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The other day when I stopped to buy some E-6000, the woman in the checkout line ahead of me was buying an armful of jewelry magazines.

As we were crawling by inches forward, she turned to me, admired my necklace and asked, "Which magazine did you find that one in?"

I was surprised at the height, breathe and depth of my indignation. I have been thinking about this moment and I have an epiphany to share with you:

People who copy from books, magazines, websites or classes are not artists!

They are copy-cats.

I have never used a book, magazine or the web for my work. Every design comes from my imagination. I have taken certification classes in a process but never a class on how to make a pair of earrings. I have a book on how to use the various PMCs which I received in my cert class, my kiln operating book, a book on the properties of natural gemstones, one on pearls and a general How To Bible of tools and techniques.

Aren't there clear instructions at Art Fairs that nothing can be made from a kit?

Well, following the step-by-step instructions (with pictures) is just like using a kit. You just go to the local bead shop and they will read your instruction set and give you everything that would have been in that kit.

Today I was back at the store and thought I would look through the lot. I could not believe the silliness, the trashiness, the lack of balance or color, the ART-LESS-NESS of the patterns in these ad filled mags. This is a business: NOT one set to build the next Artist.

I am sure Michaelangelo wasn't pausing on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, waiting for his monthy magazine for inspiration.

1. You did not read the application carefully. Your work is not appropriate to the show. Not all shows are open to all media. 
   
   
2. You did not fill out all of the spaces. You skipped sections where you could show the special nature of you as an artist, or point of view. All facets of the application process are important: all spaces filled in, solid booth images, an artist statement that sets you apart.
   
   
3. Your work is poorly photographed with bad exposures and messy images.
   
   
4. Your artist statement is poorly written: misspellings, bad grammar, doesn't reflect the imagery being displayed. Tip: review your statement annually, update it to reflect current work and say what is really special about your work. Think of it as a resume, why it should make the cut. Jurors don't care about what paper you use, the cone firing, etc.
   
   
5. Have someone else read your artist statement. Read it out loud yourself so you can hear what the judges are going to hear. Are there abbreviations they won't understand?
   
   
6. The images are not consistent. Think of the art as a "family", not identical but clearly from the same maker. The work should be related.
   
   
7. The workmanship is not up to the level of the other work being presented. Make sure the images you send in truly reflect what your work is. Tip: whenever possible visit other shows and study others in your media, especially visit the shows where you were rejected.
   
   
8. You didn't project your images to see what they will look like to the judges. You didn't show them to someone else to get a second opinion.
   
   
9. When applying in two categories you use the same booth shot. The judges don't know what will be in your booth. Or the booth is "photoshopped", a clean empty booth with 4-5 pieces dropped in. Clearly not what will be appearing at the show.
   
   
10. You complete your application at the last minute, so that if there are errors, or the show director has a question about it, there isn't time to get it right. Best tip, especially if you are relatively new to art fairs or applying to a very competitive show: Apply early so you can be sure your application is reviewed by show staff for any problems.

This list is from our recent podcast. Listen for more details here.

Can we make this "20 Reasons?" Do other show directors have some more to add to this list? Do you agree with this list?

Thanks to Cindy Lerick, Saint Louis Art Fair; Christine Berthiaume, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Marguerite Esrock, St. James Court Art Show.

Here's the thing... I'm not saying that all the artists at Chicago's One-of-a-Kind Show at the Merchandiose Mart wasted their time. I'm just saying that I wasted my time there. I felt like they gave me some kind of magical "invisible" booth. The few people that did visit me, I truly appreciate, but most did not. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

I signed up for this show with lots of doubts and trepidation. The $2500 booth fee is off-putting to say the least and I managed to dodge trying this show for many years. I'd have to sell a lot of my prints (I'm a digital artist) to make a profit. The other thing is the size of the show. Six hundred artists! How are they going to get all those artists and their art into the building (and out again at the end of the show). And there's the teamster thing. You gotta use union workers for everything.

A lot of my concerns were unfounded (except for that pesky "profit" thing). 

Marcia and I drove into Chicago from Saugatuck on Wednesday morning. We followed their directions to the loading dock at the Mart. The load in was very well managed. We were given a number and asked to put our van into a line in an empty parking lot next to the loading dock. When a space became available (10-15 minute wait) we drove into the dock and stood back and watched as the teamsters unloaded our truck onto large carts at our direction. We brought a lot of stuff, including our entire 10x10 ProPanel setup. We then parked the van in a nearby parking lot and entered the Mart, took an elevator to the 7th floor, checked in and got out badges. We found our booth (one of 600 booths. Its a big place.) and voila! There was all our stuff. Kind of stacked a little haphazardly, but all in good shape. I might mention that it is not necessary to bring ProPanels. Each booth is neatly set up with three walls (unless you have a corner) with each wall made of thin laminate wood about an inch thick. Most artists use their walls and just hang things on them. We liked the ProPanels better.

We spent a few hours setting up, then, retrieved our van ($37 parking) and drove out to Evanston (Northern suburb) where we were staying at my daughter's apartment. Thursday morning we took the Metra (commuter train) into Chicago and walked from Ogilvie Transportation Center to the Mart (about a 15 minute walk). We worked the crowd all day (10-8) even though most people couldn't see us (we were invisible). We grossed a whopping $252 that first day.

Friday wasn't much better. We grossed $630.62 that day.

Saturday was the big day. Lots of people. Over the course of the four days, they estimated attendance at around 60,000 and I think that was fairly accurate. We had more interest on Saturday, but still grossed only $1525.85 We were definitely getting nervous about even making our booth fee.

Sunday (10-5) we squeaked by with sales of $704.50 making our gross for the four days $3112.97.

At 5pm, the show closed and we started packing up. Soon the Teamsters brought our empty boxes from storage and we managed to get everything ready to load by about 6pm. The show has an option of leaving your stuff in the booth overnight and coming back on Monday morning to load up. We took advantage of that option. 

I wondered how they were going to get all 600 artists out of there at the same time, and I was right in thinking that it would be a mess. Although it was fairly well organized the wait time in getting a crew to your booth, even on Monday morning, was long. Marcia stayed in the van while I went up to the booth to wait for the teamsters. We waited over three hours for our turn. When they did finally get to us, it went pretty fast. The crews that work the Mart are polite and careful, so they got our stuff down to the dock pretty quickly.

One of my fears was loading the van after the show. I didn't know if the Teamsters would allow me to touch the boxes and pack the van. Like most artists, there is only one way everything will fit. That fear was unfounded. The workers patiently handed me the boxes I needed in the order I needed and let me pack the van. It went pretty fast.

By the time we were ready to leave, it was too late to head back to Saugatuck, so we stayed with another daughter for the night and came back on Tuesday. A good week away from the studio and a paltry payday at that.

