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I have read many of the posts to this site and have determined that Art Fair Insiders are mainly in the midwest and east coast.  I live in Seattle WA and I have not seen any comments on fairs in CA, AZ, CO, WA, ID.  I am wondering if there are artist among the Insiders that have had any experience with some of the major shows on the west coast and pacific northwest?  

I have participated in the Bellevue Museum Art Fair, the Bellevue Festival of the Arts, The Best of the Northwest and Bigfork MT.  Festival of the Arts over the past 7 years.  I would to hear what others think about these fairs if they that had an opportunity to participate.

I attended a 2nd show in Cincinnati that was interesting and educational because my booth attracted many lookers, not so many buyers.  My 3rd show was in a small town in Ohio called Ashland where the organizers just want to bring some arts and crafts into the area.  This year was their 2nd and was very nicely done, well organized!  Talk about being prepared for weather, the wind was blowing so hard that I almost couldn't get set up!  So much work!  These shows take so much effort and preparation and then to get bad weather!?!  Well let me just say a big thank you to my husband who encourages me because otherwise I might be tempted to not participate.

My big news is that I sold more of my items than I have previously and I attribute it to the presentation.  I've not changed my inventory one bit but I've changed how I present the items in my booth.  The booth shot below is during set up for my 2nd show so not all is evident but it does show many changes.  I raised the tables up to counter height (42"), created an "L" shape with them, mounted blow-up pics of some of my pendants, and I organized my pieces into what I called collections.  I also took advice from you all and did the "less is more" approach -- this I believe was instrumental is allowing items to stand out and be appreciated.  The next thing I did was to move some of my necklace pendants and charms from their chains.  I attached them with ribbon to Charm cards that I made up and then allowed folks to select their own chain from a display I kept in the back of the booth.

This worked very well for my lower priced charms.  People were not buying the more expensive necklaces and pendants that remained on jewelry display trees so I didn't make much $ but I was profitable.  My take on this is that the higher priced items attract visually but while they maybe aren't as affordable in the given population they add the credibility to the other choices on the display.

I'm going to capitalize on these learnings for my next show.  I ordered some additional packaging that I think will be attractive to holiday purchasers.  I'm also going to try moving some of my more expensive pendants to the charm cards.

Here is art glass that has a showroom in High Point, NC, amazing blown glass from China. They are at every gift show. I have no problem with this. The Chinese have done a very nice job of copying art for the U.S. market -- it goes on in just about every product category. And I have no problem with their selling at this marketplace. This glass is made and marketed by Viz Glass and is sold at low price points: $45 to $75. But look at this work:

Besides the Chihuly knock offs does it look like work you have been seeing at the art fairs?

Here are two pieces recently submitted for an art fair that are directly from the Viz Art Glass catalog:

Here is the Viz Glass site:  http://www.vizartglass.com/

Learn more about Viz Glass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbBxEXZo_nY

If you were the show director and you received these submissions what would you do?

Do you "like" this post? If so, would you please click on the "like" (thumbs up) button?

Thursday afternoon found us headed south on I-5, relieved and excited to be on our way, even though we were feeling a bit behind on the things we had planned to get done before we left town.  We were relieved that we hadn’t had to cancel the show and that my Dad was headed home from the hospital .  Earlier in the week it had crossed our minds that we might be cancelling out of this show as we sat in the hospital waiting to see if my Dad was going to make it through his heart surgery.  So, after all the medical drama, we were relieved to be on our way to our first show in 2 months after taking time off to recharge, regroup and restock.  Of course, I was also wondering if there was anything we might have forgotten to repack since it was our first show in 2 months.  Despite having a list, despite doing 20 shows a year, the first one after a bit of a break always makes me wonder what I might be missing.

We were headed to Hood River, OR, a small town in Oregon, right on the Columbia River, about an hour east of Portland.  The annual Harvest Fest draws a fairly large crowd for a town of this size, with a lot of visitors from Portland coming in on the weekend.  It’s also famous amongst the wind surfing / kite boarding crowd, so when the wind is blowing (which is almost always), there are lots of fun entertainment opportunities just standing on the banks of the river.   We had participated in this show 3 years ago and in 2008 it was our 3^rd best show of the year so we were excited about getting accepted at this show again.  Unfortunately it did not prove to be among our best shows in 2011.  Evidently they had about 10 cancellations due to family emergencies or illnesses the week of the show so they brought in some folks off the waitlist, sold double booths to some of the other artists and somehow ended up with 25% jewelry.  Of all the jewelers I talked to at the show only 1 really had a good show, the rest of us suffered from an overload of jewelry resulting in mediocre sales. 

