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Let me preface this review with the fact that I am a positive guy.  Read my reviews - my attitude is that even if you are up to your neck in horse manure, the has to be a pony in there somewhere!

So, let me begin with the positives about this show

• Venue - a beautiful waterfront view of the end of the Susquehanna River and the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay, overlooking a Marina full of expensive boats, in a park filled with huge trees.  Ok, so the grass doesn't grow so good because of all the shade, but in mid-August I will take the shade.  Add in a very nice playground to keep the kiddies occupied and you have a great spot.
• Sales - pretty decent, nothing to complain about.
• Weather - perfect.  Mid-upper 80s, low humidity, nice breeze

So why the 'debacle'?  Now we have the negatives

• Hours on the application were different from the reality
• Arrive to set up at 7 am per the instructions, promoter not present.  Artists found the programs and helped each other find the spots
• Map of the venue in the program was a couple years old, layout was different
• Because they sell alcohol, the entire venue was fenced.  The Playground was cordoned off (the seafood festival the week before doesn't do that, not necessary.  The playground is at the top of a 20+ step stairway from the huge Marina parking lot, no signs indicating that you could not access the event from the top of the stairs.  You COULD walk all the way around the other side to the entrance.  The 4' high plastic fencing did get trampled by kids pushing it down eventually, and after many many complaints on Saturday, they opened up a 3rd entrance on one end.  Should have had at a minimum 5 entrances to begin with
• 2 entrances, both in the middle on both sides of the rectangular setup.
• Porta-pots at the extreme end on one side, 100 feet OUTSIDE of the venue on the other end.  8 total. From our space, 100+ yards to the nearest.
• We requested a corner.  Offered to pay extra.  Bought a double space.  Arrive to discover we don't have a corner.  At least 3 buy/sells on a corner, and at least 3 NEW vendors with a corner (this is our second year)
• Buy/Sell.  This is supposed to be an ART fair.  At best a loosely juried Arts and Crafts show.  3 times as much Buy/Sell as the Seafood Festival last week.  A lot of crap, and then Hudson Bay Inlay.  One Double Corner with tables loaded with Chinese Jewelry.  Ok, so maybe they did put the fake murano glass pendants on the ribbon necklaces.  At least they didn't win an award.
• Speaking of awards, the judging was all over the place.  Glassblower won a blue, and deserved it.  Photography was well judged, as was Pottery.  Jewelry was a joke.  Never saw the blue ribbon, second place was mundane beaded stuff, 3rd place was sea glass (mediocre wire wrapping and pewter charms), and honorable mention was one of the best Silversmiths I have seen, using unique and artsy components.  By far the best jeweler in the show (and we are jewelry), deserved a blue ribbon and probably best of show!  Miscellaneous was silly.  Soap got an award, while one of the best Psanky(sic?) egg artists in the country got ignored.
• Management was not engaged, did not seem to care
• Promoters were non-existent at the end of the show, no traffic control, a total cluster.

There is more, but I will leave some room for others to fill in the blanks.  End of day, we made decent money, but will not return, even for free.  Easily the worse run show we have done this year, and we do 40+.  This is allegedly the 52nd year for this show, they have had plenty of time to get it right.  One bright spot - there were several great artists there, and we bought our first original piece from Mark Turner - Thanks, Mark!

It’s been a lousy couple of weekends in a row. Riverfront in Columbus, Ohio, was pretty bad with only $175 in sales, and who would have thought St. James would get worse? Hell, not only was it worse, the damn thing spiraled down in flames right through the rain and into the soggy ground. It was one of the worst shows for me in 25 years.

We’ll get the “Nels Stats” out of the way first, though. Set up would have been easy if you showed up early at 11:00 on Thursday morning. I didn’t and neither did half of the artists in the show who showed up about 5:00 in the afternoon, so I and others had about a 60-75 minute wait to go in line from Gaulbert up to Hill Street. After being on the road for about two and a half hours plus starting the wait time, my bladder was working overtime. Several of us folks jumped from the vehicles and hot footed it over to the bar at Gaulbert and Fourth to avail ourselves of the porcelain facility. Thank heavens the bar was open :-)

After we got into the artist zone, the place was packed with vans and trailers, and good luck, which was non-existent, on getting in front of your booth. Out came the carts and you started trollying things to your space and weaving between parked vans. Supposedly we had two hours to unload and set up before moving the vehicles, but by that time, the official set up time was over so you just kept on working. The smart thing was to use shims to level the Propanels, and mine were 2x4 blocks on the first panel from the curb. The curbs are crumbling badly at the edges and the best bet would have been to bring either 2x6 or 2x8 ten foot boards to bridge the curb from the street. There’s a hell of a crown on the street and almost a 6 inch drop from 10 feet out in the street to the drop off at the curb. A ten foot board is just about right to keep everything level. Too bad I didn’t bring mine.

Space behind the booth is ample to set up an awning that can go 7 feet behind the booth. I use adjustable painter poles, 3-axis corner connectors, and a couple of Flourish upper Sta-bar clamps on my EZ-Up to mount an awning frame work. It came in mighty handy when the Great Deluge hit on Saturday. The neighbors to either side had to contend with telephone poles and squeezed inward toward me so there was very little clearance between tents but still enough. Barely. Tubs can be stacked along the retaining wall at the back of the sidewalk or on top of the wall and still leave adequate room to walk through. Signs were out in force, along with pedestals and plastic chains, indicating that only artists and show staff were allowed behind the booths. Didn’t do much good as people still walked back there.

Power is not available unless you find a friendly resident and I assume a reasonable exchange of funds is done and you can plug in an extension cord. One artist about 6 booths further up did that. I brought the boat battery but thought there was enough charge in it. I was wrong and only had about 5 hours operation out of it. Lights are needed as it’s dark under those trees.

Friday showed up nice and clear, and people were wandering the show about a half hour early. Crowds picked up a little but not the hordes I’ve seen in past years. The TV stations were telling everyone to go on Friday or go on Sunday when "bargains would be available”. If someone can find that WAVE-TV dumbass reporter, be sure and pimp slap that twit until her ears ring. That kind of crap we can all do without.

I had a smallish number of people come into the booth, relative to the numbers out in the street. I had lots of oohs and ahhs, and compliments on my "eye". At least no one asked what camera I used. Unfortunately, no one bought anything on Friday despite that being rumored to be the best day. I guess they were planning to come back on Sunday and try to get that "deal" the TV station was talking about. Luckily I was staying with relatives and had supper with them or I would have been tempted to drown the disappointment of a zero day with excessive amounts of alcohol. Those compliments may be nice, but there is no currency conversion rate to turn them into bucks in the bank.