I was excited about doing this show, especially after seeing that Connie's ranking had it at number 3 in the country. And that is a valuable lesson about rankings. They are just a guide and they don't guarantee success. I know that Connie's top art fair rankings are made by both artists and art fair goers. So, apparently there were enough of them to really like this show. I cruising the show and talking to other artists, I found a broad spectrum of satisfaction. Lots of artists are very successful here. Maybe most. But, I found that us fine artists, especially 2-D, are in the minority, and, with a few exceptions, they didn't fare any better that I did. I wouldn't categorize this show as a fine art show.

This was my last show of the year, and I had high hopes for getting it on my yearly calendar. What could be better than a gangbuster show in the winter, indoors. It didn't work out for me, but I can't complain. I had my best year ever this year and I'm looking forward to a new venture in May when I'll be opening the LebenArt Gallery in downtown Douglas, Michigan. I'll still be doing art fairs next year, but, you won't see me at the Mart in the winter.

Well maybe not entirely but I would like to relate an experience that I had with my credit card merchant account. A few years ago I decided that it was probably in my best interest, and in the interest and convenience for people that wanted to purchase my work, to finally break down and sign up for a credit card merchant account. Up till then I was doing no more than 5 and maybe up to 10 shows a year. I didn't have any problems with sales not involving a credit card as people came to the shows either with cash or a handy checkbook and an ATM, at least at the shows I was doing then, was always nearby. It wasn't an inconvenience as people understood when I explained why I didn't take credit cards; not enough shows to warrant it at the time.

Fast forward a few years and I felt it would be in my best interest to up my game and begin to accept credit cards. I did what I felt was thorough, though not exhaustive, research on the different companies that were willing to support a weekend warrior/artist. The costs just for monthly statements ranged from $7 on up. The discount rates, as we all know, varied greatly as well. I called 1st National Processing and was given what I felt at the time was a reasonable program. They sent me a Nurit 8000 set up with a "store-and-forward" program. My statements were only $7 at the time and the discount rates were among the lowest as well.

November of that same year rolls by and I'm hit with $129 for a PCI fee! What the heck is that!? I call 1st National and am told that it is the annual indemnity fee for my account. Didn't know about that one! Basically, if someone gets hold of my account and finds credit card numbers stored on my machine, which it was set to delete anyway, I would be liable for any problems associated with it. I didn't want that! Water under the bridge, life goes on, lesson learned, I suck it up.

Soon I noticed that my $7 a month Merchant Account Statement had grown another fee. An additional $4 "Regulatory Fee" was being appropriated from my check book per month. "Enough of this", I thought. Besides which I was beginning to experiment with Square and was thinking of migrating over to them anyway. The "Store-and-Forward" system was beginning to make me nervous. What if something went wrong and I lost an entire days receipts? Before I tossed the whole previous system out however I saw the ad (like the one blinking at me now from the sidebar) for  "FREE" Credit Card Processing. I called them up and was satisfied with what I was told. Indeed, they said, there would be no fees accept those associated with the cards that I processed.  Seemed like a good idea, that way I could migrate over to Square and have this other system as a back up if it were ever needed (By-the-way, don't leave your iPhone in the sun!). They canceled my old account and gave me a new account with a new number (and a new account provider). Given the caveat as previously described I did use the "back-up" and was charged for the transactions as described in the plan. No problem.

The end of the year rolls around, no other fees as yet as advertised, yet now I'm seeing $16.95 being charged against this account for PCI fees again. Wait a minute, if you look long enough at the flashing ad, it says "NO PCI fees"! (or upfront fees or recurring fees, etc.) I call up 1st National explain the situation and indeed they concur, no fees. The money goes back into the bank account.

January of this year rolls around and I receive a letter which states that "due to escalating costs" I would be "assessed an incremental fee based upon the difference between $10 and (my) transaction processing fees." They also reminded me about the PCI fee (again!) What's this all about, I thought my account was "FREE". I called mid January and was told by Jason that he would have to research this (stalling tactic?). What? The bank representative doesn't even know what's going on? He dutifully took down my phone number and assured me that he would get back to me. I didn't hear from him so out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

March 1st rolls around and much to my chagrin I receive a "Merchant Statement" (I haven't seen one of these since the problem with the second round of PCI fees being charged). I call Merchant Services and Jared apologizes profusely for Jason not having gotten back to me and explains there is nothing he can do to reverse the charge. I will have to call the sales office at 1st National Processing. It is a few days before I can call 1st National. When I do I am greeted by what at first I thought might have been "Dog The Bounty Hunter" or at least someone who just finished charm school at a collection agency. He was gruff, as though I had just taken him away from an episode of Storage Wars and didn't appreciate it. I was, to say the least, taken aback by his attitude for, in their defense, any time I had contacted them previously they have always been pleasant, patient and attentive to my questions or concerns. I explained the situation one more time to him and he basically told me that due to the fact that they (the bank) had "escalating costs" they had to charge the $10 a month fee and that they (1st National) couldn't do any thing about it because the banks could do whatever they wanted to and that if I wanted he could cancel the account effective the same afternoon. I did!

What kind of "escalating" costs could they possibly have? From my perspective a "FREE" account is a win-win for both the bank and the vendor. The bank wins because they can charge their "discount" rates for swiped or keyed cards, they continue to make money. The vendor wins because they (were) not charged unless they actually used the machine. So basically they are telling me that if I'm not using the thing it is going to cost me $10 a month no matter what. So much for "FREE". If I were using the machine on a regular basis however, and my processing fees were $10 or more, than it would be "FREE" but there are times I'm not doing shows at all and don't want to be assessed the $10 per month! I guess they just can't stuff it into their pockets fast enough!

This past year I've been pretty much using Square exclusively anyway without a hitch, except maybe for the incident described above. Their on-line statements are much more useful to me with a breakdown of fees charged, tax paid, etc. then the other merchant statements ever were. (By the way Square charges their 2.75% on the tax as well! Can't figure a work-around for that one) All that glitters is not gold, so do your own due diligence when shopping credit card vendors.

Cheers

Well. it is done and over.

This is still a very well run all volunteer show.  They have artist's interests foremost in their hearts.

The mighty schlep from the park is done (Thank God, 7 cartloads out over those wretched railroad tracks.)

Not one of the better years for this show.

A lot of disappointed artists.  Some barely broke even.

Others, were off by 50 per cent over other years.

Still, just as many prospered.

It was just a funny feeling show.  The vibes were not feeling right.

Anyways here goes my report.  As usual, I will give you a little "meat" first.

THE SETUP IN THE PARK AND THE STREET

This is a three-day show.  Setup for those in the park is Thursday, all day, and night.

