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I've done this wonderful show in the past and was really happy to have received my invitation for this year.  In the past I've stayed at County Clare Inn & Pub because of its close proximity to the show and also, very importantly, because of the restaurant within. It's a great place to stay, but pricey.

Because I'm doing very few shows at this time (rotator cuff surgery upcoming later this year) I thought I'd ask around for less expensive lodging suggestions from people who've exhibited at Lakefront in the past.

I'd still like something fairly close to the show with good beds and having a food source available (a nearby restaurant with both morning and later evening hours) is critical.  

Thanks for any suggestions.

I've been thinking of applying to AB & E this year, but I'm hesitant for a couple of reasons. None of my art show friends do this one, and there are some fairly bad reviews from 2009-2011. I'm wondering if anyone can give an updated review? Someone who has done this show in the last couple of years perhaps? Or you can send me a pm. Thanks!

I wonder everyday about one subject matter the economy and how it affect the art shows. 

It seems at first that is going well and strong but still I dod not see any improving where it matters. So far I feel we still stop in the same boat or little worst and do not take my word for it. There are plenty articles that will tell you the same and how people are concern about the pending inflation. Also the how people purchase change 10 years ago when we hit the recession. 

Art show artist keep thinking that best approach is produce expensive art work or very cheap, basically nothing in middle. That concept alone is wrong in so many way because it show the evolution of our social class. We basically telling ourselves that soon it will poor, lower middle class, high middle class and high class or 2%. 

Here are somethings as 2d artist I consider: my customer are between 30 to 50 married couple with empty wall space. Anyone with empty nest is looking to down side and no matter how much 401k and IRA accounts are doing it wont matter because they are not my customer. Lets eliminate the poor or basically earning less than 25,000 per year they are not buying. If I move the next bracket where people have some spare money to go out but still live check to check it is not my customer or the will buy something in low end. I think that person may earn around the 50 to 60K. The customer that I am looking really is the people earning close to 100k or higher. This customer income may be different between state to state but you want the person that can purchase something with wondering if they can cover the bills. This is not a 2% this what I consider upper middle class or lower high class.  So the question I ask how many of those people are walking the shows.

I am feeling that Florida market is much older but I am looking for the person with a second home and recently retire at worst. Midwest is more my couple type customer. For my work I looking for the tractional area and conservative area. Having the 45 in WH is good for my business since this folks feel better about the direction of our country regardless of my beliefs. 

The only thing I hope is that government chaos do not affect my sales as it did last year (my personal experience).

My first month had not finish I can tell you it already double my number from last year. The main reason I choose Cape Coral or Beaux Arts and willing to drive to Florida and back to Chicago to take care of my install customers. I am feeling encourage because after dealing with scam I find myself believing again. More important I believe that I putting my best effort, keep creating and moving forward. Not let the noise influence my spirit when it comes to my income. Maybe the biggest thing is that I trusting my choices regardless what my friend my think or do. The reality we all have different path to arrive to same place.

i have the opportunity to show at either Austin Art Alliance or Art In Bloom, in McKinney, TX. Having never participated in either, I don't know which to choose. Can anyone weigh in on this to help break the tie?

Ellen and I live in a historic, almost century house, in Ybor City which is a historic district on the east side of downtown Tampa.

First a little history lesson, then we will get to the reason for “Reefer Madness.

Martinez Ybor was a Cuban  who brought the cigar industry from Key West to Tampa in the late 1890s.

Thus the area w live in is a historic district. It is a mix or retail, lots of bars and a lot of old historic homes and new condos.  Lots of young people live here.

My wife, Ellen Marshall, bought the house we live in back in the early 1990s.  She was only the third owner of this house.

Originally, It was built in the 1920s for a Mr. Licata who had two successful barbershops in downtown Tampa.

Mr. Licata wanted to build a new house for his family in the Hyde Park area of Tampa, which is in the heart of downtown Tampa. But the powers that be said, “We ain’t letting no Italians live in Hyde Park.”

Mr. Licata said, “I will build a prestigious home in Ybor City.

The house is four bedrooms with a central hallway then the usual living room to bathroom layout on the other side.  It has 12 foot high ceilings, beaded woodwork, hardwood floors, also a big front porch and a driveway (we have the only driveway for two blocks around, it is a big plus). There is a great back yard with a great enclosed fence.Six feral cats live here in utter luxury.

Ellen bought this house for under $25000 at the time.  She was the only white women living there at that time. We just sold it for mucho dinero more.

OK back to Mr. Licata and Reefer Madness.

Mr. Licata had a big family with two sons and a daughter. One of his sons was not right.  He should have been institutionalized but the family would not do that.

So, one day in the mid 1930s, the said son, high on copious amounts of Jack Daniels, beers and little Reefer, bludgeoned to death his whole family in our house.