Saturday rolled around, and I left early in order to get a close parking spot again. Turned out to be a very good idea the way things turned out. Low lying areas were fogged in as we drove in from the south side of the county. That was a harbinger of bad s**t to happen later that day. We get in early, I set up the rear awning and wrap a couple of extra side tarps around the sides and back of the awning and close it in. Damn good thing as a few hours later it started to rain. And rain. Then rain some more. People were out with umbrellas. Some were wearing trash bags. Some were just wet. I still wasn’t selling anything. Finally someone comes in and asks if I had a small print of a larger framed piece I had. Nothing in the flip bin, but I did one out the print box I keep in the back. Sold it as is, no matte, tossed it a bag with a foam-cor backer for $20. That was my sole sale at St. James this year. A grand whopping $20. Damn, just kick me for good measure.

This was to be my make or break year at St. James. It’s broken; I ain’t going back. No way in hell. The staff and volunteers are great, they bend over backwards for the artists, I’ve got no complaint with them. I wish they ran other shows I’ve been at. I do other shows in Louisville and do much better with a lot less expense. My local relatives, who used to live in the middle of Old Louisville where the show is, tell me the show has become too unwieldy and large, and it’s difficult because of the size to find specific art you’re interested in. The cachet of finding something at St. James seems to be for lower end price points according to them. I don’t know, as all I know is first year was break even, my sales went up the second year and made some profit after all was said and done,and  last year I lost money although not as much. This year marks one of the worst shows in 25 years for me.

The crowd, for whatever reason, is not my crowd. My prices are middle of the road, not the lowest and not the highest, and it does sell occasionally. Damn near getting skunked is not a pleasant experience, and the time has arrived to pull the plug on it. Unlike other shows that did poorly, I can’t point a finger at the promotion or the way things were run. What I do and the prices I ask just don’t seem to be the right fit for this show. I read earlier on a thread that was deleted that several people had very good shows, and there are always some people who will do very well just as some are going to do poorly. If I’m going to do poorly, don’t count on me to be back very often. I may be stubborn but I’m not stupid.

I ran into one artist who was a prior customer at another show who is now doing art shows himself. He said this was his make or break year for the show, and I talked to a few others in the same situation. I chatted with another artist at tear down who was stuck in traffic in front of my booth and she related it was a poor show for her and she won’t be back next year either. It all makes sense when part of the promotion on the TV stations included information about how there were many new artists. Yeah, no kidding, I think I know why.

Now for the rest of the story. It rained off and on all during the day. The water started flowing in the gutters and started rising just like the Ohio River during the Great Flood of 1937. First there were trickles, then the water started running fast in the gutters. The drains couldn't keep up. People were still out there walking the show. What I did observe is that few of them would flick their heads from side to side to check out the booths; they just seemed to be on a mission to go somewhere and it wasn't in the booths. More than once, I overheard conversations about having to hurry up so they can “see” the rest of the show. My gut feel is that the show has become a social event where you see and be seen.

The rain kept coming down, the water started getting higher and pretty soon it was at least 5 inches and deeper as it lapped up over the curb and started back on the sidewalk. It reached about 7 feet from the curb up into the street, leaving only about 3 feet of “dry” pavement in the booth. The west side of the street was even worse with the water reaching 3-4 feet out in front of the booths.

The artist next to me said that several artists further up on the street were talking about pulling out that night because of low sales and conditions. That turned out to be a moot point as about 3:15 or so we got word from the volunteers to shut down at 5:00 and tear down with Sunday being cancelled. By that time several booths around us had already dropped their fronts and were closed, presumably with tear-down taking place inside. We started about 3:45 taking down prints and drying out a couple of tubs that weren't as water proof as I thought they were. Sunday was supposed to be high winds, heavier rain, and lightning. Given that forecast, it was a good call. There was a nice period where the rain stopped and we got a lot of stuff carted to the van over on Hill.

As neighbors left, we were able to get the van in and finish tearing down the tent. The last part was in the rain although everything was packed except the tent frame and the top. No way in the devil was I going to fold that John Mee top with the rain coming down, so I had the bright idea to collapse the frame, lift the back corners and start rolling the top like a giant jelly roll. I’ll be durned if it didn’t work and that sucker was taken down in a couple of minutes, folded over, and crammed in the back of the van. Woo-hoo, we were out of there. Sorry to say, but I won’t be back.

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Here are some photos I took about mid-afternoon, just before the water reached the high point. The view is from booth 625, a little bit north of Belgravia and is looking north. The black lines are not carpeting but are the water line inside the booths. Notice that a couple of booths are already closed.

This next picture is looking south toward Hill Street, still on 4th Street and from booth 625. There's another booth closed up

I've got one more show this year, and it's about 6-7 weeks off. I've got time to do some thinking about improving prsentation and getting some new ideas worked out. Next year is gonna be a strange one as I might as well stretch and have some fun with what I'm doing.

I'm certainly not a tax expert, but have been using Turbo to file ours for many years.  All those business deductions going away will put a crimp in our travel and how much we spend on shows - not to mention other expenses too.  If this thing gets passed I can imagine it'll put a real dent in shows themselves as well.

May 22, 5 pm ET: Listen live and call in at 805-243-1338

As the new interim executive director took on the reins at the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston late last year, it became apparent to Susan Fowler that the organization was stretched beyond financial viability. This is a festival that depends on an admission charge that had been negatively impacted by the weather.

Four festivals back to back with rain had drained their savings  that were in fact a literal rainy day fund because the Bayou City Art Festivals are outdoor events.

The Art Colony Association, which hosts the Bayou City shows, needed to do something fast to keep the popular festivals alive and well.

When the Board of the Art Colony met in January they put the wheels in motion to expand the event from 300 artists to 450 artists plus several other changes that they hoped would lead to financial stability.

We'll be speaking with the Executive Director Susan Fowler and Kelly Kindred, Director of Operations to learn

    •    how a board of directors oversees an organization and its' fiscal responsibility
    •    how the decision to increase the size of the show was made
    •    how successful were the changes that they made to the Spring show
    •    what they learned from this experience
    •    what to expect next from this festival

and lots more.

Listen live at 5 pm ET. Call in with your questions: 805-243-1338. Email me with questions and comments. Leave questions for me to ask them in the comments below.

This podcast is sponsored by our 5th Annual Birthday Pledge Drive to support our art fair websites. Learn more: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

Rebecca Rush Profeta is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Something horrible happened to her this week.

She came home from a 3 day art show to find the police at her home. Her husband had passed away in their home...probably just several hours after she left for the art show. Her husband, Joe had a heart attack on Thursday, and wasn't found until Monday afternoon.