People on Park Avenue have to set up early Friday morning and be ready for show opening at 9 AM.

The show is held in two sections of a beautiful city park, bordered with a rail line on the west side and with trendy Park Avenue on the east.

Morse blvd. bisects the center of the park, so you have a south section and a north section.

Some booth locations are better than others.  I will delve into that later.

The primo booth spots are on the street.  Savvy exhibitors know that.  Competition for those coveted spots is heady.

Most spaces are generous.  Room on the sides and room in the back for storage.

Weights only for anchoring booths because of the sprinkler system.

For the booth setup, you signup on line for loading times.  Supposed to drop the stuff off, go park, then setup.  We all know how that can go.  Some people are more special then others, and can hog the loading curb for quite a while.

All the artist parking is in two lots located west of the railroad tracks.  Hence, the schlep across grooved  tracks, at least 8 of them, they will rattle your load on a cart.  God Forbid!  If you take a spill on the tracks with the mighty train bearing down on you.  Your ass will be grass, and your art will be history.

Years ago, a very colorful photographer on the circuit had a run-in with a train with his van.  Guess who won that one?

So, some did like me, and just parked in the lot and then schlepped it all in, and then back out at tear-down.

I viewed it as part of my daily workout.  Seven loads in, and about two hours invested in sweat and brawn.  It is not fun, but--my heart is happy.

Oh, they have nice hospitality tent, usual artist grub.

An artist party with free food and limited booze.  Nice awards.  Only the top winners get an automatic reinvite.

OK,OK, ENOUGH MEAT. GET ON WITH IT NELS.

Ok.  Here are my observations, plus a little input from my lovely wife, Ellen Marshall, who has done this show many times.

For me, this was my first time back since 1985.  You do the math.

I had always heard that this was one of the top shows in Florida to do.  Some say it is better for them than the Grove or Naples.

So, I geared up bigtime for this show.  Had two weekends off from shows since Gasparilla.

I have done Saint Louis, The Plaza, Main Street Fort Worth and Artisphere.  I was expecting numbers like these guys.

This year, for me, never came close.

Heck, in Gasparilla (my hometown) which is only a two-day show, I did almost as much as in Winter Park.

Numero uno in Florida?

I don't  think so--this year.  And that is not just me saying that.

Something was seriously missing at this show.  Could it be buyers?

The $5 lemonade people made a killing.  Everybody had a cup in their hands.  Unfortunately, most did not have any art in their hands.

A little memory from my early history.

When I got out of the Army in Hawaii and returned to Florida, I got in this show three years in a row.  Last time being 1985.

I remember when I first saw this magical park with everybody's home-made booths, I was totally enchanted.

This was before the pre made-manufactured booth era.  So individuality was in bloom everywhere.  In the art and in the booth designs.

But, what I remember most clearly was how much money the food people were making.

Opening day, barely one hour after show opening, I went by the fried dough booth.

Dough was sizzling in the oil, and dough was stacked high in their wooden kiosk.

I spied six rows of dollar bills stacked, at least 50 high, in the rear of the kiosk.  Those days they only charged $3 for a portion.  

They were raking it in.

I said to myself, "Welcome to the big time!"  I was floating on air.

Contrast that to the now.

Same white-tented booths everywhere.  Same lemonade stands on every conceivable corner.

Now, they squeeze the halves of one lemon in a cup, then leave the lemons in the cup, which of course displaces liquid, which means less product going out, more profit coming in.

And people are lined up with $5 bills in their hands gladly waiting to suck one down.  Amazing?

And they won't even pay $30 for a unique piece of art.

It is a sad statement of where we are in this country in regards to art appreciation.

Ellen, my wife, has done the show many times.

According to her, one year can be just great, and then the next one is off by 50-per-cent.

My buddy Jim Parker was in a primo location.  He was mildly happy.  He expected more.

My little firecracker artist Terry Causey was looking for big fish--and she had to settle for sushi.

My neighbor, Robin Frisella, a great pastel artist, had a puny show.  And she had the kind of work that resonates with this crowd.

She does lovely, traditional still-lifes with flowers and lovely home objects, like water pitchers, etc.  She sold about four pieces the whole show, and for not a lot of money.

Ellen had a so-so year.

Some notables, who won big prize money, zipped for sales.

My buddy, Amy Flynn had a real good show with her Fobots.  So see, great talent wins out.

My Minneapolis glass buddy was worn out from making big bucks, five shows in a row.  Oh, to have such a problem--I can only dream.

Face it.  This a great show to do.  It beats doing Winterhaven or Fairhope which are usually on this date.

Our economy still really sucks,

That is the product of two flawed presidents, and equally flawed Congress" who have not moved us out of the morass we are in.

The banks made out like Jesse James.  Isn't that ironic?

The Middle Class has been nearly eradicated.  They were our primary customer base at art shows.  They are hard to find these days--just like home-made artist booths.

That said, this is why sales were not so great this year at Winter Park.

Face it, it is not just Winter Park.

This is Our Winter of Discontent.

2014 Florida winter/spring shows are going down in history as one of our lamest seasons.

There will be a lot fewer artist vans stopping at the Citrus Inspection station on I-95 next year.

OK NELS, ENOUGH OF THE MOROSE, CAN YOU TELL US ANYTHING FUNNY OR POSITIVE?

NO.  SORRY.

I will give you some sage asides from the show that I actually witnessed, or heard.

So, we got judged by three famous people.

I have this one fun piece of mine that deals with actor/comic Bill Murray.

One judge gave me a good look--but, no selection for final judging.

I was shocked.

NOT!

But, as she was leaving she whispered sotto voice in my ears.

She said,"I will tell you a little joke about Bill Murray."

I was all ears.  No judge had ever told me a joke in 39 years.  Not even Les Slesnick.

Then she cooed slyly,"He was once in this restaurant in New York City.  He walked up to a complete strangers table.  He grabbed a french fry off this guys plate--and ate it. Then he leaned in and whispered in the guy's ear,'Nobody will believe you if you complain.'"

That was my high point of Friday at the show.

Oh, I had one other judge who said, "I really like your frames (Green Porticos).  Damn, I didn't even win Best in Frames at Winter Park.

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CONCERT STAGE VENUE AT THE VERY END OF THE NORTH PARK.

What?  You can't hear me?

Try being an artist in the north end of the North Park when music is playing.

The volume is FRICKING LOUD.

You cannot have an intelligent conversation with a client, let alone, a prospective client.

Unfortunately, that is never going to change.

TFS.

If you are lucky to be in that area, you are stuck with it.

Now.

Do you think a numeo uno show in Florida would allow that to prevail?

Apparently so.

The sound people are oblivious to artist entreaties to turn the FRICKING VOLUME DOWN!