However, the gourmet food vendors,  wineries and a few other folks were having great shows. One of the photographers we know had a really good show, however, the show only had 2 photographers, vs. over 20 booths with jewelry which was way too much for a show of this size.  So once, again another show that had very mixed results.  There were also quite a few new artists this year who were participating for the first time ever.  Some of that seemed to be caused by the fact that this was the first year they put their application on line instead of mailing it to the artists and they moved their application date up by a month.  Evidently enough people missed the original deadline because a couple of months later they went through a second round of jurying.  Not sure if that contributed to the higher percentage of jewelry booths as well.

Overall it’s a very pleasant show to do, it’s held in a large parking lot, right on the banks of the Columbia River in 2 large, interconnected tents for the art booths, so it’s not really an indoor show, but you don’t have quite all the hassles of an outdoor show.  It was raining on the day we set up, but after that the rain only seemed to show up in the evening  so the crowds were great.  Both Friday and Saturday there were lines waiting to get in 30 minutes before the start of the show. Crowds were good all weekend, the organizers provided free RV parking within a one block walk from the show, plenty of booth sitting, an artist reception Friday night, coffee and donuts in the mornings and were available for any issues or questions.  Load in and Load out were fairly easy for us, we lucked out on both occasions with someone pulling out right by the doors right as we were bringing our truck in to find a parking spot.

End results – a mediocre show for sales, a pleasant, easy show to do and after all the medical drama we faced early in the week with my Dad’s heart surgery, we were able to take a step back and realize somethings in life were just more important than a good show.

I  reviewed the spring version of this show last April, but let's play catch-up on the latest version of this small but well-run show.

Based in golf mecca Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, this show is held in a small, upscale shopping plaza adjacent to the famed TPC Sawgrass golf club.  It's ably organized by sisters Robin Conte and Susan Amon of Venues Event Planning, which picked up the event after it was dropped by Howard Alan Events a few years back.

The Saturday-morning setup was a snap: Drive to your spot, set up, and then park your vehicle in one of two marked lots on-site.  Robin and Susan were on hand to show you the way, if you needed them.  Otherwise, you could set up first and then get your artist badge and booth sign later.  A young and friendly group of volunteers brought by cold water and a bag lunch (small ham-and-cheese, chips/cookie) and also offered booth-sitting if you wanted it. 

As was the case last spring, this weekend's weather was nearly perfect.  Sunny with light breezes both days.  And the crowds were similar, too:  The show was well advertised in local publications, broadcast and social media, and nearby signage was in evidence, crowds were moderate on Saturday and quite light on Sunday.  And yet, it was generally a buying crowd.  Although I had stronger sales on day 1, several artists I spoke with did better on Sunday despite the light traffic.  2-D art, particularly larger 2-D art, seemed to do well: a promising painter at only her second show sold four works on Sunday, and two photographer friends both sold several larger pieces. 

The show quality and mix was pretty good, which I suspect has much to do with the popularity of this show among local and regional artists. (The Jacksonville area is one of the few in Florida that seems to be a bit under-served in the art festival area).  I didn't see much junk, and although several booths seemed to be offering manufactured items (t-shirts and the like) they were clustered together, next to the food vendors.  Which showed me that Venues took care in planning their layout.

The moderate to low attendance was disappointing, but a couple of factors worked against the show.  First, due to the layout of the shopping center itself, the show's tents aren't visible from A1A Highway (the main street).  And although signage directing folks to the show was in evidence, the city limited the size and number of signs around the site.  Second: this is a football-loving area, and the pro Jacksonville Jags had a game at 1 PM Sunday.  I suspect that accounts for the fact that I was visited by many couples on Saturday (which leads to same-day buying decisions) but on Sunday, women were out browsing with their friends, not their spouses.

I like the timing of this show, from a scheduling standpoint.  Coupled with the April  show, it gives artists a nice show to do as they're migrating to/from Florida around the high tourist season. 