The police took him [and their bed] away and a hasmat crew is trying to "clear the air" in their house.

This is a couple who were living hand to mouth... after the crash in '08, they found they were upside down on their mortgage. He was 64 and had not been able to find much work over the last few years...until this past May. They've been living on whatever pension and savings they had - which is gone. She's not in debt, and this is not a luxurious home, either  [it's probably worth 80K] but she doesn't even have the money to replace her bed right now! 

Because of the odor in the home, she will have to dispose of or professionally clean a lot of items. Other than that...most of her art supplies [paper and fabric] have been compromised and can't be used.

There is no life insurance, and she will have to eventually leave the house - without an extra income, she probably can't afford to live there. She has been making some money painting, doing repair work, and of course, making her hand made books and journals. She is 59.

This is her site... http://www.rebeccarushdesigns.com/index.html.

I doubt if she would qualify for the CERF funding - I am willing to help her financially - but I thought I might also come to the community to see if anyone feels like they can kick in a few bucks to help her replenish her paper stock or a place to lay her head.

I found out her paypal account is rjrush1@gmail.com and her mailing address is: Rebecca Profeta, 1022 E. Weldon, Phoenix, AZ 85014

Thanks

It's taken me a few weeks to get over my worst mistake ever.  Here's the story:

I spent all week thinking maybe I should cancel out of the Fall Festival of the Arts in Redwing that weekend.  The weather was looking cold, I had my parents coming into town on Sunday, I needed to spend time with my 16 year old and my husband was out of town.  I have never in 23 years of doing shows canceled out of a show so I felt super guilty about the prospect.  On Wednesday I actually went to website and was about to call when I decided to check the weather one more time and saw it was supposed to be in the 60's on Sunday so 50's on Saturday would be worth enduring.  Then I was able to work out some other scheduling glitches and I felt good about going forward with the show.  

Saturday morning I was up at 5:00 am and driving the hour or so drive down to Redwing.  Finally as I was rolling into town I suddenly thought... "Did I ever get an email about this show?"  Suddenly my heart was racing... "Did I actually apply to this show?!"  The app is out in the middle of the summer and I've always worried I would miss it.  It was on Zapp so even as I was driving into town I was trying to go to my Zapp account and scrolling.... NO!  It wasn't on there!  AHH!!!!  I am so used to doing this show the last 10 or so years I was just on auto pilot.  They don't usually tell you your booth ahead of time so I didn't even have a reason to look that up before I left.

Sure enough my name was not on the list and I had totally not applied!  I waited an hour for the volunteers to show and talked to them about the possibility of picking up a no-show space but eventually it was evident that even if there was an empty space they wouldn't let me have it (past award winner or not- they were new organizers and didn't know who the heck I was) I totally understood - it's really not a good precedent to set.  

I drove home and tried to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves but mostly just "yelled" at myself for being so stupid!  Lets hope that is the last and only time I ever do that!  I will be applying super early next year!  All in all though- it could have been way worse and hey- I was actually thinking about canceling.  And on Sunday I had a great day with my 16 year old!

So has anyone else every done this?  Any other terrible mistake stories to share? Love to hear them (just so I know I'm not the only one!)

Every show we have at least a half a dozen people ask us for 'buy sell' kinds of jewelry pieces.  This week my favorite question was:  My mother went to Israel 30 years ago and bought me this star  with the word chai (life on it).  She got the large one, I got the medium one and my cousin got the small one.,    I lost it and I always go to these art shows hoping I will find this exact piece of jewelry.  Do you have it?

Kick me before sarcasm rolls off my tongue.  I politely said that the person who designed those pieces 30 years ago would not be happy to know that I, or someone else, had copied that design.  So, no, we don't have that design but we have 15 other designs that you may like.

No, she said, I've looked 30 years for this design and this is the design I want.

Or, last week the lady said:  My x-boyfriend gave me a star with a horseshoe on it.  When I broke up 25 years ago, I gave him back the pendant.  I always loved that pendant.  Do you have it?

We don't have it - perhaps you might cookie horseshoe, star and pendant and find it that way.  No, she said - she would keep on looking.  When we got to the room that night, I googled horseshoe, star, pendant and up popped a piece.  i don't know if this is 'the one' but it was easy to find.

We're not gong to have 'plain stars' that can be purchased on the internet.  Pieces are designed by me.  I want people to 'step out of the box' and look beyond that plain star ... alas, those who say - cute, interesting, nice, very interesting, very nice, different ... just don't get it.  

On the other hand, a blog was written about a new piece - Tikva - Star of Hope..

http://sherylaronson.blogspot.com/2012/06/hope.html

I had suspected for a couple years that Madison On the Square was not doing a conventional "on site" jury.  I just saw an e-mail they sent out on March 16th informing applicants that the jurors will be given 8 days to review the applicants.  To me this smelled of "off site" jurors being given the code to get into ZAPP ADMINISTATION for jurying at their own leisure. 

I think that this is the absolute wrong way to go for a jury process.  So why would they want to do this?  Saving costs would be tops on the list of reasons to do this.  They charge $35 per artist jury fee.  Let's assume that they get 1200 applications.  This is a top 50 show.  Maybe they will get even more.  Sure I know that there are between 62 and 87 re-invited artists that don’t have to pay a jury fee.  However, that's still about $42,000 just in jury fees not counting late jury fees.  Even if they paid 4 paid jurors for 2 days covering all the expenses for airfare if necessary, hotel and food, additional support employees, ZAPP projectors, or computer rental, etc, I would think that quite a tidy profit could still be derived from this profit center of the show.  Or perhaps the director doesn't want to be bothered with the tremendous effort involved in producing an "on site" jury.  I understand this as I've done it but....well, I guess, that's part of the job.  Maybe the director doesn't think that they are any qualified jurors within a 1000 miles.  No, that couldn't be.  I know that looking at 1200 applications, 4800 images, is a chore.  If done over 2 days, 600 artists are very manageable.  Sure it can be visually and mentally exhausting.  But I don’t think that’s the problem.  Ok, so I'm perplexed.

If the jurors are looking at the images ‘off site’ then the images are not looked at simultaneously as it says in the prospectus. They are not looked at simultaneously by the jurors as is done in a ZAPP projected jury.  And in addition, when off site they are not projected; they are looked at on a monitor when viewed off site.  When viewed on the on-line ZAPPLICATION process, the images are looked at individually with only a very small thumbnails being seen as a grouping at the end and on the scoring page; these small hard to see thumbnails are the only simultaneous viewing of the images.  This seems very deceptive to me.  By the way, I have been suggesting for 3 or 4 years to ZAPP that they enlarge these grouped images.  I finally hear that they may do just that.