The savvy ones, say stay away from booths in that end.  Leave them all to John Scanlan.

SO, IN CONCLUSION.

Yep, I would do Winter Park again, because I don't want to do Winterhaven or Fairhope.

You gotta know, going in, this is a conservative, traditional crowd.  They don't go for flash, splashy color, or contemporary themes.  They love "Old School."  In fact, they drool over it.

Is it still the best show in Florida?  

The jury is still out on that one.

I guess we will have to see who next year's jury is.

Aloha, the Pirate Nels--AAAARGH!

  I went to the Broad Ripple Art Fair Open Jury in Indianapolis in February. I got to be a "fly on the wall," watching five judges as they decided the fate of 539 artists that had applied for the show.

   Because I am a jewelry artist who participates in juried art shows, and because the jury process has always been dark and mysterious to me, I decided to attend. It was a show to which I had applied, located an hour from my home, and an invitation had been emailed to all applicants.

     When I got there they were finishing up in the photography category. It was in a conference room with a large screen in the front, where the digital images were projected. The five judges sat at two long tables in the front row. Each judge had a laptop in front of them, seeing the same images that were being projected on the large screen. As they viewed the images - all three plus a booth image, the narrator read out loud the artist statement. There is very little interaction between the judges. The images would be up for about 30-40 seconds, the judges would mark their scores, and go on to the next artist.

   I found it fascinating to see the artist entries for photography. They ran the gamut from traditional to contemporary and realism to abstract. Seeing exactly what the judges saw, and in the short time given for each entry, I started to gain an appreciation for the challenge of judging an art show.

    It's all subjective, after all.

     After photography there was a break for lunch and then the jewelry category began. The host briefly showed images from each entry in the category. Then he went back through them, giving 30-40 seconds per artist, while the narrator read the artist statement. Since jewelry is my category, I was especially attentive to the images presented, the booth image, and what the artist said about his or her work. With 128 entries, the highest number of any category, it can all start looking the same after a while.

      "We should score down every time the term 'unique' or 'one of a kind' is used!" one of the judges jokingly said during a break.

As you might expect from my previous post, I am being extra careful to be pro-active in the jury process.  I'd love to get feedback on something from other event coordinators and some artists.

Photographer  "___________" a talented artists regular in my events has some really cool prints.  I like them enough that I have purchased a few.

Then I found an identical image at Target on a cheaper substrate.

I ask. He tells me that he had licensed the image to Target for a short time five years back, and that it was no longer being licensed.

I tell him he cannot sell any image that had been ever licensed at the events I coordinate.  Simple enough.  It does not belong.  I am not showing his work to the jurors.  He is not eligible for my events. 

To be fair, I would like to try representing his thoughts.  He is welcome to comment on this post if he feels that I don't get it right. 

He says that "at least 20-30% of art fair artists license images or sell through- Fine Art America, GBC, Red Bubble, or Image Conscious".

He also pointed out that my prospectus does not specifically mention "licensed" art.

He is in some major fine art shows.  I won't mention them here.

Tell me event organizers, what's your thoughts on this? 

Artists?  I am confident that I am making the right decision. Your thoughts?

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.

OK, here comes my Teaser Blog.

As I was previously saying, my neighbors and I at the Bayou City (Houston,TX)were twiddling our thumbs.  My neighbors were Terry Speer and the lovely Deborah Banyas.  They are longtime exhibitors on the circuit----even longer than me.

Anyways, we were tossing Reeses Peanut Butter peices back and forth, throwing Sweet Chili Pistachio nuts at each other, and wondering, WTF!  Where are the customers.

So, first we started throwing cinder blocks across the path, hoping to hit somebody and get their Gold Card.  Damn, no luck.

Next, we tried three-hundred pound boulders.  Which was very difficult for Deborah since she only weighs about 95 pounds.  Next, with Terry's acquisition, we tried hurling Deborah at potential clients.  Damn, still no luck.

Next, I tried the one that always seems to work--a one-hundred-dollar-bill attached with silly putty onto a fishing rod.  It is kind of like trout fishing.  You tease the bait out there and slowly lure them in.  Damn, not a single bite!  We were ready to start using worms, or day-old potato chips.  We were desperate.

So, since we had no customers to speak to, we started brain-storming.

That is when I came up with this incredible concept.

It is so good, I am awarding Barry Bernstein exclusive territorial rights to it--between Marquette,MI and Pictured Rocks,MI.  Barry if you want Southern rights--like Charlevoix or Petosky, you are going to have to arm-wrestle Luciano Duse for them.  Good luck!

Since Bill, from Lakeland has been so sick and recuperating, I am giving him exclusives between Oveido and Auburndale,FL.  Way to go ,Bill!

So, here is a little hint about this brainstorm.

HINT ONE.  THINK ABOUT PAINTERS AND GOD FORBID!, PHOTOGRAPHERS, WHO DO WORKSHOPS.

HINT TWO.  THINK ABOUT AN EMPTY CHAIR.

HINT THREE.  I GOTTA ADMIT, I STOLE THIS IDEA FROM AMY AMDUR--THINK ABOUT LINKAGE FOR A $100.

There, that is a lot of hints.

Maybe tomorrow I will let you in on it, if I get enough hits off this blog.

Booth Picture Tip

I've spend the better part of the past year writing about booth pictures. The article which ran in Sunshine Artist Magazine was reproduced here and on the ZAPP web site. If you haven't read it yet, here's a link:
http://bermangraphics.com/blog/photograph-your-booth/

I just ran into an unusual situation yesterday when contacted by an artist who had hired a non jury oriented professional photographer to photograph her booth. When the shoot was happening, the photographer had refused the artist's request to give me a call to go over the images and make suggestions. He had shot the booth standing on a step stool because he thought it would make a better angle. Because of the camera height, there was too much of the front of the canopy top showing and nothing of the interior of the top. That in itself wasn't so bad. The problem was that the artist uses a Craft Hut and now the booth picture looks like the artist was hiding the fact that she is using a pop up canopy.

The only way to let the jurors know you're not using a pop up tent is to let them see the interior of the top in your booth picture.

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

Although I certainly wanted to be accepted into the Upper Arlington Arts Festival -- a show in a wealthy suburb of Columbus OH that my customers say I HAVE to start doing -- the sting almost went away when I read the line in the rejection email that said juror comments were available upon request.

What???  They'll actually share the jury notes and we don't even have to beg?

Thinking this was too good to be true, I jumped on the offer right away and shot back a request for comments.  And today, about a week later, the blessed news arrived.

First there was a brief description of the jury composition, the judging process and the scoring mechanism.  Then my score on a 7-point scale.  Then the median score in my category.  Finally, the jurors' verbatim comments.

