The search for a tent is on. I scour ebay with no luck. I finally decide on a Craft Hut mostly because the company is located just 4 hours away from me and I can save shipping costs. By now I have joined the Yahoo group artshow_photo which is a wealth of information. The tent with the options they tell me to get is significantly more expensive than the base model but I remember the words from the artist at Winter Park and get everything I’m told to. I make arrangements to pay for the tent by the end of the year for tax purposes but not pick it up until spring. Little do I know I have bought the last Craft Hut made by Craft Hut. I figure this out come January when the Craft Hut people call me and tell me they are “moving” and they will ship the tent to me free of charge. Soon after that I hear that Craft Hut has sold out to Flourish.
The tent arrives and Clif and I put it up in the driveway. It’s got an amazing number of parts, takes an hour to put up, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to put it up by myself. But I’m somewhat ready for the next step.
When I first moved to Deltona I saw signs for Springfest. It’s an outdoor two day festival and I set my sights on that for my next show. It’s not a real art show but it is outdoors and I get to put up my new display. I’ve learned a lot from artshow_photo. I’ve got print bins, a new chair, and a card rack.
I’m also about to learn about the awful experience called Saturday morning setup. Clif, a friend of ours, and I arrive at the appointed time – 5AM. It’s dark and there are no lights. The only booth markers are a series of flags with numbers on them and it takes us a ½ hour to find them. No one is in a good mood and I am totally stressed. I’ve since learned that, with help, I can put up a booth in 3 hours, but I still hate Saturday morning setups. Once the booth is up, there is decent weather for about an hour. Then it pours, all day long. I spend pretty much the entire day inside the tent with the sides down. I sold one card. But Sunday was better and I sold two framed pictures to the mayor, some matted photos and cards to friends, and I got a lot of compliments. There’s a lot of joking among art show artists about compliments. No, they don’t pay the bills, but they do feed the soul.
The booth is not quite there yet though. It’s way too busy, my frames don’t match, and it’s still not very professional looking. But it’s enough to get me into the next show, my first real art show.
The tent arrives and Clif and I put it up in the driveway. It’s got an amazing number of parts, takes an hour to put up, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to put it up by myself. But I’m somewhat ready for the next step.
When I first moved to Deltona I saw signs for Springfest. It’s an outdoor two day festival and I set my sights on that for my next show. It’s not a real art show but it is outdoors and I get to put up my new display. I’ve learned a lot from artshow_photo. I’ve got print bins, a new chair, and a card rack.
I’m also about to learn about the awful experience called Saturday morning setup. Clif, a friend of ours, and I arrive at the appointed time – 5AM. It’s dark and there are no lights. The only booth markers are a series of flags with numbers on them and it takes us a ½ hour to find them. No one is in a good mood and I am totally stressed. I’ve since learned that, with help, I can put up a booth in 3 hours, but I still hate Saturday morning setups. Once the booth is up, there is decent weather for about an hour. Then it pours, all day long. I spend pretty much the entire day inside the tent with the sides down. I sold one card. But Sunday was better and I sold two framed pictures to the mayor, some matted photos and cards to friends, and I got a lot of compliments. There’s a lot of joking among art show artists about compliments. No, they don’t pay the bills, but they do feed the soul.
The booth is not quite there yet though. It’s way too busy, my frames don’t match, and it’s still not very professional looking. But it’s enough to get me into the next show, my first real art show.
1 comment:
Hi, Alison!
Glad to see you charging along with the tent, shows and blog!
I haven't put anything on my blog since sometime in December.
I'll stop by again,
Melissa from Alyson's class.
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