teacher.  I found that taking a week long workshop to learn a new skill can be quite stressful. Fun was a plus but not a requirement.

And this seems incongruent but, in the 5 hour class I teach at  Nice Threads Fiber Gallery and Studio in Black Mountain, North Carolina , called 'Designing a Nuno Scarf''  I do  want people to have fun as well as learn new new skills. So far,  the feedback I  have received has made me very happy. The comment made that I exceeded the students' expectations really made my day.

Date changes have been required due to the City of Chicago changing the date for the 2012 Taste of Chicago to conflict with the Gold Coast Art Fair. This change tangentially impacts the Lincolnshire Art Festival. The Gold Coast Art Fair will now be June 30 and July 1 and the Lincolnshire Art Festival will now be August 18 and 19.

Another Chicago art event’s date creates a conflict with The Inside Show and requires a date change as well. The Inside Show will now be December 1 and 2.

TO CANCEL YOUR APPLICATION:
If you applied to Gold Coast, Lincolnshire, and or The Inside Show and would now like to cancel your application due to these date changes, we will reimburse you your jury fee for the festival. You must have your request of cancellation in writing (email is acceptable) to our office by February 1, 2012. Please include your name and the festival(s) to which you wish to cancel. If you respond after February 10, you will not be refunded. Please note you will still receive a status notification through Juried Art Services on February 13 even if you have canceled.

TO APPLY:
Due to the date changes, the jury for Gold Coast, Lincolnshire and The Inside Show will be re-opened immediately. To apply, please go to amdurproductions.com, click on “apply now” and download the paper application. Applications are due February 13, 2012. Late fees for these three festivals will be waived.

If you previously applied to these shows and the date changes do NOT cause a conflict, no action is required. Your application will automatically be juried for the new dates.

I haven't put anything up for a while, but this morning's events got me going.  It started with an email from a lady in the UK wanting to know where her Amazon order for two bowler hats was.  At first I thought it was a phishing attempt, but I decided to reply stating that we'd never sold on Amazon, only through our own website and that my wife doesn't make men's hats.  She replied that 'there must be more than one AB Hats' and thanked me for the note.

That got my interest - when I Googled "ab hats", our website came up first (A. B. Hats, abhats.com), and then something on Amazon.UK - "AB Hats".  Turns out AB Hats is a reseller of factory things (read 'junk') in the UK.  We registered our company name (based on my wife's initials, not a trick to get at the beginning of an alphabetical list) almost ten years age.  This is now the second time we've found someone somewhere trying to use the name.  The first was a trade school in China that apparently starts companies for its students to sell factory products through.  They've either quit using it or are only selling in their immediate area.  Since Amazon is global, we've a much bigger concern.

I've swapped several messages through Amazon with the person in the UK trying to impress upon him/her that we don't appreciate what's going on.  They must be relatively new (oldest feedback is May 5, 2011), while we have years of business relationships with several UK millinery supply companies and milliners and don't need any  issues with them being identified as us.  So far, the person on the other end doesn't seem to understand our concerns.  Maybe Amazon itself will get it.  Meanwhile, we're going to send out emails to all of them disclaiming any linkage and hope for the best.

I guess the bottom line is that its a really good idea to periodically search the internet for your own company name to see what pops up.  Make certain you're searching outside the US too!

July 14 & 15
Northbrook, Illinois
Village Green Park
Saturday: 10am-5pm; Sunday: 10am-4pm
80 maximum artists
Deadline: Feb. 1

Join us in Northbrook for an artful experience! Set in the picturesque Village Green Park downtown, with its tree lined paths and hometown feel, Art in the Park - A Northbrook Fine Arts Festival presents the highest quality in fine art and craft.

For the past three years, the Northbrook Arts Commission, in collaboration with the Northbrook Park District, has hosted the event and it has quickly developed into a revered and highly anticipated summer happening for the Village and surrounding communities.