Wow.  Really impressive.  More detail than I've ever received.  A little confusing because all the jurors' comments were quite positive, yet I didn't even make the wait list.  The other applicants must have been really good, and I say good for them.

I feel so positive about this show's transparency and respectful behavior that I will happily donate my jury fee again next year.  I'm even feeling inspired to pull out the sketchpad and try to up my game with some new and improved work in the hopes of improving my score next year.

So if you'll be in the Midwest over Labor Day weekend in 2015, give this show a try.  You'll find them on Zapp.

First off, this is not a blog slamming Les Slesnick.  I like  the guy and he means well.  He has done a lot of good things to help artists over the years.

Now, on with the show.

I was at Images Art Festival, located in scenic New Smyrna Beach, FL. this weekend.  That is the Atlantic coast.

They have become one of several shows, especially in Florida, employing the "Slesnick Method of Judging."

Ah!  You might ask.  What is the Slesnick Method of Judging?

Well, Les took a note at how a lot of artists, who especially came to shows gunning for awards, decried the fact that they felt the judge never really saw them or acknowledged them.  In other words, the Famous Ghost Judge.  There he goes, I guess, because a green dot just showed up on my booth sign.

So he suggested the following system which he felt would level the playing field.

You still with me? Otherwise go in the other room, mix up a great martini, and let me please smell the vapors, since I am not allowed to have them any more.  Have a heart, please.  Take mine.  All 70-per-cent of it that I have left.

So this is how it works.  Say you have two judges.  Each starts at one end of the show.  They will come into your booth.  Somebody will stick a clipboard in your face and make you sign.  There, see, you have seen the judge.  Each judge will give you his own printed card, which basically says,"Here comes the Judge!  I am the judge."  Here is the  kicker.  You will be judged for one minute.  Count on it, because we got a person with a time watch who is tracking the sixty seconds the judge will spend with you.  Then, it is off to the races to the next booth.  This system can be used with one, three, or any other combos of judges.  But, then it could get tricky calculating when each judge will hit your booth.

For instance at Images there were 225 booths to be judged. One judge with start at number one booth and move upward.  The other judge would start at booth 225 and move downward.

I was booth 109.  The show started at 10 AM and so did the judging.  In theory, I could calculate that judge number 1 would hit my booth approximately one hour and forty-nine minutes later, which put it around ten minutes to noon, or so. I mean whose really counting?  Oh, I forgot.  They have stopwatches.

Judge number 225 would be at my booth around five minutes to noon.  Or so.  Yikes!  I could see it now.  Two groups of judges descending on my booth in a close collision course.  There would be clipboards flying.  Stopwatches exploding in the air.  Somebody might even lose their notes.  

It was so juicy, so tantalizing.  I was waiting with baited breath and my camera ready.  You never know when you might get a goodie to jury with for Zapplication.

Let me take a minute to save all this.  I would hate lose it in the ether.

Whew!  That was close, but I am still here.  Read on, it gets better.

"Vell" as we European types like to say. Nothing good came of this system.

For background info only, I will give you a few salient points of what the Images Committee wrote in  our Artists' packet.

First, and foremost, it was recommended  that we stay in our booths till we were judged.  So that you could proudly proclaim, "hear ye, hear ye, I have been judged."  There goes the judge.

Tough luck if you want to go pee-pee.  Tough luck if all the free food at the Artist Lounge will be gone by the time you are judged.

Well, dear readers.  The system somehow got all muddled.  I never saw either judge until almost two hours after their appointed times.  Maybe they had the martinis--and sadly, no vapors for Nels.  Imagine, there would be no clipboards and stopwatches flying.  What a fricking disappointment.  It was going to be the highlight of my day.

Well.  Let me tell you how I was judged.

Judge Number 1 came in after the requisite persons had me sign a form saying I saw him.  Wow!  I got a big green dot.  Not as big as a purchase award ribbon, but it was big in its own little way.  It gave me hope.

 Number 1 allowed that he had seen me setting up on the optional Friday, and he really grooved on my work.  He was a little miffed because I did not share any of my  chili-salted pistachios with him.  (I made that part up, but I dreamed it--hey if Mate'O can dream of being in love with an avatar, why can't I dream of arousing the judge to yearn for my art--and my pistachios.)

He stayed a good minute, he actually looked at the work.  He was a judge, who I believe, had a more 2-D background.  I felt hopeful.

About a half hour later, Judge Number 2 came in.

Wow!  What a different experience.

He came intently in, after the necessary signing and dotting, and looked me right in the eyes.  And, I do mean right in the eyes.  He never once looked at the art hung on my walls.

In his European way, he said,"You have one minute to tell me about your art."

I looked intently at him, but not too, so that he would not feel I was groveling for his judgeful affections.

I bravely said (And dear readers, I know now it was my complete undoing), "Well, why don't you look at my art first, and then if we have time, I will tell you about it."

 I knew right away, he was not going to get one of my chili-salted pistachios.

Unwavering, he never took his eyes off me once.  Never looked at the art.

 I know. I have lost 48 pounds since the operation, I have tight  abbs, and veins popping in my arms.  But, I am no Tom Cruise.

 Please, look at the fricking art.

As he left, he gave me that "Kiss of Death" aloha that those of us artists have come to know and hate.

"He intoned," I hope you have a really good show."

I chimed back, quickly, but also a little forlornly, "Well, you could make my day."  

It was lost on deaf ears.

Well, dang it, I didn't get an award, but you know, that's how the cookie crumbles.  They have a right to their own opinions.  If they won't look at your work, it means "It sucks" in their opinion.

So here is the final asessment of the Slesnick Method.

It doesn't really work.  

First, and I have been judged at many shows by this method, the timing thing never is pulled off correctly.  The Weatherman looks more real than these Stop-Watching troops of judges.

Second.  Too much emphasis is put on the one-minute process, and not enough on the actual judging.  When your pieces were pulled and put into a room to be viewed later, you got a better judging experience.

This is just my humble experience after being awarded more than 300 of those "Money-Ribbons" in 38 years of exhibiting.

Well, what do think of the Slesnik Method?  

Is it just me?  

Should I get a different brand of pistachios, or the hell with it, why don't I just start bringing a battery-powered blender to show and mix up martinis for the judges.

And I thought it was hard getting good food in a hospital.  Nels Johnson.

Bravo!  If you read this all the way through.

I realize that a lot of you are in the queue to receive the new Square EMV enabled reader. There are actually two options; 1) For $49 you get the EMV enabled contactless + chip reader version, can be used with ApplePay, 2) For $29 just the EMV chip card reader and swipy version. You must read all the way down on the Square site to see the less expensive version. But I digress...