Now let's look at it from the artist’s viewpoint as to why this is a problem for them.  Jurors would perhaps be dispersed across a large area in different time zones.  (Ok so the 2 jurors that they’ve announced are from the Madison area). Maybe they would be looking at the images during the directors working hours and maybe not?  What if they had multiple questions with no one to answer them?  What will their pre-jury instruction be?  Who will enforce the rules?  I've been to enough live juries to know that there are a lot of questions.  Will the jurors be looking at the images on quality monitors, or even similar monitors?  Will different judges be seeing the same thing from an image or not?  Perhaps juror 'A' has an old CRT monitor that's 10 years old and is totally not able to be controlled for color and brightness.  Perhaps juror 'B' has a monitor that cost $50 at some box store and the contrast is so bad that there is no shadow detail seen or the highlights are completely non-existent.  Laptops are notorious for their poor quality of images.  The point is that the jurors may not be seeing the same thing.  As a professional photographer I know how important "calibrated" monitors are.  Calibration standardizes what is seen on a monitor as long as it’s capable of control.  Ok, let’s proceed.  What if juror 'C' has a young child that is home and needing attention while they are jurying images during this 8 day process?  The jurors could be very distracted from doing their due diligence for any number of reasons:  diaper change, ice cream time, homework, domestic dispute, etc.  What if juror 'D' worked really hard all day but waited till the last moment to jury the images.  Perhaps they fall asleep at their screen and are half conscious giving a score and click on the wrong button.  Will that juror be doing justice to the jury system by being totally exhausted at the end of their work day?  Not likely.  Jurors “off site” can look at images for different lengths of time.  Is this fair?  They can even research web sites and explore other images done by artists.  Is that fair?  What if the juror decides to consult with what friends think of an artists’ work.  The images could be copied and pasted to be seen anywhere.  This alone has been a major concern for many artists.

The bottom line for me and I hope many artists is that they are not, let me repeat that, are not being judged equitably.  For $35, or $5 or $75 for that matter, they deserve a fair shake.  Having jurors not "on site" is not a fair and equitable way for shows to be jurying.  There are way too many variables for the jury process to proceed along this path to give the artist what they are paying for and deserve.  For years this show was run successfully by intern directors:  graduate students, in the arts program at UW Madison, who would be the director for 2 to 3 years.  Now a paid director has taken over and it seems that what is now important is the bottom line.  It is no longer the well being of the artists and what is in their best interest.

Is it a stretch to assume that all of this has something to do with the chaos that has been going on in Madison and Wisconsin?  Is it a stretch to say that this has something to do with the current administration in Wisconsin defunding the Wisconsin Arts Board?  Ok, I certainly will not go there as it is off point.

The control, the standardization, of the jury process and of the jurors as a group is gone with this newest move by Madison On the Square.  It is no longer a "level playing field" for artists.  The shared experience is eliminated.  This smacks of a director giving up and giving in.  So I decided to email Annik Dupaty, the Director of Events, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.  She is the director of the show.  I simply asked if it is true that jurying takes place off site and her reasoning for this.  She responds first by saying that jurying off site is the “standard of the industry.”  I don’t know where she gets her facts on this.  ZAPP does not even know what the percentage of shows jurying off site is.  She also claims that the system was set up that way when she took over as director.  I know one of the previous directors and this system for jurying was not in place while he was director.  There was a director between his term and Anniks taking over.  The graduate student director before Annik took over quit the post as director and did not graduate.  She states that,  “in these hectic ‘modern’ lives we lead it is hard to get full-time, busy working people to (1) align schedules, and (2) commit to being here for 1-2 full days straight”  Well, we have always been in these hectic ‘modern’ times.  Every generation lives through their own modern period.  Jurors were brought together for 50 years before this and other shows started to ask jurors to view images off site.  Jurors were in one location long before the shows were making the amounts of money they make now.  If jurors were paid a decent amount, I don’t think finding jurors to participate would be an issue. Many would relish having been a juror for the show and adding it on their resume or curriculum vitae.  She further states, “…and it isn’t necessary with the technology available to us.”  Well, that brings it full circle and to the conclusion that I reach and that is:  JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DOESN’T MEAN THAT THAT YOU SHOULD.  The world is full of misguided decisions made with the idea that just because something can be done means that it should be done.

Since the costs for jurying have been so dramatically cut, have the jury fees or booth fees been reduced?  Would Annik be willing to send out a fair Survey Monkey to see what the applying artists feel about “off site” jurying?  I’d love to hear that the applying artists think it’s a good idea and that I’m wrong about all of this.

I think artists deserve an explanation so they can decide whether this is a show that they want to participate in.  They ARE the show.

I did a show in downtown Philadelphia this weekend where there were heavy wind gusts.  Saw 1 tent (not sure of the brand, not an EZup, but was aluminum) have its one front leg lift up 7 feet off the ground and onto the tent next to it. Saw another tent (a Trimline) end up upside down on the other side of a 4 foot fence that ran behind our booths. 

A few reminders:

1) If you have weights hanging from your tent, secure them to your tent legs. In the first instance, the person's weights were swinging in the air after the front of the tent was 7 feet off the ground.

2) if the winds are strong and are coming in from the front of your tent, roll up your sides or at least unzip the back two corners to let the air flow thru your tent.  Both tents had their roofs and 3 sides on them.  Both tents ended up becoming kites. As soon as the wind started, I removed all three of my sides.

3) Have enough weight.  I had 6 GreatWeight bags (from Trimline) each with around 40 pounds of pea gravel.  Both tents that had issues did not have enough weight.

Both exhibitors got off pretty easy - no one got hurt and there was minimal damage to merchandise. Could have been way worse.Please be prepared for wind.

How can this be?

1. A craft show rated by Sunshine Artist as #4 in the nation based on survey-reported revenue alone is still begging for applications less than two months before the show. (Craftsmen’s Classic in Chantilly)
2. Another art show, reported by Sunshine Artists surveys to be almost impossible to make any profit at (1/3 of the respondents reported revenues of less than $2000, and almost all of the respondents reported revenues of less than $5000), is widely reported be to almost impossible to be accepted at. (Coconut Grove)

What size sign (banner) would you use for the front outside of a 10' x 10' canopy?

It will hang above the entrance.

Currently I'm looking at 8 x 2.5 feet. Wondering if I should go with 8 x 2 feet.

Cackling and horrified, I untied the loose knots holding up curtain backdrop as quickly as I was able. Thankfully and blissfully, the curtains dropped to the ground. I clipped the curtains shut and hung as much weight on the bottom of the curtains as I dared.