In addition to the many artists and artwork, the festival will include food vendors, live jusic, children's activities, a silent art auction and more.  Parking and admission are free.

This event is organized by Erin Melloy of EM Events, a well established promoter of art shows in Chicagoland.  EM Events are held in partnership with local business organizations bring close interaction between each community and its' local art fair and ensuring you loyal patrons.

For the application:  please click here

For additional information about this and other EM Events contact:

Erin Melloy - 630-536-8416
emelloy@emevents.com or visit  www.emevents.com 
Please mail application and checks to:
EM Events Ilc, P.O. Box 4332, Naperville, IL 60567

BONITA SPRINGS ARTS FESTIVAL LONG SHOT.AVI - YouTube

While I was sipping tequila and writing about it (see Woodys River Roo) I thought I would add this.

So far I have done two shows in January (Downtown Naples and Cape Coral).  And I haven't made enough to pay off my last sushi bill.  It has been grim.

Also my success rate on show applications absolutely sucks right now.  Accepted to 10 shows, rejected to 9 and wait-listed to 3.  The year is starting off tough.

But things are going to get better starting this weekend.

Doing a small show in Islamorada at Worldwide Sportsman Marina, small show low number of exhibitors.  Me and terri Causey are going to have hell of a time.  I got the images from around there, now I need some buyers.

It will be tough, have to look at both sunrises and sunsets and eat lots of fresh fish.

 Then Monday and Tuesday I will be down in Key West just shooting--doing what comes naturally to me.  More fish, more sushi and a little beer.

Then Wednesday it is up to Miami to meet up with Geri Wegner for some sushi at Sukura in Coral Gables, then on to Pompano Beach to hang out with my buddy Ron.  An old cracker like me.

The it is on to New Smyrna Beach, my old stomping grounds in the 80's, to do the Images show.  Get to stay with my buddy Sonny Ellison, another old cracker.  We will try to deplete my ongoing tab I have with Clancy's Cantina Bar there.  Might have to drink a whole lot of margaritas--they have 40 kinds of tequila--oh my!

Well.  I call it work, somebody's got to do it and I was first in line.  Might come back with new material and Tequila Report-worthy adventures.  Heck, it won't take much to improve on what few sales I have made so far.

Poor Parker, freezing up there trying to unthaw locks on a trailer.  I will toast him mightily.

Ooh!  There is a chance I might run into Webbie and Bill the Cat--they are both out of rehab.

So many sunsets, so many margaritas to look forward to.  Darn I wish I had discovered this job before I turned 30.

Take a trip with me down south on I-75 near Bradenton,FL.

At this time of the year a lot of us are making trips up and down that stretch of 75 in Florida, coming and going to art shows along the lower west coast (think, Ft. myers, Bonita Springs, Naples, et al).

I got just the place for you to stop and have a leisurely grouper sandwich at lunch while gazing upon the Manatee River.  Also the Roo is open late enough on Sunday nites to get a good cheap bite.  Interested, read on.

Located right off the exit on 75 for the Ellenton Outlet malls, on the north side of the Manatee River just above bradenton.  There are plenty of signs indicating the Outlet Mall so you wont easily miss the exit.

Whether exiting off 75 from the north or the south, go slightly west on the main road the exit pours you onto. Turn at the first traffic lite and head towards the river which is south of the road.  Take the access road back east for less than a quartermile and you will run into Woodys.  It sits right on the river--it is an oldtime Florida institution river bar/restaurant.  You can Google or Yelp it too.  If all else fails, go to the first gas station and ask where Woodys is, everybody knows.

Now lets get down to the good stuff--food and booze, and not necessarily in that order.

The Roo is an old style comfortable river bar that is fast disappearing off the Florida landscape. 

As a kid growing up in the Tampa Bay area there were literally hundreds of places like the Roo.  Now it is an anomoly (good word to use in Online Scrabble) .  Land on water is so expensive so that you don't see many Mom and Poppers left anymore--they all sell out and take the money and run.

