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Well Covid times demand new thinking.

Here is one strategy that I use when sitting at a bar and wanting my social distance

This works for a single or a couple.

I live in Florida on the beach below Daytona

It is the wild, wild, west in Florida.  People are shoulder to shoulder at bars and restaurants. Everybody feels immortal, we ain’t getting no fricking Covid?

Science proves otherwise.

So when I did one of my first shows in Naples this year, I went to one of my fav restaurants, Bonefish Grille, great fresh fish and awesome libations.

Well, the bar was packed. I slid into a chair near the end, by myself.

There was an empty chair to my left, and then it was packed to the other end of the bar.

So, I ordered two draft beers, and when they arrived, I put one in front of the empty chair to the left.  Of course I drank the other.

Worked all night.  Nobody came and tried to sit in the chair.  If somebody had asked if the chair was available, I would have told them my brother was coming any minute.  It works.

I have employed this strategy everywhere I go in the Pandemic.  It works like a charm.

In the photo I posted for this blog I am at the Ocean Breeze bar and grille in New Smyrna right on the ocean.  It is Monday Monday which means all drinks and food are half price at the bar, for men.  The place is packed.

Notice, to the left is a draft and to the right is another draft.  My tequila is in the middle where I sit.

I figure my life is worth more then two drafts.  All the the bartenders love my strategy.

Most, would just put a glass of water in front.  But I will eventually drink most of both drafts and then go home and have a great afternoon nap.

Try it out, it works.

PS, got my second vac last Tuesday..

One of our shows has ask the vendors 

A. Change the dates  to September 17 & 18 (only two

   days) but keep the event at the same location

OR

B. Hold the event on the three-day weekend( Columbus Day)

    but move the event to a different venue.

whats your advice ? ... my thoughts .. be now most artisans show schedules are made ( I know ours is) BUT changing the location is also tricky.

Time to get a Colonoscopy

In 2002 at age 53 I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Colon cancer is a disease that doesn't present symptoms until it's too late. I was fortunate in that I had an intermittent strange pain in my stomach. It happened a few times and I thought I was getting an ulcer. After having an Endoscopy which didn't show anything, my doctor sent me for a Colonoscopy. The result was finding a lemon size tumor and they wouldn't let me leave the hospital, scheduling me for surgery the next day. I'm still here because the tumor was removed early enough.

At the time I was active on a few forums and I made some posts about the experience. Two people contacted me to let me know they had tumors which had been found in time. And after I put up a web page about it, someone called me because he had been diagnosed with inoperable colon cancer and just wanted someone to talk to who understood.

I'm writing about this now because there is a renewed interest. Recently Dr Oz had a series on getting a Colonoscopy and one of the prime time sitcoms had a Colonoscopy theme last week. I was contacted by a company doing some background work for the Dr Oz show to interview me on Zoom about my experience because I had created a page on my web site titled "A Colonoscopy Saved My Life".
https://bermangraphics.com/about/medical.htm

Bottom line is that if you're over 45/50 and have never gotten one, get a Colonoscopy because it could save your life.

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

Well, this show marked a special one year anniversary for most of us in the biz.

It was the last show, we almost got to do, due to Covid.

Last year, Friday the 13th, The Vero Fire Dept. showed up and declared the show done and over at 4:15 due to Covid.

They told the artists to pack up their tents and get the hell out of Vero with their camels.

Well, my camels did not take this well.

They were expecting a leisurely night of munching on oats, figs, yogurt and emaciated mangos.

Needlessly to say it was a bumpy road home to NSB.

Disgruntled camels will pull a One ton Ford van over every bump they can find on the interstate.

Well, it was like old home week when I checked in on Thursday to setup.  This is a three day show.

For many of us this was their first show since the shutdown last March.

I saw a lot of old friends, pretty near a hundred.  Everybody was glad to be out again.

The Show is produced by the Vero Beach Art Center.  This year they had to jump thru hoops to be able to have the show.  They had over 20 meetings with the city council and the park service.

The City allowed for six foot spacing between booths,  but, they made artists negatively have their outside walls covered with a tarp and no art could hang on them.  Go figure.  Normally you want good air flow for safety.

That was the only negative about the show.

The Show is laid out in a large circle in a tree shaded park.  We are all on grass.  About 220 exhibitors were there. You can park behind your booth in most spots.

They fed us a free breakfest every morn, even had scrambled eggs and bacon.