Giddy laughter would not stop bubbling from my lips. Again and again I looked in disbelief at the photo I had just snapped of my booth. I could not have set up, framed or imagined a more perfectly horrible image of my booth.

A gigantic, stomach churning, revolting butt crack was perfectly centered in the middle of my booth.

The take away lesson boys and girls? Always, always, ALWAYS, take a moment before the show begins to step back and look at what YOUR booth looks like from the aisle. ALWAYS!!

It seems more than a few people had a poor year.  I was a first timer in 2012 and was left with virtually nothing to invest into 2013.  I really think many of the jury approvals are based upon the fact that progressively fewer artists are surviving to submit art/pay the fees, etc. 

As the world is supposed to end soon, I guess I won't worry about it, but good grief the fees were sure steep and I even heard veterans saying how poorly they did!  Now, I'm not whining as I'll just try something else, but ya gotta wonder if a change isn't due...

Well, I have been chewing on how to do this blog for a few days.  It is never easy when you are stepping on the toes of high mucky-mucks.

What the hell, here goes.

First off.  Naples is not the land of milk and honey that everybody thinks it is.

It is a land inhabited by many monied mid-westerners, Canadians, and a number of Europeans.  Oh yeah, even a few native Floridians too.

They all have plenty of money.  They will spend some, or even lots of it, on art.

For artists doing 2-D work, their tastes tend to run to cliche,generic, atmospheric and bland art.  

They love the tropical, the birds, the fish, the blick.  3-D artists have better time roping in the big bucks.  They will buy expensive bronzes.  They love glitzy glass.  They will buy expensive ceramics. Oh, they love their jewelry.

The trouble is too many unsuspecting artists show up for shows down here thinking they are going to make a killing--"because its Naples, and everybody has lots of money, and they love to buy art."

Trouble is, these artists have heard the rumors of wealth but have not really done any constructive homework--like talking to actual exhibitors who have done it.

Last weekend a lot of artists went home in their vans with the look of disappointment plastered all over their windshields.

This show has more than 240 artists running up and down eight blocks, east to west, on Fifth Avenue.  These are long blocks and most people don't walk the whole show, let alone come back for a second look.  You find very few "be-backs" here.  Mostly, you get one shot  at them.

About ninety per cent of the crowd walks with their little dogs blithefuly by our booths without really looking in.

I would say,last weekend, about 20% of the exhibitors hit big numbers here--between $5-10K.

The rest were lucky to even break $2K.

And, we all paid a $450 booth fee, plus jury fee, plus setup at 4 AM in the morn, crammed in tight, back to back down the street.  Plus, it took most, a whopping 30 minutes or more to get back to the show after parking their vans in the Very Remote parking lot.  Some people ended up hailing a cab, because it was so frustrating waiting for a shuttle.

FIRST, A LITTLE HISTORY ABOUT THE SHOW

For years, Howard Alan ran a very successful New Years Weekend show here in the very same spot as the now, Naples Art Association.

It was a real money-maker for most artists.  Then the powers that be in Naples told Howard,"So Long."

Then the Naples Art Association took over the show.  Then expanded on the idea and said, let's do it in March too.  Plus we will still have the one in Cambier Park and the street in Feb.

When it was actually on the New Years Weekend it attracted a lot of Europeans.  You heard lots of Brits and German accents, and they paid with Americano dineros.

Lately, you hear much more mid-westerners than Europeans, and sadly, for a number of them, the first thing out of their mouths is, "Can you do better than that?"

Years ago, they were ever so polite.  You never heard them utter those words.  They were happy to see you, happy to decorate their winter homes with your work.  They did not ask for discounts.

Now, we tend to get them asking us crude questions like, "Do you sleep in your booths or vans at night?"

I want to reply and ask them, "Do you still beat your wife."  Can't do it, but I often think it.

They have killed the golden goose down here.  Too many shows, too many exhibitors, and not enough buyers to go around for the artists to make a living at it.

When I pay a $450 booth fee, I usually expect that is because this is a worthwhile show, with a proven track record, where I can expect to yield $3.5K-6K in return.  That is a decent return for the amount spent on the booth.

The trouble is, the Naples Art Association is making out like a bandit.  They are essentially getting a 20-25% commission fee on our sales.  And, we are the ones doing all the hard work.

To balance this out, let me tell you about the good things they do.

They give most exhibitors an open side to hang work on.  You are set up in four booth quads with aisles separating each quad.

They have nice artist breakfast set up each morn with one of the food vendors.

They have good volunteers to spell you.  

They have a courteous rapport  with the artists at check in and during the show.

I know the Association cannot control how or whether the crowd will buy some art.

But their booth fee is too high for a decent return for most artists.  

There, I gave them some kudos.

SO NELS, TELL US ABOUT THIS YEAR'S SHOW

Well, it was good, humid weather both days.  No rain.

The town is packed with people, yet I still saw lots of empty seats at restaurants during prime time.

Lots of Canadians down here, and some were spending.

It is an older crowd here, most are in their early 60s and higher.  Lots of dogs.  They love their pets.

Some 3-D people made big sales on Saturday.  A lot of us, did not break one thousand that day.

Everybody kept saying, "Well, my figures show that Sunday is the big day for sales."

Never happened for a lot of us.

Personally, I think this might be evolving into a Monday show.  It sure isn't a Sat.-Sun show anymore.

I have done this show five times now.  Each time it has gotten worse for me.  And, I go with new work.  I was not in it last year--the past director (they got rid of her last summer, and hired a new sheriff) last year did not agree with my definition of hand-colored photography and then put me in the jury against mixed media.  Fat chance I had there.

This year I barely cracked expenses and then some.

You got a high booth fee, high hotels costs, high food costs.  No deals down in Naples.

So, a lucky few make some some moola and the rest of us go home with bread crumbs.

It was not a fun weekend.

So, I will repeat once more"Do some serious homework before coming down here, it is not the land of milk and honey, except for a few.

Later,Gators.

The artists have spoken and the Art Fair SourceBook has announced its Top art fairs for 2010 chosen on the basis of reported artist sales at the year's art festivals. Hundreds of art fairs receive from Art Fair Sourcebook pre paid green postcards that the event organizers pass out to their participating artists. In turn, if an artist feels like reporting their sales they can fill it out and mail it in. Some artists make it a practice to fill them out and others never do this.

When you are trying to determine whether or not to apply to an art fair what is your main criteria? I hope it is MAKING MONEY. Therefore, Greg Lawler, originator and owner of AFSB, decided that would be the main criteria of his list. Smart thinking.