The restaurant has inside seating but most people sit outside.  It has a u-shaped covered bar, then there are loads of picnic tables all under nice umbrellas.  Then to top it off, take a short walk on a narrow path onto the river and there is another bar under a Chickee hut right on the water.  Lordie Mis Claudie! Bring me some tequila shooters to go with them hushpuppies.  Oh, and give me a fresh grouper, lightly blackened with all the trimmings. Oh yeah I will take the onion rings too.  Oh, brings me some tangy wings while we wait, better bring an order of calamari too.  You get the picture.

The portions are ample and they are not expensive.  They do great golden margaritas and have lots of beers.

Weekends finds a live band playing outside on a cool decorated stage.  It is Florida casual here.  You'll see oldsters mixing it up with bikers, kids having a hell of a time, and everybody happy.  My kind of place.

So take a break from the journey and mellow out on the river--they aint making anymore places like this.

I think I pretty much just floated through December with nothing much to show for it besides a few extra pounds (or more) from the Holidays.

I finally returned to my current project "Testing Gravity" last week. I've been doing a lot of thinking, but not doing much. Here's some pics of the progress so far. This is a little blurry, but I have some good textures in the string.

The fork was rather difficult. I didn't know quite how I wanted to render it. Metal is really hard to represent when there are no grey tones. I think it turned out alright.

I decided to add a quote to the backround. I will eventually cut a second plate using a brown color that will subdue the quote in the backround so it won't be so dominent. Once the second color is added I'd like the backround to look more like a texture than type, but still readable. I like the thought of make the viewer search to find the meaning to a piece. I really like the effect, but carving the type is going to take a REALLY long time! This line alone took around 2 hours. Probably 3 if you count all of the breaks I took to readjust my eyes!

The quote says "A hope that the strength of a string is equal or greater than the pull of gravity".
More later.

The votes have been tallied and the winners are:

Member of the year: Geoff Coe - "He gives incredible answers to people's questions. He tells them the where, the when , the why and the how.  He tells them where to stay, where not to stay and how much of his answer is from is personal experience and how much is what he heard.  Then if that's not enough he tells them to e-mail him if they have any more questions."

Personality: Munks

Author: Nels Johnson - "People watch for how he answers and take the lead from him; consistently contributes the most interesting blog posts with show info. Plus his experiences are a hoot!"

ROFL: Caroline Kwas & Framer Dude - "appreciate hearing all of their adventures and always look forward to the next one"

Most Generous & Helpful: Larry Berman - "useful answers on Zapp"/Jim Parker - "all things computer"

Newcomer: Ruth Finkenbiner - "great to hear from the West Coast"

Special Recognition for hospitality and generosity:  Geri Wegner and Annette Piper. Geri hangs out here with us and then goes out and meets us in person. Annette is the unofficial greeter from Australia who is part of our international community but who feels like she is a neighbor in the next booth. 

Best Blog Post: Escalating Booth Fees--In This Recession What are They Thinking? from Nels Johnson - over 5000 views

Best Discussion: What's the Worst Question You Have been Asked at an Art Fair? Linda and Jim Dalton - nearly 7000 views and 32 pages of comments; runner up: Addicted to Gushers from Leo Charette

Special Award: Nels Johnson has been a frequent contributor here and we have especially enjoyed his Tequila Reports. Now that he has turned 67 and has resigned from this particular activity (drinking tequila), nonetheless when I attended BlogWorld and one of its sponsors was a new tequila, U4RIK, the product manager agreed that Nels should be the recipient of this special award. Coming your way Nels:

There was a lot of excellent writing and I want to note these particular posts which made a contribution:

Karole Bowlds: EZ-Up, Secure 40 Minute Set up the Maine Way

Corey Johnston's several thought-provoking blog posts

Nels Johnson's helpful post: How to Write an Interesting Blog and not Necessarily Be Witty

Kathy Oda's My 2011 Lessons Learned

Ray Hartl's photo blog from Madison, WI, Protest on the Square

Barry Bernstein's post about Oklahoma City: It's Cold, It's Hot, It's Rainy...