The update, got my first $29 version used it extensively at Rio Grande, worked fine (as long as I remembered to charge it each day). Brought it to Tempe for the fall show and, for some stupid reason, during the show I squeezed it at one point and then found it wasn't working anymore, was that coincidental? By the way, the unit was taking a long time to charge, and not holding a charge for very long, prior to my squeezing incident so I suspect there was something going afoul with it anyway. My iPad informed me that the unit was defective. Hmmm,

Good news, when it doesn't work they send you immediately to the warranty/replacement link where you can have it replaced for free***Beware***you MUST send the old one back within 14 days of receiving the new one or you WILL BE CHARGED for the replacement, so don't dwaddle!

Got the new one today, plugged it in out of the package and it wasn't working...called Square support and the helpful lad on the other end of the phone informed me that indeed these new readers are quite sensitive and are made to break, can't remember his explanation but had to do with some agreement or other. He couldn't understand why it wasn't working just from shipment and handling as they are not THAT sensitive.

Moral of the story, when you get yours treat it kindly!

A friend and I took our wives on a photo safari to The Plant City Strawberry Festival yesterday.  We met in a large parking lot shared by a Hooters and a McDonald's.  We left my car, and rode in his.  After dark, when we returned, I noticed a few people chatting behind a car a few spaces away. 

 As I was transferring my camera and tripod to my trunk, we were approached by man on a bicycle.  He interrupted our goodbyes and began talking.  My wife and my friend saw the “pan-handle “ coming and my wife quickly got in the car while my friend turned and said, “God Bless” before he too, got in his car. 

I asked, “You after money?”

He began telling me how he hadn’t worked in several weeks and was looking for money so he could eat.  I guess I’m a soft touch, and he seemed sincere so I pulled out my money clip and leafed through a few bills until I found a ”fiver”.  When I handed it to him; he said, “There’s a Chinese buffet up the road and I could get all I want for $7”.

I was caught off guard for a few seconds and finally, pointing at the group of people a few parking spaces away, I said, “Maybe you could get a couple of bucks from them”.

His demeanor immediately became sour and he began rolling away on his bike grumbling under his breath.  It  became clear to me that he now thought I was some kind of an asshole!

He went off in the opposite direction from the other people so I assumed he had already hit them up.  When he was about 10 feet away, I said in a loud voice, “You’re welcome!”.

No response.

Any of you have pan-handle stories?

I tend to just lurk on these forums or comment on posts and haven’t really made a blog post yet but have been inspired to finally. 

Artists, I wish there would be less judging and publicly expressed prejudice about buyers at art shows.  Should we stick to the facts and tell it like it is when a show doesn’t go well?  Sure we should….but we can explain when sales are down without tearing buyers apart and making derogatory comments about them. These are PUBLIC forums, and it’s been said before, BUYERS can get on them. In fact folks, some of your fellow artists are even your buying public. 

We recently went to a local art show and I came back on here to talk to an artist about potentially getting a piece of his once I got through my next art show.  We couldn’t look too seriously when we were at the art show since we have a little one on the way and the budget is tight until I get through my next major art show myself (about a week away!) I come on to find out he didn’t do so hot at the show (huge bummer!) but I took a slight offense at the customers being called “wal-mart shoppers”…..and based on their SHOES! (Considering we were some of the customers!)  

Now for the record, this event is held at the bottom of a ski resort, in a national park, on a hot summer day, and the paths through the event are all dusty and covered with small pebbles.  It’s basically like walking on a hiking trail.  I’m not sure what the artist expected, but it’s not the kind of place where you wear fancy shoes, or dress up.  It does however happen to be a show that people pay $ 8 to get in per person, and in an area where honestly, a lot of the people are a little more affluent and in the middle-class to upper-middle class range. 

Whatever reason they weren’t buying, it certainly wasn’t because they couldn’t afford it.  I made some comment about it not being a good idea to publicly bash customers, and got blown off.  Did the artist just lose a potential sale.  Yep….he just judged me, and all my neighbors based on clothing.   Kinda killed any impulse I had to inquire about getting a piece.  Absolutely silly.  

Let’s not degradate people because we don’t do well at a show.  There are lots of varying factors for why we might not do well.  Indeed, people may not be in the mood to spend money.  That doesn’t mean they are poor or stingy.  It may in fact mean that our art isn’t tugging at their wallets.  Any number of factors from cold weather, hot weather, rainy weather, grumpy artists, distracting commercial vendors, poor marketing, the wrong type of art for the wrong type of crowd (e.g. traditional art at a more industrial/modern show), or the art just simply isn’t what they are looking for no matter how good it is may influence our sales for a weekend.  

It breaks my heart to see artists who don’t do well automatically tearing down buyers to pieces and publicly at that.  How does that encourage anyone to support artists if attitudes like that are made known widespread? It makes us ALL look bad and sours buyers perspectives of a show. 

It would be nice to think that prejudice doesn’t exist at the same percentages in the art world as it does in society but unfortunately I’ve seen buyers at art shows judged all too frequently on what they are wearing, the color of their skin, the questions they ask. 

I’ve been able to witness this from a buyers perspective and I know what it feels like to be judged based on our “cover”. Being younger my husband and I sadly, frequently have had to walk away frustrated from potential purchases because we couldn’t get the artists attention.   We’ve stood by as artists took care of older clients and didn’t even bother to acknowledge our presence in the booth.  I kid you not, not even a “hello” let alone, “I’ll be with you a second.” Somehow, being younger and probably dressed more casually makes us appear to be less likely to be seriously interested in buying.   

I never understand how they fail to hear us actually discussing budget, and where the piece would go and saying things like “so this is the piece you want?  Yes.”  The funny thing is, though I’m an artist too and don’t have this whopping income, both my husband and I are VERY committed to buying only original art.  My husband’s father was an artist, I am an artist, and we’re young with an entire house to decorate.  Is it a struggle sometimes?   Absolutely, but we cut things out in other areas so we can support independent artists like we believe in and have pride in the objects we own. Most people would never peg us for art buyers, but with one exception, every single piece of artwork in our house was handmade by an artist or done by an independent photographer.  

At the supposed “wal-mart” show I was also seriously eyeing a delectable handbag.   I actually had even managed to capture my husband’s attention at the quality of it.  (Who for the record, does not get my obsession with handbags, and does not understand why anyone would pay more than $40 for one.  So to have him actually acknowledge a handbag as a stunning work of art is quite a coup.) The husband of artist working the booth literally picked it up right from under my nose to show it to a gaggle of older women.  Who went “oh, that’s nice” and then walked out of the booth.  Sigh.  Why, when you have a bunch of items in a booth would you take one right out from under a person who is looking at it?!!!

I can tell you of at least four separate occasions in the last few years in which an artist probably missed out on selling an original because we simply could not get their attention away from someone else they deemed “more worthy”.  Of course, you could say stick it out, come back to the booth later, but when someone acts like you aren’t worth their time it takes the fun out of the buying experience.  We truly are the type of people where half the fun is making connections with an artist and knowing we are supporting someone. 