Here are Greg Lawler's 2011 Art Fair SourceBook Top Shows:

Congratulations to these excellent events. These ten events range from the excellently well-run small town event in Belleville, IL, run by an entirely volunteer base to some lollapalooza big deal events such as the NO Jazz and Heritage Festival (a truly destination event that attracts international visitors) with a few other goodies thrown in. La Quinta is in a lovely setting in a wealthy area of Palm Springs with a $12 gate fee; Arts, Beats & Eats has resurrected the art fair business in Michigan with last year's blockbuster attendance; Long's Park is a favorite Labor Day weekend destination for people near the East Coast; Fort Worth's event is a big deal four day festival that brings visitors from seemingly recession-proof Texas; St. Louis is a purely art affair set in an affluent neighborhood "owned" by its community partners; Sausalito is a professionally run four-day event with $20 admission; Bonita Springs is set in an affluent neighborhood where the locals know they "need" to attend and collect the goods presented there.

Hmmm...three of these shows are on the same weekend! Five of the events are four days long giving artists longer to gather sales. Only two of them are two day events--got to make those days just lovely!

Art fairs love to boast about their ratings from AFSB. Here are a few recent articles:

Salem Art Fair, Salem, OR: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110211/OPINION/102110331/1048/This-week-s-winners-losers-news

Oklahoma City: http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-city-festival-of-the-arts-achieves-national-ranking/article/3534144?custom_click=lead_story_title

Salt Lake City:http://www.heraldextra.com/article_39593a6b-8550-506e-b8aa-5cd91e0cdcaa.html

Long's Park: http://blog.pennlive.com/go/2010/02/longs_park_art_craft_festival.html

La Quinta: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110216/LIFESTYLES0104/110216022/La-Quinta-Arts-Festival-gains-national-recognition?odyssey=nav|head

I hate that my the first review I do for the Art Fair Insiders is a poor one, but I need to get the word out about this stinker of a show!

I spent the weekend at the Lincoln Park Art and Music Festival, in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Chicago. As a first timer to this show, I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited about this one. I usually do well in urban areas. 

The second we checked in for set-up, I knew we were in for trouble. We were handed name badges and a booth number, nothing more. No info about booth sitters, sales tax, restrooms, parking, or where to grab lunch. Nothing. Bad sign #1. And when I tried to find someone to inquire about these things, there was not a member of the fair staff to be found. 

Set up was fairly easy and convenient. There was space right on the street to park and unload and the weather was cool and comfortable. The fair grounds were right on a street on the lovely DePaul campus, so the surroundings were nice. Unfortunately, this is where the the nice and good about this event ended.

The show opened on a perfectly lovely Chicago afternoon to a trickle of patrons. From experience, I that the first hour or so of any show can sometimes be slow, so I patiently waited for the buyers to emerge. I passed the time talking to my fellow artists and soon realized that this was the first time that any of my booth neighbors had done this show. Bad sign #2. If this was a good show, you'd expect to meet some returning artists, right?

An hour passed, then another, and then another, still just a trickle of people walked past my booth. After 6 hours, I sold just one $20 print and one $18 set of cards, so we decided to pack up early for the night. (The fair hours were 12 noon - 10, but artists were allowed to close at "dusk".) The non-existent event staff didn't seem to care that we closed up 2 hours early. Bad sign #3.

We came back Sunday, trying to be optimistic. Again, the weather was perfect...Buyers should be piling in, right? Not so much. By 5:30 pm on the second day, I was nowhere close to making enough to cover my booth fees, so we decided to pack it in. Most of the other vendors were doing the same. We weren't allowed to bring our cars onto the street, but luckily we scored a parking space right around the corner. As we walked past the entry gate with our things, the event staff just looked at us and continued to charge their admission fees even though most of the vendors were dismantling. They even joked that they were tired of seeing walk past. Ha.

In summation, the Lincoln Park Art and Music festival was a complete waste of time. There was obviously no promotion. (An event in this neighborhood on a beautiful summer weekend should be teeming with buyers!) The art fair website was a joke....Just listed event times and the bands playing. The event staff provided absolutely no amenities or support for the artists. They just saw us as a paycheck and didn't care if the artists were happy or not. Out of the 55 artists there were just a handful of good quality vendors and quite a few buy and sell booths. Boo! Artists beware! Avoid the Lincoln Park Art and Music Festival at all costs! 

Just received an "Invitation" from Juried Art Services to apply to the West Palm Beach Fine Craft Show in February.  This lovely invite came with a $50 application fee ($75 if after 9/12!, but the website says it's only $70), and did note that ONLY last year's award of Excellence winners were grandfathered.  135 Spaces total.  When you are charging booth fees like this:

SHOW SCHEDULE

February 25 - Check-in and set-up
February 26 - 10 AM to 6 PM open to the public
February 27 - 10 AM to 6 PM open to the public
February 28 - 11 AM to 5 PM open to the public

BOOTH FEES

10' x 10' = $ 1,100
10' x 15' = $ 1,650

*10' x 10' corner = $1,450
*10' x 15' corner = $1,800

You don't typically have an application fee.  I cannot imagine sending $50 to a show that can charge such a huge fee (if you book a 10x10 corner you need to sell $10,000 to make retail sense - 15% rent factor) if they can't even get their application fees to match the website.

I have made a decision, and sent them this email after unsubscribing:

Just a note to let you know why I have unsubscribed from your emails.  We are taking a stance against outrageous application fees.  Any fee in excess of $25 should include enough detail on the number of spaces available, the NET number of spaces available, the category mix ratio, and the number of applications received last year.  $50 to apply without this information is like mailing $50 to a casino and asking them to place a bet for you.  Not going to happen.  Sorry

They probably won't read it.

The Zero Show:

Ouch.  I knew better.

But the old adage says ‘hope springs eternal’.

I did the show last year.  Got a really nice commission job in the last ½ hour of the show………..

I was originally invited to participate last year by a really nice, diligent woman who touted her show as ‘a fine show, only the best’.  She wasn’t wrong.  The quality of the exhibitors was wonderful.  What she couldn’t control was the heavy spring heat, the ‘riverbugs’ and a supposed ‘down’ economy.  I went to the patron preview party on Friday night and met some seemingly interested people.  I watched the shuffling small herd with gasping dogs, walkers and a smattering of small kids go by all weekend in the heat.  I laid out water for the dogs, talked to a handful of people who noticed me in the corner of the lot.  Sold a small selection of prints and watched my neighbors sell nothing at all.  And then, there they were:  The commission job people.  They came late on Sunday.  I hear stories about ‘Sunday shows’ but really; that had not been my world until that day.  It was a beautiful piece I made for them.  Delivered on time & they loved it.