Helpful discussion: Where do you keep your money at an art fair

Best intervention with an art fair: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/old-town-art-fair-amp

Want to have some fun? Here is my personal favorite discussion: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/on-the-road-again-with-youtube

In Memoriam: We will surely miss artists Jackie Russo, Bob Vonesh, Sandra Sharon, Hank Bardenhagen, Todd Lundeen, Dee Segula, Sonny Dalton, Barbara Cook; promoter Audree Levy and Bill Batts former husband and best friend of Pam Bartl.  

Many thanks to this site's administrators Larry Berman and Jacki Bilsborrow who keep us up to date.

Building a Community is the plan for this website. Helping artists help each other and entertaining them along the way is a big goal. 2011 was a very good year. The traffic to the site increases daily. We have members come and go and lots of lurkers. The list of contributors is lengthy. Google analytics say that over 500,000 visits occurred in the year, with nearly 65% of them return visitors. (2010 saw 120,000 visits and we thought that was a good year.) I hope you are finding this resource helpful and I look forward to meeting you here and in person in the coming year. 

Kind of late making this announcement but I've been really busy for the last few weeks and haven't had time to send out a newsletter.

I'm going to be teaching a workshop on how to photograph different types of artwork at the Orlando ACRE show on January 20th at the Orlando Convention Center. It's going to consist of an extensive Powerpoint presentation with over 125 example slides. Afterwards I'm going to do a live demonstration of photographing a few objects using both a point and shoot camera and DSLR with a macro lens. The captured images will be brought into Photoshop where I'll demonstrate post processing techniques that significantly improve the image and how to resize for multiple uses like jurying and internet uses.

The workshop will be co sponsored by EZCube and two EZCubes will be given away as door prizes as well as my services on improving a set of images. On Saturday I'll be given a booth space where artists can meet with me to discuss their images and I'll shoot booth images for those who need them.

My workshop overview and resource sheet can be downloaded from this page on my web site:
http://bermangraphics.com/seminars.htm

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

I made a time lapse video of setting up for a show. Turned out OK for my 1st little movie. It's embedded at the bottom of my tips page.

Enjoy!

http://www.evenbetterimages.com/tips.html

Robin Ragsdale

OK so we all look for new places to show and sell our work.....and we receive show notices with a photo of the show with HUGE crowds shopping along with the details of the show.

So my question is - do you wonder WHERE that photo was taken and WHEN it was taken?  Have you ever questioned it?  Contacted a show?

I wonder .... was that photo taken 10 years ago and used for the last ten years?  Is it even for this show?  On other shows do you wonder - where are the people?  Was this early in the day?

Just curious, none of these were shows I have done...but the big crowd quickens my pulse. 

May 19 & 20
East Lansing, Michigan
downtown East Lansing
220 Artists

Deadline: January 31

 

Established in 1964, the East Lansing Art Festival kicks off the festival season every Spring on the weekend prior to the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the beautiful streets of downtown East Lansing. The popular Festival attracts 70,000-80,000 attendees from across the region. In addition to the 220-230 juried exhibitors the ELAF encourages future artists through emerging artist programs.

East Lansing is a charming University town with a wide variety of shops, restaurants, galleries and the beautiful Michigan State University campus across the street.

This long-standing non-profit event is beloved by the community of Greater Lansing and attracts devoted art buyers from across the state. Informally known as the "City of the Arts" the City of East Lansing welcomes the finest artists in North America to exhibit at this highly promoted event.