Bottom line: Robin and Susan are fun, hard-working, and enthusiastic about what they do.  They communicate with artists in a timely and professional manner, and the show details are spelled out simply and clearly.  (They're one of the few shows remaining that accept apps by mail...which may or may not be to your liking, but it helps keep costs down.)  This is an easy show to work, and with a booth fee of $200 ($225 corner), not an expensive one.  Although it may not provide a huge paycheck, it does put your work in front of buyers who have some money to spend.  We all know that's not always the case these days.   

I'm the site administrator on an art web site, www.artsig.com , which is a critique site. We have a small competition going that just closed out, where the theme was a coffee or tea cup rendered in any media and any style. There were 19 entries, which are located at http://www.artsig.com/go/journals/read?id=117&forward=myjournalentries. If anyone would be interested in taking a look and choosing the three top works, it would be greatly appreciated. The works range from trying very hard to very impressive. Any comments left would also be appreciated.

In order to log in and leave comments or just a ranking of 1,2, and 3,  log in at the home page with "guest" as the user name and "guest" as the password. In order to cut down on any confusion, just sign the ratings or comments with either initials or a first name.  It would be easiest to copy the journal address and click on the home address, log in, and then paste in the journal address to get to the images. Just drop to the bottom of the post for the reply button.

I decided to not pick the winners myself as I don't want to seem like I have any partiality.

Opening day today was quite nice.  Sunny, cool but windy.  Saw only one "tent" blow away - with no weights.....

Great venue, Great crowds, Sold more than expected original paintings.....what a pleasure.

Hoping for a wonderful day tomorrow as well.

http://hotartnow.blogspot.com/

I'm hoping that the link that I added to my blog where I wrote about watching the WFSAF jury shows up. I've tried three times and the link appears and then disappears. If it doesn't work this time, I quit. 

The art-Gypsy Train rolled into Madison, Indiana a few weekends back for the annual Madison Chautauqua Art Festival.  My wife Deborah, fine artist painter, had been accepted to participate along with about 300 other hopeful, creative sorts.

Madison is a small, bucolic, southern Indiana town, nestled into the meandering, sweeping arm of the Ohio River, connected to Kentuckians south by one narrow bridge, surely over-creaking with a colorful history of customer transport.

Downtown offered neat, tree-lined square blocks of restored circa 1800 carriage houses, tidy two-stories with porches, and the occasional stately manor with tall columns.  Professionals and retirees with money move “up”, literally, to the bluff-top-with-view, north of town.

What a spectacle was Saturday morn…Autumn leaves teased with color, jazz quartet live on the green, tight-white artist tents sprouted everywhere, multi-country cuisine smoke wafting to tempt all, and a bonus discovery…a winery and garden celebration just two blocks away on the rivers mighty banks (who’d thunk vineyards here).

Smiling, happy, townsfolk began streaming in to the Festival, pockets stuffed with money… strolling up and down the angled streets, searching the tents and artists for…

just…

the…

perfect…

Yard art.

My hat is off to Madison Chautauqua Art Festival for certainly obliterating any previously held national record for Yard Art Sales per Fair attendee.

Yup, a smokin’  1 out of every 9 people were carrying some form of an inspired landscape creation (er…yard art.)

I’m pretty left-brained so I know how to conduct statistically significant studies, (which is the key, I learned that in college), cause you can’t make statements like this without hard data, so I got it.

At randomly selected moments, during the two days, I perched on my assigned and trusty black art stool, and, well…counted.   I tallied people with “yard art in-hands” divided by all the passerby’s and got 1 out of 9.  Pretty much every time.  The copper stick yard art with a dragon-fly on the top was most popular, followed closely by the steely gray stick with a bird in a nest.  Uh, that part is observational and not really statistical.

These findings led me to posit some conclusions/questions:

1. There are more Yards in Madison, therefore, higher sales are to be expected.
2. Yard Artists KNOW this is THE hotbed destination of the nation for yard art sales (like purple Elvis’ in Memphis, or Cherry Blossom water-colors in D.C.)
3. Customers were speculating the cost of copper commodities would skyrocket in future years, perhaps tripling the value of said yard art, to say…$27.

