Hello 2009

I was looking up a photo on my blog and I realized it has been way too long. So here I am again. Shows have started up again for me and I’m in the middle of doing my first show of 2009, the Audubon Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. It is bitter cold here (well, in Florida terms) and I am so glad this show is inside. I feel badly for the people who came from out of state to be here. The festival is not an art show. It is a combination of field trips, speakers, and exhibits, all about birds. People come from all over the country and some of them are rather disappointed that the weather here is not any warmer than where they came from.

I got two exciting acceptances last week. One from Vero Beach, Under the Oaks for March 13 – 15 which is supposed to be a very good show and the other, drum roll please, is Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival on May 16 – 17. My home town finally gets to see what I’ve been doing for the past 9 years.

It’s too early to tell what effect the economy will have on shows for me. I haven’t done Audubon in four years and my work has changed so much that I can’t really compare. I didn’t make any sales yesterday but I also forgot and left my 8 x 10s at home and with all the people from out of town this is a small item show. The focus isn’t really on the art here so it’s an impulse buy situation and I didn’t have any impulse buy items.

The photo above is from one of the photo trips I took when I was visiting family in Virginia over Thanksgiving.

Reminiscing 3

My next show was the Audubon Space Coast Bird and Wildlife Festival. I actually do pretty well. I’m still having trouble finding my place though. Buckler is out and with Buckler my original idea of doing local home and garden shows. The work I want to do is not the work that does well at that type of show. A bonus from my job has allowed me to buy some walls. The tent is still a problem. My husband has heard of something cheap called an EZ-up and suggests I go visit the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival and talk to the artists there and see what they suggest. I generally like people who tell me the truth and don’t sugarcoat it. The first person I talked to definitely met that criteria – “EZ-up”, he sneered, “EZ-up is easy down. I spent $3800.00 on my tent and walls alone. If you’re going to do it, do it, don’t dabble at it.” I am grateful for those blunt words today. There were some difficult times ahead of me and more than once I think I would have thrown in the towel if I didn’t have so much invested. At the time though, those words were just a tad bit discouraging.

Shortly after that, I found the Bird and Wildlife Festival and I guess God knew I needed some encouragement. I made a modest profit. My display still needed work but it was looking much more professional. The only problem was the festival was only once a year. I had to have a tent and it had to be a real art festival tent.