So, when invited to participate again after going through the jury process without a fee, I went back to the show.  I had watched/know of others in the show who had received ‘purchase awards’.  People had pledged money to spend.  I didn’t receive any of those patron bucks in 2012 but thought “why not me”?  I sell my work……….I am not an amateur.    How can I make this show work for me this year?  I convinced myself that the heat of 2012 would not be around for 2013.  Couldn’t happen two years in a row right? 

I brought a bit more ‘conservative’ body of work.  Watched as the weather forecast was not in the ‘searing heat’ category.  I had asked for a different spot in the show.  A better spot so I thought.  I got to the show to check in on a beautiful day.  There was someone else in my spot.  The beautiful corner I had anticipated had another artist in it.  To make a long story short there was a ‘mix-up’ of sorts.  Well, another artist decided that the corner spot was ‘more suitable’ for them.  Hmmm.  And, it was marked wrong on the map but not the packet info.  Hmmm.  There was no chance of moving to the other side of the show (which is where I would have preferred at that moment) so I gave in and backed away.  The booths were spread apart to give my sidewalls some visibility.  I tried to stay positive and not let the incident rattle me too much.  I enjoyed the very beautiful day.  I thought about great sales to come for the weekend.  Went to the patron preview party that night with my ‘show-stopper’ piece.  Again, met people I thought were interested.  Enthralled.  Asking questions about my work.  Went to the show that next day with high hopes of a big weekend.

Then it happened:  or should I say nothing happened.  After 2 days of standing around in my booth I had a solid zero.  The fair volunteers kept asking me if anything was happening sales wise.  I didn’t lie.  I told them the truth.  Nothing was happening.  I could not even sell a 25.00 print.  It was in a word: pathetic.  I wasn’t begging or pleading patrons.  I wasn’t praying but continuing to try and do my job.  At some point though later on Sunday I started coming apart.  I have bills to pay like everyone else.  Asking myself what I had done wrong.  Wondering what I was doing there.  Analyzing every aspect of the weekend.  Questioning my body of work.  Very late on Sunday another artist came by who I think was a jeweler…..praising my ‘beautiful work’ and asking about how my show was.  That brought the tears.  “This was not the weekend to be losing money” I said.  Bills to pay.  I hate to cry.  It gives me a headache.  She probably thought I was crazy and I still don’t know who she was.  Soon, it was over.  5 p.m. had passed.  Time to pack up and go home and still, nothing to report.  There was nothing on the plate. 

After a two hour pack up, I drove home the 3 ½ hours without getting out of the car.  No extra food or drink.  Didn’t need gas in the truck.  I got home with my family asleep but was greeted by two happy dogs and proceed to sit curled up with them on the couch at 11 pm and downed a big glass of wine.  I thought about the funny ‘Art Fair Neighbor’ YouTube video of the potter who was ‘now questioning his entire existence’.  You know, it is really difficult to have a ‘zero’ show.  It was not my first.  It was my second.  The first was worse.  That was a huge lesson learned but that is not why I am sharing right now.  I thought I had done everything right this time from the initial decision to go back. 

I remember telling one of the organizers at the show that I realized I was not in my market.  This was an older crowd.  I heard one too many times that “our walls are full”.  This crowd had already owned the big house but was looking to ‘downsize’.  Bought the wall art years ago, splurged on the furnished second home and now were looking for something else to spend their money on.  I heard rumors of big sales:  expensive jewelry or five-figure bronze sculptures.  I didn’t have the right stuff.  I could tell but didn’t want to believe it.  See:  I knew better.  I wanted to believe I had a chance for a better show this year.

Epilogue:  I moved on.  Like everyone else who does this crazy job full time there is little time to morn.  You have to get back on that bike and ride again.  On to the next show the next weekend and pull it together.  I didn’t even change the body of work.  Truck was already packed.  Ready to go.  Still held out hope that there may be a ‘follow-up commission job’.  By show end day three and no emails or calls I gave that up too.  What happened next do you ask?  I did what I do well:  I sold work at the next show.  Plenty of it; in all different price points.  A combination of small, medium, large and a commission thrown in made the next show the reason I keep going.  (Besides a talent for painting and my love of art of course). 

So you see:  I knew better.  Listen to your gut.  I wanted to believe that I was doing the right thing.  It is so easy to blame the organizers of a show.  Or, the volunteers, weather, economy, and the fact that the guy next to you stole your booth space or whatever it is beside you.  I knew enough that I should not have tried the show again.  Another artist that I highly respect shared with me some great philosophy last year: “If you have multiple shows with no sales you really need to take a hard look at your work and understand what is wrong with your art”.  

If you only have one really bad show it was just not your weekend or show whatever the reason is.  We as artists are gamblers anyway in some sort of fashion.  We play the odds over and over.  I’ve heard that in about 1995 every show was good and people were spending money like crazy.  I wouldn’t know what that was like.  I came to this business just a year before recession became the word of the moment.  I don’t know much of anything else and have built a business in trying times.  While I don’t have 35 years under my belt I do have eight years of art fairs behind me and like to think I have at least some knowledge of the business and a formula of what works.  I have tried shows that were not great and built clientele by being diligent.  I have chased leads, commissions and corporate work.  Taken huge chances that have paid off wonderfully.  Perfected a body of work and learned marketing and studied what I needed to do to be successful.

Well, I thought I knew what worked until that ‘zero’.  I like to think that ‘zero’ will never happen again but obviously I am still thinking about it so I want to make sure I don’t forget at the very least: the lesson.  And, on a more positive note:  I would like to not forget the good feeling of ‘moving on’.  J

P.P.S.... I showed this article to Connie while I was at the South University Show in AA...the first day I was there a big order for a commission piece came through finally as a direct result of the above mentioned show (although I had met them elsewhere).  This time though, I am still of the opinion that I will not got back. 

There is good and there is bad to report--let me start with the good.

THE JOURNEY THERE--FROM SAUGATUCK,MICHIGAN

This is always a beautiful journey.

From Michigan I can make it one day or one and a half days, depending on how I want to travel.

I first did this show in 1987.  I have done it 15 times since.  Had not done it since 2011.  In 2012 I was scheduled to do it  but instead elected to have my chest sawed open--quad-triple bypass and two valves replaced.  I am ok now, stronger than before.  I wish I could say the same for the show.

But back to the good stuff.

When I take one-and-a-half-day trips it is because I get to stay in Madison,Wisconsin and reconnect with great Norwegian brothers who have their own little kingdom of restaurants there--the Birge Brothers.

Also the neat thing is the journey to Madison.

In the 1980's there was always this one old barn off I-94 going to Madison.  It had this great mural on it.

It was like a rendition from the album cover of a rock group called Its a Beautiful Day--the LaFlammes.