Egads!  Am I missing a huge untapped market for Art of Yard Art?  Maybe acrylic-on-canvas paintings of copper dragonflies, providing customers four-season enjoyment of Yard Art In Living Room.  No, too expensive.  Better to try  8″ x 60″ birds-nest-on-a-pole Giclee Prints…you could stick them up all over the house!  Kind of a skinny version of those giant Fathead.com wall graphics used for sports heroes.

Speaking of sports, I might add the results of a corollary study from our good river town.  There IS NO statistical relation between Yard Art Customers and their favorite Sports Team.  In fact, on a broader scale, the greater Madison Festival crowd displayed no primary or dominant relation to ANY sports team.  They may know their Yard Art, but appear quite confused as to where to place home-team loyalties.

An in-depth study of the peoples choice of  jerseys and hats and sweatshirts confirmed random and scattered quantities of the following:  Louisville Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Cubs, Tennessee Volunteers, Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Hoosiers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Cincinnati Reds, Kentucky Wildcats, and on and on.  I could stretch and say the local high school loyals skewed just a tad higher with the ever-fashionable red, short-sleeved T of the Madison Cubs.

However, the most telling observation from the weekend in Madison is that the entire town went “On Sale”.

I found the Chautauqua Art Festival was really just the banner event, the cover if you will,  for the Every One Sell Everything You Can Festival.  And they did a bang up job.

There were:  Yard sales, garage sales, porch sales, street sales, bake sales, farmers markets, auctions, and church socials.  Scattered around town, just beyond the boundaries of The Art Festival, pockets of little unregistered, art tent cities huddled together to scavenge off wayward, unsuspecting customers.

Restaurants, normally not open for lunch, did so (come on, a cup of chicken noodle for $8).  Chili and hot dogs were hawked from church lawns.  A  young man sold airplane propeller art from his porch (uh, real propellers, not paintings of propellers).   Kettle corn on every corner, front yard tables stacked with apples and honey, an old lady sat alone in her driveway, pitching her framed sketches from a card table.

The whole town had the fever to sell the whole town.

Oh, and there was the real Chautauqua Art Festival…

…and we did have a ton of traffic coming through our tent…

…asking how to get past us to the sidewalk behind…so they could see the House For Sale By Owner, who in the spirit of the day had set up easels bearing huge, color posters of their remodeled interior and amenities…

…so they could sell it, and then buy a new house with a bluff-top-view, and a bigger yard…

…for more…art.

:)

"Time guards" by Manfred Kielnhofer
The constant struggle with concepts of space, sculptures and installations as well as the engagement of mysticism and primal religions led the Austrian artist to create “timeguards“. The first timeguard was built in 2007 and is reminiscent of a withdrawn monk. Kielnhofer likes to present his sculptures at exciting locations. They appear and disappear. You can never anticipate where they will show up
next time, reminding us that we are never unobserved. Every one of our actions is seen by the guards and evaluated. They were already in existence a long time before humans populated the earth.
http://kielnhofer.at

The Festival of Lights is one of the largest illumination festivals in the world. Every year for twelve days in October, Berlin’s world-famous landmarks and monuments are dressed in spectacular light. German and international artists and lighting designers present extraordinary illuminations, light art and creative designs. The festival is accompanied by numerous cultural events, all exploring the theme “Light”. The festival is an admission-free, top artistic event for an audience of millions. It generates massive media interest worldwide, and as a result, promises real sustainability.
http://festival-of-lights.de

Have any of you ever been to Berlin or this festival? Are there any festivals like this in the U.S.?

I (and others) posted last week about two shows in the Fairfax, VA area last weekend.  Could anyone report how they made out?  You don't need to write a full review unless you want to...but it would be nice to know your medium, how you made out sales-wise, how the attendance was, and if anyone visiting your booth mentioned the other show. 

Thanks in advance!

I live in Pittsburgh, PA. I am a photographer. This (2011) is my fist year doing shows. I guess I picked the wrong year. I have done several shows and so far I'm a little below even. That's not counting the amount I paid to build indoor and outdoor displays, canopy etc.

Unfortunately, the shows that I have been finding even though having a modest attendance seem to have a lot of boy scouts selling hot dogs and crafters with wonderful works like the mini marshmallow gun. HELP!

I have a large show at the Monroeville (Pittsburgh) Convention Center coming up and a few smaller but hopefully better shows coming up. I need to find more in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states. I don't really have the funds to go too far.