Some artists get it totally right.  I still remember one Boston Mills Artsfest where we fell in love with Andy Chen’s photography.  Seriously, madly in love with it.  We went in and looked around and were greeted warmly, despite the fact that the poor guy had to be baking (it was something like 95 degrees and he was in the outside sunny section with absolutely NO airflow)  We ended up taking a card and walking out because we knew we really shouldn’t get the size piece we wanted. Of course we walked around and spent the rest of the show figuring out how to juggle the budget.  Came back to the booth later and spent probably a half hour still debating, comparing photos and deciding on the perfect piece.  I still remember when it dawned on me that poor Andy was standing there holding up a 3 foot framed photograph with sweat pouring down his face while we debated.  I felt so bad….we had turned into crazy customers. 

Long story short, because his work was phenomenal and he was so patient and so friendly we walked out with a large original and I joked with him that I just basically traded an entire art shows worth of inventory for me for one piece of his since we liked it so much.

Can we always afford it? No.  Have we walked through plenty of shows and not bought? You better believe it.  Do we collect business cards?  Yep.  We have totally been “lookers” However, we don’t forget the nice artists whose work we really love.  We have indeed returned when the budget was right and bought sizable pieces.  Had we got gruff or attitude for being lookers, or ignored or insulted in some way by those artists it wouldn’t have happened. 

As an artist myself, I’d have lost a lot of money over the years if I wasn’t respectful to EVERYONE.  (At least I sure try to be….I know I’ve had some days where I need to work at it more) Literally about 50% of my MAJOR sales have surprised the living daylights out of me, and I’m super glad I didn’t have any sort of attitude with the customers.  At a major art show last year, my most expensive piece probably went to the most casually dressed buyer I saw all day.  She wasn’t wearing a lick of jewelry, but picked out my showcase piece and off to her it went. 

At one of my holiday shows the tiniest little grandma came up to my booth and just started pointing.  I think she bought something for every single daughter or granddaughter that day (and the pieces weren’t on my lower end either!) I was a little fearful of the credit card being declined to tell you the truth as the sale was too easy, too quick, and she seemed like such an unlikely customer.  I am a little shamed I ever thought that. 

Quick disclaimer:  I know, I KNOW that there are shows where crowd makeup means we definitely won’t do well.  We’ve all picked a few shows to do in which we came back and went “whoa…def. not my crowd.” When we find shows that aren’t for us, let’s keep it at that though.  How hard is it to say “Not my crowd.  They weren’t buying what I was selling.” We do not need to make derogatory comments about people’s clothing, wealth, character, etc., when we do not do well. I'm not saying not to vent about someone who was particularly rude or degrading to you--that's a whole different story.  Just be careful not to make judgements about an entire populace simply because they're not buying what you're selling or to pre-judge customers based on pre-conceived notions, as they just might surprise you.

Late in 2015, after I'd been rejected again from some of the top shows in the country, I was on a different forum, moaning about my plight. Someone said that the best insights I could have would be to sit in on an open jury. 

A few days later, the mock jury presentation opened in Zapp. I was one of the first 150 who applied, and so I was accepted. I could hit St. Louis with only a slight detour on my route to Arizona to visit my dad and participate in the Tubac Arts Festival. 

I went with some trepidation. I'm self-taught, started painting 10 years ago when I was 50, and so I am relatively new to the art festivals. I have self-doubt from those situations and from a lifetime of self-doubt, and so I was quite nervous about putting my work up for critique in such a public forum, while I was in the room. But this is the year I stop hesitating because I'm afraid, so off I went. 

The event was held in the conference room of a Budweiser distribution company. There was room for probably 50 attendees, but only 15 or 20 attended. About a dozen emerging artists attended, as well. Many of them, interestingly, were in their 50s and above. 

SLAF President and Executive Director Cindy Lerick and Deputy Director Laura Miller organized the presentation, greeted us cheerily and dealt with all the technological particularities (they were doing a webinar for the first time). 

In a typical SLAF jury, there are five jurors. For the mock jury, there were two - Steve Teczar,artist and retired professor of Art at Maryville University in St. Louis; and Peg Fetter, jewelry artist and metal smith. 

Typically, a SLAF jury would receive 1281 applications and choose 150 from them. The waiting list is another 11.7 percent of the total. Missouri applicant make up 8 percent of the total, Lerick said; first-time applicants make up 25 percent of the total. 

The SLAF jury process is three rounds, Lerick said. The first two are yes/no/maybe and it takes a unanimous five "no"s to drop an applicant. In the third round, jurors slow down a little, comment and wrangle. Peg said that when she participated as a juror, the process took 27 hours, and was more than a little contentious at many points. 

The mock jury presentation was set up as the SLAF jury is set up, i.e., five slides - four of work and one of the booth - are shown at the same time. In the regular jury process, they said, the jurors look at the work for about 10 seconds before voting. 

Generally, in my opinion, the work that was submitted was good, though I have to say that I found only a handful of the entries actually exciting. The jewelry category had the best work overall, in my opinion. To my eyes, the sculpture category was the most uneven, with many artists making similar work (small, eccentric, amusing pieces made with reclaimed materials). The sculptors who made different work stood out astonishingly - to me, at least. 

Over the course of the day, several themes emerged. In general, the booth shots were where much of the focus was directed. I was amazed at the many booth shots that were just horrible. EZUps put up crookedly, with the sides open, junk piled in front and a standing fan in the middle. Sagging walls with drooping fabric on them. "Booth shots" that were just tables set up in a gymnasium - or basement, or garage - with chairs and boxes visible in the backgrounds. Booth shots with sunshine slicing across the ground and up the wall, obscuring the work. Booth shots obviously (to the experts' eye) photoshopped. 

Like everyone, I've wondered at the stress that's placed on the booth shot, and now, I understand it a little better. It's incredibly difficult to cut 1281 entries down to 150. I think that the standout work declares itself - at least it did, to my eyes, during the presentation. The truly bad work - and there was some of it, in my opinion, in the presentation - also declares itself.

And then there's the rest of it. If a lot of the work is sort of typical, middling, seen before, this is where the jury shot makes the difference. 

So, people, don't send terrible booth photos to juries. Set up your booth in the back yard, in the driveway, somewhere where you can find even light without bright sunlight or dark shadows. Don't clutter your booth with too much work. That was one of the themes. Again and again and again, the jurors said the booths were cluttered. They wanted to booths to be elegant, spare. "Galleristic" is the word they used. Put up the work then take a third of it down. 