Plus, in our packets were two $5 tickets we could use for food and drink with the concessions.

Demographic-wise Vero is a very affluent community. Most are on the older side of 50, and they love the Bs (birds and beach imagery).

Traditional sells well here. In the past this has always been a $5000 show for most.

This year was much of the same, but there were lots more Lowend sales.  I did not see a lot of big pieces going out like I saw in Naples and Bonita.

Friday is always the slowest day, lots of retirees out for a walk.  The ones with disposable income are at work.

The crowds were thin, probably due to Covid. Almost 99 percent were wearing masks.

I saw a few big pieces go out, but it was mostly small sales out of the bins.

Most artists are happy if they sell $500-$1000 on Friday.

Saturday is always the big day and it was a great one.  People were selling everywhere.

BTW, the weather was perfect.  Cooling breezes all day with no humidity.

It stayed in the high seventies all three days.

Crowds were heavy in the morn, but thinned out by 1pm.

Again, mostly Lowend sales.  Did not see many big pieces go out.

By 2pm it was pretty quiet, but I still ended up real happy.

One of my new pieces that I created last summer was selling like hot cakes.

The Potter next to me and the one across from me were wrapping pieces steadily all day long.

At day’s end we were all happy campers.

I found a great new seafood restaurant near my hotel called the Green Marlin.

They had nightly specials with fresh fish. Friday I had Seabass, and Saturday I had the grouper. They had reasonable prices and poured ample amounts for cocktails.

Sunday was a repeat with great weather. Crowds were slow to come, never got busy until around noon. Sales were not as big as Saturday, about one half, but they were steady.

Overall, most artists were very happy to be doing a show again.

The committee did a great job keeping everybody safe.

I sanitized my hands after every sale.  I wore my mask. Oddly, Sunday was the one day when we saw more maskless patrons. About 20 percent were not wearing masks.

This Show is a winner, it is not easy to get in.

Back in the day the Ann Arbor Art Fair ruled the art fair business. It started with the Ann Arbor Street Fair over 50 years ago, then the hippies came in and camped on the Diag and The Guild of Artists and Artisans grew out of that and became the Summer Art Fair; then the State Street Merchants Assn. decided they'd join the fun (and grew every year grabbing more real estate); then some unlicensed events popped up on private property. Way out of control (my opinion). Then the merchants on South University decided they weren't making enough money so they tried to make a deal with the board of the Ann Arbor Street Fair for more $$$ leading to a split with the board which roughly 10 years ago created the South University Art Fair. Lots of artists -- lots of people, lots of money flowing. 

Then it got to be just too much and Michigan's economy hit hard by the tech bubble just never recovered. Well paying union jobs were going away and the autoworkers/auto suppliers/auto advertisers really suffered. Oh, and the City of Detroit declared bankruptcy. Tough times all around for artists and the groups that sponsored the 4 official fairs.

Blockbuster this week: 

The South University show is closing its doors and the Guild is taking over the management of the event that included the S. U. streets. 

Why I believe this is good news: it decreases the footprint of the event, it means there will be fewer exhibitors, commercial booths will be gone, for everyone who has been saying "it is just too big", getting smaller should be of economic benefit to all the stakeholders. 

Learn more of the details: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2021

Maybe its time for you to reconsider skipping Ann Arbor? What do you think?

This is the third show of the season produced by the Art Center of Bonita Springs.

They do one in early January, which I blogged, one in February,which I did not do, and one in March, which was my first time doing.

I was invited to their first one over 20 years ago which was held at a different location.

Now it is held on Old Highway 41 right in the heart of Bonita Springs. Booths are mostly on pavement with others on grass in a beautiful park setting, about 200 exhibitors.

This is a trendy area with lots of people with disposable income.Many are midwesterners who we see in the summer.

This year, after being shut off by Covid, they were out eagerly buying big statement pieces in all media.

I saw numerous six foot plus pieces go by me both days.  Saw lots of big sculpture and glass go by.

My potter neighbors from Colorado wrapped pieces continuously both days.

The Photographer across from me sold two huge framed pieces on Sunday, they were elated.

I had a strong January show here, selling over 20 framed pieces.

This Show more sales came out of the print bins and only sold small frames, 16x20.

Had an equally great show and ate well all three nights at my favorite restaurant there.

The only negative I can say about this show is their lack of spacing between booths.  There was none, I just do not get that in this time of Covid. Every other show I have done this year had six foot spacing.

