Bob and I are local yokels, so sometimes we are looked upon as the red- headed step children...not as important as the artist exhibiting from far away...we live twenty minutes away from the Boston Mills art show, and people think we are accessable all the time..This was our second time showing our art work there and we had an excellent show.Sleeping in your own bed AND making money- it doesn't get much better than that!
Cleveland Magazine has a very large supplement in the summer issue detailing all aspects of the two weekend show, including the attending artists and their spaces...for Clevelanders, this periodical is the Bible of all summer activities-priceless!
Last year our booth location was outside, this year, inside...we will take inside any day of the week...lights and no sun. This year was beastly hot and the West tent worked for us...North tent has the reputation as the "best" tent, but I subscribe to the theory that if you are in the beginning or end of the show, either people say they "just got there" or at the end, they possibly have spent their budget already. In the middle is where we feel best...
Load in and load out is tougher for people in the middle, as they have to dolly to their vehicles...the North and East tents seem easiest to park nearer to.
Okay, as Nels always says, let's get to the meat of the show...hot is hot... it will keep some people away no matter what...and it was very warm this past weekend.The 4th of July falling on Monday seemed to keep the crowds on Friday very sparse...people do travel on holidays, and having Monday off, may change schedules somewhat.I always ask the people who wander in our booth where they are from...being from the area, it helps us alot..Akron, Sagamore Hills, Bath etc. pulled in large crowds.We also saw many people from the east side of Cleveland, where we reside.
Some of our neighbors, a clay artist and encaustic painter had great shows...we enjoyed the comraderie we had with all of the surrounding artists and would not change a thing for next year.
We ended up selling a large piece on Friday and two smaller pieces on the other days, peppered with smaller "milk money " pieces.Monday night at 10:15 p.m. we received a call from another perspective customer from Columbus, wanting the most expensive piece in our booth. Bob and I just decided to drive the 90" piece to Columbus this morning- two hours and change...to deliver and pick up cash...this pushed us into a fantastic show outcome...it is not over until the -----------.
I would be remiss if I did not mention our two great evenings spent with Nels, Ellen, Leo and Carolyn at the Blue Canyon Grill for yummy dinners and TOO many martinis...what a BLAST!!!!!
We love staying home, doing a show, and making good money at Boston Mills....this will become a definite addiction for us- give this show a try if you are lucky to get juried in- there are great rewards here....
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I am glad you like my line! It is actually...www.I am here.now....good luck..
That's great Patti! Wonderful to hear you had both a good show and good neighbors.
With young kids and a FT job, I show locally, primarily out of fairness to my husband. It is funny, isn't it? Too often I get the "oh, you're from Beachwood..." comment at art shows. Just because I live here doesn't mean the piece won't sell to the next patron. Buy it already, local or not!
Is it Bob or the mermaid that is now residing in Columbus (or am I entirely wrong?!?) Wonderful that you had a great show.
See you in Glencoe.
Almost went to bed and missed this great post. Good for you guys. I too, got a call today from someone at the show, the sale pushed me up to a almost $4k range.
Bob. I am sipping Gordon's Cherry flavored moonshine ever so carefully tonite, and loving every last vapor of it. Glad we all could get together.