They hated nearly all the booths with brown as the background. Oatmeal-colored backgrounds often got "anemic" comments from the jurors. Peg did not respond well to white or black backgrounds generally, though there were many exceptions; she was not just against white or black, but to her eyes, these colors either washed out the work or were too bleak for the work. A medium gray was what these two jurors suggested repeatedly. A number of times, Steve suggested using a color - not red! - on one wall. 

A few random observations...

• The jurors - and even the audience, after seeing about 50 entries - could tell professional photography from homemade shots, especially in the jewelry category. 
• Do not include frames in your images. 
• Surprisingly, at least to me, the jurors were accepting of some shots I'd not have expected they're like. Jewelers who sent photos with multiple pieces in the same shot, that was OK. One sculptor sent a shot of a couple pieces on the wall, and included the edges of two chairs, to give a sense of scale. That was fine. One box-maker had a photo that showed the box at the top, and a detail of the box at the bottom. And re the recent discussion here about detail shots, these two jurors were OK with several detail shots that artists entered. 
• Work on your 100- or 200- or 300-character descriptions. The SLAF jury reads these out loud, on the third round (I believe). Just because Zapp implies that you should be giving technical details of the work, that doesn't mean you must. And if you enter two bodies of work, tweak your description. Don't just send in the same one for both bodies of work.
• If your booth shot is photoshopped, and the jurors realize that, they will toss you out. 

As for my own work, I got no life-changing comments from the jurors, but that was OK. I got a lot of ideas over the course of the day, and understand much better now how to make my entries stand out from the pack. 

The most important thing I took away from this event came from Cindy and Laura, the organizers. They stressed that we, the artists, are the stakeholders, and that they, the show organizers, are happy to help. We should call with questions about our art, our application, our booth, anything. They are there to help us! 

So, thank you, SLAF. You have definitely helped me see my art in a different light. 

Above, the jury looks at work by jeweler Cynthia Battista

Artists have an especially hard time on the Internet because many (most?) artists fight the battle between art and commercialism daily.

It's especially hard to decide where to draw the line when selling art online.

You want your website to be as beautiful as your art.  You design a site that reflects your aesthetic but then you are disappointed with lackluster website sales.

Many artists build websites but get NO sales at all online.

Unfortunately they blame the Internet when it's often more a matter of website design.

If your website is attracting visitors but few sales, ExpertWebsiteReviews.com can help.
 

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Generic web design theory won't help you as much as personalized website advice that you can see.

Here are 2 examples of recent custom website review videos from ExpertWebsiteReviews.com.  They are full of valuable tips for how you could improve your website sales, too.
 

Video Review of BNelsonDesign.com

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ExpertWebsiteReviews.com is run by my son, Scott Fox, the best-selling author of Internet Riches and e-Riches 2.0 and a long-time dot-com success story. (He's also a frequent participant here at ArtFairInsiders.)

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Here's another example video:

Video Review of Biwer-Stewart.Artspan.com

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Winter is the right time for you to look at your website again.

If your website could use an upgrade, Scott would be happy to help, and he knows our art fair business.

Visit http://www.ExpertWebsiteReviews.com to order a personalized video review of your website.

What did  you think of Scott's redesign suggestions for these websites?

Anything  you disagree with? 

Would you  like to see more artist website redesign videos?

 p.s.  The custom video reviews from ExpertWebsiteReviews.com are only $99 for a limited time.  Reserve one now because the price is going up after Christmas!

Gfit idea: Order one for your favorite artist as a gift!

And God said, I will smite your tent down with wind and rain and hail.
And Lo, the security guard will raise you from your slumber and lead you to your crushed and sagging tent. He will provide you with light and encouragement in your hour of need.

But beware the False-prophet who will stop and with forked tongue declare your type of tent is banned from many-a-fair, or at least Columbus. He will try to distract you from your work but he will offer no assistance.

And you will lose all hope as you attempt to rid the canopy of the gallons of water that have crushed it. You will void your tent of its water with a pocket knife by puncturing it 9 times. And you will have to break many supports to get underneath it.

 The bent and twisted tent will rest on top of your pedestals on your center table. As you raise it up you will discover  your ceramics knocked to the ground and jostled to the side, and you will be Sore Afraid. But you will discover that nary a piece is broken, cracked or chipped. And you will be amazed.  Other artists will not be so lucky and you will know you have been chosen.

  And you will take this as a sign. Your first born son, hearing your wailing and gnashing of teeth,  will declare: Father, should we give up, pack and go home? But you will not despair, only wail and gnash some more, then go out in very very early Sabbath morn , and I will provide for you. You will scavenge bricks  block, wood and Bar, and you will resurrect  your tent from the soggy ashes (and you will remember to  seek out the vendors who 'contributed' to your resurrection in the morning's light to explain your thefts).

You will then take inspiration offered from your offspring, remove all the artwork, rearrange your pedestals and tables so as to hide the destruction and the center pole. And you will be grateful that I sent your first born on this expedition to assist you as you cannot do this on your own.

And lo on Sunday morn, the sun will shine, the ravenous crowds will come forth in great hoardes, and they will wonder at your artwork. Any your son will rise at noon.

Man and woman alike will place money and credit cards on your table and you will make many sales, though not as many as the bearded Prophet with the Double wide Skylight  kitty-corner to you.

 You will be wise, take the money I have provided you in the face of disaster, and you will seek out a new, worthier canopy. You will turn a deaf ear to the vendor across the way who admonishes you for having an unworthy tent from Cosco  instead of the superior Walmart pop-up, and you will know it could have been any of the other 20 or more Ez-Ups that escaped my wrath THIS TIME. You will remember the other 4 destroyed Ez-Ups at the fair, and you will know that no foam-swimming-noodle could have altered my wrath. And  you will see the light.

You will have a vision of your Sta-Bar you used to support your demolished tent, and you will seek a tent made of that very same mettle and know that it is special, although a bit heavy.  And you will purchase a Flourish Trimline with Sta-Bar and you will not look back, lest you be turned to stone. You will know the added weight and  time for setup will lead to comfort in trying times and you will be glad you paid through the nose for this tent. You will give me thanks as you carry the Old One to the dumpster as even the zippers will work on your new canopy which always bothered you with the Pop-up. You will be joyful because the Trimline walls will even fit in their carry bag, which the Pop-up never did. You will consider it more than a long overdue investment for the future, it is a gift .

You will be thankful for the three years the Pop-up lasted and know you are meant  to upgrade. And Lo, from this day forward  light will shine brightly through your  own Double Wide Skylight on your artwork. Your Ceramics  will be much admired by the descending hoards and will find safe harbor from the fury of the summer storms to come.  

And you will  go forth and preach the good news to all Art Fair creation and make disciples of your new canopy and break the cycle of the Eternal Occurrence of the Same.

Amen