Luckily, over 95 per cent of the patrons wore masks.  Thank God.

All exhibitors were masked and armed with sanitizers.

Every time I took a credit card, I sanitized afterwards. Every sale I sanitized and offered all my patrons the same.  Most took me up on it.

At restaurants and bars it was a different deal. Almost nobody came in masked before sitting.  Most ignored social distancing. It was like they could not be bothered.

I got my first vaccine last Tuesday, the Moderna. I still mask, socially distance and wash my hands constantly. I feel safe, I just wish more others would do the same.

It is a real problem all over Florida.

Still, after all the shows that have gone on this season, I do not know of one artist who has caught the Covid, so we must be doing a real good job.

This is a great time for us artists out there.  We do not have all the usual competition from all the great talent on the circuit.

People are tired of being cooped up and they are coming out to shows and buying big.

Here is my one example.

A couple came into my booth and were hooked on my one photo showing mileage distances from exotic locations that was done in Key West.

The wife liked my 16x20 matted photo which was priced at $90.00.

Then, the husband responded, “Honey isn’t that a little small for the space?”

She said, “Yeah.”

So he pointed to my 20”x30” same photo printed on metal, priced at $500.00.

He said, “Doesn’t this look better.”

She said, “Hell, yes.”

They took it within a blink of the eye.

And that has been how it is going all season long.

It is a great time to be an artist.

This weekend I venture off to Vero Beach, which ironically was my last show in 2020. It was cancelled at the end of the first day.

I plan on making up for lost time.

When I had no shows last summer, I started a new body of handcolored work.

It is strongly selling, and I am so grateful.

So keep your heads up, stay real healthy and get out and do some shows, this is a rare opportunity to make some heavy moola.

People are hungry for art.

Later, gators.

It is always great to do a show in your hometown and have it profitable.

No hotels, no travel, no restaurants.

In NSB you have two annual art/craft shows.One is Images but it was cancelled this year.

The Fiesta, put on by the city’s dept. of Leisure Services went on.

There were a little over 200 exhibitors spread out on the streets and in a park.

One caveat.  This is more a craft show rather then fine art.

That said, there were many respected fine artists there. And, they give out nice cash awards.

The majority of booths are festooned with lowend beaded jewelry, bird houses, pottery, etc.

People with images or sculptures of birds and marine life do very well here. The guy with carved totem poles, made out of palms always sells well here.

My neighbor across from me, with marine creatures cut and polished on metal, nearly sold out.  At showend he had two very little pieces left.

Most of the exhibitors are regulars every year.

The booth fee is well under $300 and you can leisurely set up on Friday.  I was there at 8 am and out on the beach by 11am sipping margaritas.

NSB is my hometown, moved here four years ago from Ybor City.  Best move I ever made.

We are right on the Atlantic Ocean right below Daytona.

The Town is very mellow.  We do not have the congestion that most East Coast towns have.

What we do have is an abundance of reasonable bars and restaurants right on the water.  You can drive your van on the beach for miles.

There is a lot of people with disposable income living here.  Most have conservative tastes when it comes to art and craft.

So, with Images cancelled, I was hoping we would see more of that crowd here.  Did not happen.

The weather was perfect, cool morns with warmer afternoons, no rain threat.

I was on the street, Julia. We all had six foot spacing between booths.  That is very nice, more room to hang images on the outside.

Last year, I did about $1200 here, and with Covid, I figured if I could do that again, I would be a happy camper.

Knowing that they tend to buy low end here, I came loaded with framed 11x14 photos at $99. Good move, sold them all.

So Saturday was great, made what I did here last year that day.  I celebrated very hardy Saturday nite.

Sunday tends to be a slower day, and it was.

Around noon a guy came into my booth.  Just recently moved here and was looking to decorate the new condo.  Almost hooked him on the first go.

He liked my new work on metal.  I have my 30”x40” images, on aluminum, priced at $999.00.

Around 2pm he came back, with his wife, always a good sign.  We talked a little, and then, he told his wife, “Honey, get on the phone and transfer $1000 to my checking account.”

Bang! I nailed the sale.  My first big one on metal.

Needless to say, I celebrated mightily that nite.  Watched 12 episodes of Schitts Creek.

Most of my fellow exhibitors did very well.  We had a thinner crowd than normal, but the ones who came, bought.

Keep this show in mind if you are batching a bunch for Feb.

BTW.  Got my first vaccine today.  I feel awesome.

Aloha, Nels.