Newspapers at the time described neighbors saying they knew something was wrong when the family did not show up for Sunday church.  They also noticed blood seeping under the front door.

The federal government seized upon this incident, citing marijuana, as the main reason for his murderous intent.  The Senate then passed a law making marijuana illegal all because of this incident.

Anybody who has ever toked knows this is total BS, because when you are high you are not in a murderous state.  You are usually looking for chocolate.

Anyways, our house is the reason for Reefer Madness.

Time to Time, we have people show up on our porch and inquire about the incident.I can say there are no bad vibes here, just mellow feral cats.

Just thought you might like hearing an interesting story.

This is a two day show (last weekend) with a Friday setup.Everybody has ample rear storage room.

The booths are setup in a rambling pattern with no definite pattern for crowd flow.

Booths down by the river are kind of cut off from the main flow, and a lot of the crowd never makes it there.

Bonita Springs is just north of Naples and slightly south of Estero on the Gulf  Coast.

It is an affluent area with lots of golf course communities.  The crowd tends to be 60 years and up.  Not a lot of young ones to sell to.

But, you have lots of newcomers-retirees, many from the Midwest, who want to decorate their new homes in a Florida-style motif.  So there is a market here to sell to.

They tend to be very conservative.  They do not think outside the box.  They love the birds, flora and fauna, and lots of beach imagery.

They like blown glass here.  Almost every glass artist I talked to, killed here.  My neighbor, Doug Sigwarth had a killer show. The Slades ruled as usual.

Overall, I saw a few big 2-D pieces go by each day, but they were few and far between.

This is a tightly juried show, with little if any buysell present.  The staff is out and about and takes care of any problems pronto.

They do a nice artist breakfest every day and have boothsitters.  Teardown is very mellow, just like the setup.

Personally, I did about the same as last year, not great, but I made a profit.

On this date you have the choice of doing a mostly craft show up by Homosassa Springs, a big ugly crafty-buy sell show at Cape Coral, or a Bill Kinney Paragon show in Sarasota. Oh, I just remembered, there is also Beaux Arts, down by Miami, good luck with that.

Personally, I will probably stick with Bonita Springs.

January is always a tough month to make money in. You take what you can get and hope to make the most out of it.

I have this weekend off, then the last weekend of the month I have Images in New Smyrna Beach, my old hometown in the 1980s.

Ironically, Ellen and I are selling our historic Ybor home to our neighbor, and, our next place to live—New Smyrna Beach. This is a very mellow beach town and you can still drive your car on the beach.

We are both very excited to going there, will keep you posted.

Later Gators—In a while, crocodile.

It's January. For most of us in this business we are not in Florida or Arizona, happily greeting customers and showing off our work. I hope you're taking advantage of this lull. So far I've posted two useful things you can do for yourself during these days. 

Here is #3, something to do for your fellow artists:

It was good and I made money.

it was colder than you know what. Setting up in the low forties while handling cold metal parts sucks.

Naples Art League runs this annual show on the first weekend after New Years.

Setup is early Saturday morn with 300 artists jockeying for Position, it sucks too.

But that is what you tolerate in order to make mucho moola here.

They charge $450 for the booth fee and you have to park your van miles away and take a shuttle back.

January in Naples is never cheap. Hotels are $150 plus per nite, drinks are high($15 for a Makers Mark Manhatten, on the rocks, at Chops).

The artists who make serious money at this show are the ones selling high end items.

People who rely on quantity sales at low price points do not do well here. There are not enough customers within the surging crowds to do that. On the average, you are lucky if you get one out of forty to come in your booth.  They are too busy petting their prize dogs.

These are mostly well-coiffed midwesterners.  They look great, but most of them do not give a serious rats ass about art.

The ones who buy go for expensive pieces of jewelry, think $2K and up.  They love big gaudy metal wall pieces.  They love big Florida-Drek photography, they never met an alligator or palm tree they would not buy. Big, in ceramics or anything sells here.

If you are relying on $30-$75 sales here, forget about it, not enough customers .Also the show is about six long city blocks in length with booths setup in quads. Everybody gets an open side with about two feet of rear storage.

That said, the layout does not encourage bebacks.  You get one shot, make it memorable.

Last year inclement weather sunk the show.  I barely sold $1200, this year I did seven times booth fee. Not bad, but not great.

That was the general consensus I got when I talked to fellow artists.

I think this could be a great year for big sales. But I am a little worried about our middle class patrons, they seem stuck in a cycle going nowhere forward.

Well, I will keep you all posted on my goings and on this year. I am almost 73 years old and in my 43rd year of doing shows. I never lost my love for them, I still get excited about them.  I keep coming up with new work and love selling the hell out of them.

Later gators, Bonita Springs is calling me this weekend.