My work is salable and well displayed. I get LOTS of compliments, but they don't pay the bills.

Any ideas?

Don Dixon

earthimagesgallery@gmail.com

Since my daughter moved to Nashville I would love to do a show there but don't know what is the right show for me.  Anyone ever participated in this show?

T his beach house is a constantly changing canvas and work in progress

  All of us struggle to balance our act between production of new stuff and doing the rest of what it takes to make a living in this business.  With our photography, we come up with a lot of our new material on the road between the shows. 

  When we have more time than we’d like between shows, however, we recharge our batteries with a favorite fallback. 

    Beach Vacation Trade!!

  A few years ago we had rented a beach apartment through a real estate agent.  We had taken a nice picture of the place a year earlier and left a copy with the agent to pass on to the owners.  This beach area has been a favorite of mine since the age of 7 when our family first started vacationing there.  I’ll be the first to admit my pictures weren’t worth a hoot in hell until I reached the age of ten or so.  

  That night, we heard a vigorous knock on the door and it was two of the three partners who owned the building.  Along with several other properties on the surrounding beaches.  They wanted to trade us two weeks on the beach for updating pictures of their properties for their website and brochures. 

     Well, we said we’d think about it.  For two seconds.  

We are grateful for having fallen into this relationship and for making good friends in the process.  They’re constantly needing updates.  We’re glad to help.  

    We also have taken pleasure in inviting a couple of our friends and bitter art show rivals, Steve Vaughn (and Renae) and R.C. Fulwiler (and Kim) to stay with us so we can try our best to outdo each other.  

   We want to share our experience because there may be opportunities for other  artists to keep their eyes peeled for barter opportunities.  If you're trading for time at a vacation space, the best window is during the low season when there would otherwise be vacancies.  We either make arrangements for early December or during the middle of Summer when rentals are usually light.  During the high season, our friends say they have their rabbit cages booked!  

  We’d like to hear from others who have worked any kind of barters with their art any time in the past.  It would be interesting to hear how they were able to score good trades so that more of us can be on the lookout for opportunities like this one.  Thanks for sharing.  

 Ann was glad to be there.  'nuff said

In 1927 the upper floor was floated across the water from Egmont Key.  The military station had closed and anyone who wanted to was welcome to pick up the old barracks buildings and take them away.  This was one of those giveaways.  

   The couple who started this one originally had it up on stilts and gradually added more rooms.   Eventually the downstairs was filled in.  The new owners acquired it a few years ago and made it what it was today..   In an age of beach MacMansions this, along 

other with other units belonging to them, is a refreshing departure from the adjoining structures of the Edifice Erection school of architecture.   

Mr. Steve Vaughn at work.  Florida's premier panoramic photographer..   shooting a non panorama.  

Mr. Steve's masterpiece.  

 R.C. in a target rich environment.

    He nailed the essence.  Double click on this for a better appreciation.

      I have to say we were lucky to have fallen into this situation and were able to share it with friends.  I also hope that anyone out there with a remotely similar story will share it with the rest of us.  Let's hear from you.  

Life gets lonely in the studio, or sitting here at the glowing screen of my computer. This website has become a place where like-minded people can hang out, learn some new skills, make some new friends, pick up some tips and make plans for the future. There is a constant inflow of new people and information. But I've got a problem today and am asking for your input.

It has repeatedly been brought to my attention that some members' remarks make others uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that they leave the site and/or won't participate in the discussions any more. We have banned some members from the site and others have not been banned even though they appear to be breaking our "code of conduct." Most of the time, in the middle of some of the "rants", there are some excellent ideas and things to think about. Not always. In order to have an interesting community it is necessary to talk about things besides what kind of tent to buy and should I take credit cards. Right?

I do not read everything that appears on the site and often don't know if something is happening unless I see lots of comments on a topic. I do not want to moderate other adults' conversations. I want to keep this site alive and full of helpful information and entertaining discussion and I want you here.

The question is about censorship and moderation. 

What is true censorship?

1. Moderation that expects everyone to "be nice" and is enforced, or
2. a site where members can say what they want and effectively silence others.

And, just in case you think this is something new here, visit this link from a year ago: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/this-is-your-mother-speaking

I am interested in your comments. Comment on the site or here.