Having exhibited in this art fair ourselves here is what else you will like:

I'm ready for the "I Survived Carefree" T-shirt. Okay, so maybe I'm being a little over dramatic about it. I was hoping that my experience this year at the Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival ~ January, 2012 would be at least as good, or perhaps a little better than it was last year, my first year of participation, but it was not to be. Friday the weather was fair and saw many of the local Snowbirds roaming the festival grounds as if they were sleep walking, to say the least the energy was not frenetic. The festival promoters include wine as part of the festival which I understand is a nice way to create an ambiance of casually viewing art while sipping wine. (For more on the art of selling art and ambiance see this link from smARTist: Click here for Part I  from Jack White-> http://smartistcareerblog.com/2012/01/part-i-buying-art-can-we-return-to-the-good-old-days/)  There was a lot of sipping and very little buying which is not unusual for a Friday crowd. Saturday was the warmest day and saw many more festival visitors (and the bulk of my sales) with a higher tone to the crowd, you could tell by all the chatter in the streets. Sunday was overcast and never got beyond mid '60's it started out slow but gained some momentum through the middle of the day but by 3:30 the crowds thinned and by 4 most vendors were ready to go but the show must go on till 5. One vendor was packing up at 4, the promoter saw this and took her to task, probably wont see her there again! Sales in general were spotty at best, some very large pieces walked out with the bulk of what I saw being reprints of originals. Some artists sold nothing, others, like myself, sold a few. Although, on Sunday, I did have one customer who commissioned some of my work which was a highlight of the show and, who knows, may actually push my figures over last year though I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm not going to count the chickens, etc...

Logistics; Load-in, depending on where you were located was either easy or chaotic. If you were at one of the entry points it was easier, if, however, you were in the middle of the show, like we were, it became somewhat chaotic. The streets were narrow and there wasn't much space to park and unload. If you had parked near your space earlier in the afternoon, like we did, it was easier to access your spot. In some areas the booths had been moved into the middle of the street as compared to being pushed into the parking spaces on either side of the road like last year. If you got your vehicle in it was probably more difficult to get it out! Setup didn't start until 5:15 when most of the stores were closed. As restaurants were still open there were still some cars parked in vendor spaces causing people to wait and later leave in frustration as they couldn't set up. Artists were rotated around a bit this year from last which, quite honestly I think was a good thing. Last year we were at one of the quieter entry points without a lot of visitors, this year we were placed more in the middle of the show so we had quite a bit more visibility. Some of the vendors did not appreciate their new locations and felt it may have impacted their sales. Some areas of the show did have a lot of congestion built into the way booths were setup and so some artists may have gotten overlooked. Load-out was pretty much the same congestion. I had stacked my boxes in one of the nearby alley's so when the bell rang at 5 I was ready to pack up before I brought in the van. It started to drizzle a bit before tear down time and I was fretting over we would have to break down in a heavier rain, it didn't materialize thankfully but by then I had the van moved in closer with the discovery of the secret back way to my booth. We had to carry most of the work a short distance to the van but it was easier than trying to move onto the street till some of the neighbors were packed up and moved out.  Others had to wait longer for those ahead of them to clear out. We were packed up and out by 7 which is typical for us.

Amenities: Don't expect them, no water, no snacks, no booth sitters. The show had two nice food vendors (and popcorn) besides the wine. One vendor served variations on a Greek menu, gyro's, hummus, etc. Very good stuff with the sauces "home-made". Another vendor had variations on salmon, wraps, etc. We had some of their fare last year and really enjoyed it. Nearby restaurants were $$ but we found one little place around the corner with a good $7.50 burger and fixins for lunch. Apres the show we always like to go to Harold's in Cave Creek at least once. The brisket plate with salad was enough for us to share. The next night we found a new place, Alberto's Italian Restaurant. Though reservations are probably a better idea we found one non-reserved table and enjoyed sharing a salad and linguini with meat ragu, again plenty for two.

Reflections: I would probably do this show again, at least give it a third try. Besides it being about 25 degrees warmer than Denver at this time I really enjoy the area besides what other shows are there to do in January that don't require over 1000 miles to drive?