The mural had this giant blue bird of happiness that covered one third of the barn side.  Then there was happy flowers.  It was a trippy 1960's flashback.

So I was energized  this trip to look for it.  It sits out there in the nowhere and then, boom, there it is.  You can easily blow by at it when going 75 mph.

So I was looking for it.

I was wondering was it still there, was the farm sold, was the  mural painted over.

I kind of remembered to where to start looking for it--about 27 miles east of Madison.

Sure enough, I came up a large rise, a bunch of trees blazed by me and there--it was still there.

I quickly braked, almost ran two Walmart trucks off the road, hell, its Walmart, who cares.

The mural is definitely on its last legs.  It barely reads on the side of the barn.  But that Bluebird looks just as great to me as the first time I saw it.  If that mural ever disappears, then I aint going to Madison anymore via I-94.

HANGING OUT IN MADISON

Madison is a throwback to the 60s, liberal and hippy.

I hooked up with my buddy Chris Birge, he and his brothers own a little empire of restaurants, coffee bars and wine stores.  I first met them in the late 1980's, they were in their 20's I was in my 40's.  When I did Madison on the Square, they had a restaurant there, the Blue Marlin, and they would always park a car in spot in front of their restaurant and save it for me.  I would get to eat great seafood, drink awesome wines, and have my van ten feet from my booth.  I took a cab back and forth.  So we became best of friends.

So I had not seen or talked to Chris in three years.  I just showed up at the Weary Traveler Restaurant on Williamson Street(The locals call it Willy Street).

I reconnected with him.

Luckily for me he had bought a pool table for his house by the lake.  Luckily for me, I had misspent most of my youth shooting pool, so I trimmed him for a nice debt where we got to go to three different restaurants on Willy and he picked up the tap.  I paid the tips.

First, we went to a cool new bistro called Pig in a Coat where we munched on lamb carpaccio with a Malbec from Argentina.  Personally, I would have favored a redhead from Madison, but I savored what  my host offered.  (Geez, I hope Ellen is not reading this)

We foliowed up this with a neat little sojourn to a Laotion restaurant next.

We had great prawns, spicy and gritty.

Finally, we hit a Japanese noodle restaurant and did, pickled veggies, poke, and Ramen noodles--with lots of Sake.

What the hell, Minneapolis was only four and a half hours away the next day, and I was going to set up the booth.

Tte journey to the twin cities.

You cut north on I-94, GO PAST TOMAH, PAST EAU CLAIRE.

You see three million silos and barns, they are everywhere--you are in the heartland.

The hills roll for miles, corn is just starting to pop.  You see dairy cattle up your ring-yang.  You see goats.  You see these giant tourist destinations for water parks.

You pass by Osseo, Wisconsin.  If you care to venture in, off the freeway, you come downtown to the Norske Nook Restaurant.  There, you encounter the tallest pies you have ever seen in your life.  Yep, the meringue maybe three feet above the fruit--who cares.  

You can pick apple,raspberry,mince, lemon and 20 others.  This is pie heaven.  You have to go at least once.

OK, WE ARE ALMOST TO MINNEAPOLIS--WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AT THE SHOW?

Gee, I thought you would never ask.

Here are the basics.

This is a three-day show with a previous day setup, or if you are on Hennepin, a Friday morn setup.  Also the rest off ya can set up that morn.  Show starts at noon.

Booth fee is close to $500, it s a rip off.  Most artists don't get the return here anymore.

Also it is further ripoff, because of booth location,

The show has 350 exhibitors.

About 125  are on Hennepin Avenue.  This is on a main road where all the restaurants, retail and bars are.

The rest of the show is on the mall.

This is on a two-sided road with a green patch of grass down the middle.  Booths are back to back on the median, with generous space behind.  Then there are booths on both sides of the streets.  The mall runs a good four blocks,DOWNHILL, which means patrons must walk four blocks back uphill.

Guess what?

Over 50 per cent of them don't even walk all the way down.

OK,OK.

FROM HERE ON IS MY ASSESSMENT OF THE SHOW, STRICTLY FROM A 2-D POINT OF VIEW ( I am a photographer) WITH INPUT FROM SOME 3-D FRIENDS, MOSTLY GLASS GUYS I KNOW.

By now, some of you newbies are thinking, "Geez, the guy is finally going to tell us something about the show after all his hippy and travel-loge bullshit."

Yeah, well here goes, take this with the following proviso.  This used to be a $5k-$8K show, no more.

I know what I know, after doing this for 40 years.  I watch closely, I observe what people are carrying.

Also, I greet everybody that comes in, I am not on my cellphone.  Oh, I have new work, too.  Not the same old,same old.  Gee some of it gets me into shows like, Gasparilla, Saint Louis and Fort Worth.  So pay attention to my patter.  I am telling it like it is--and folks, I know what i is.

FINALLY, AN ASSESSMENT OF THIS YEAR'S UPTOWN.

First off, up front, it was a big down year for most of us in all medias.

I talked to friends in jewelry, glass, clay, painting and photos.

For most--it was way off.

Oh sure, there are those lucky few. I had the guy with stone birds across from me.  He had to do a cool $8K or better.  Those birds never should have been in the Uptown.

A photo friend of mine did $8K last year and barely made $2K.

Most people did not do above $2K for the show.

All they bought was the lowest end possible.

Forget about be-backs.

Most of them did not have $50 cash in their pockets.

The show was an Ann Arbor redux.  They walked by without really looking at anything.

I had my worst show,ever, there.  All I could sell was $25 photos.  Only sold four pieces at $150 the whole show.

It was not pretty.

Weather was decent.  Not too overly hot.  Had a storm Saturday nite that ended the show two hours early.

Sunday, was my best day, and it was pathetic.

My two glass buddies from the twin cities, who only got in off the wait list, had pathetic shows.

Interestingly, both these guys routinely get into the best shows like Coconut Grove, Winter Park, St. Louis, et al, and they barely got in the show off the wait list.  What does that say about that sharp-eyed jury.  Stone birds were better than original glass art.

Unfortunately, the director of this show is not that sharp.  She don't get around and see how other shows of their magnitude are run.  She collects a paycheck.  

She is happy, while hundreds off artists are unhappy.

This show is spinning downward.

The booth fees too high, the rewards too low.

The committee is clueless and their jury is mediocre at best.

The twin cities deserve better.

SO THERE IT IS.  THE JOURNEY IS A BEAUTIFUL ONE BUT I DON'T THINK THE FINANCIAL REWARDS ARE COMMISURATE.

Love to hear others comments.

Again, I caution, my observations were based on"  Being there and looking, being a 2-D guy,

and having 25 years of perspective there.

Later gators.  Nels.