My First Storm

Around 6:00 we got hit with a thunderstorm. Lots of wind and hard rain. There were about two inches of water running through our booths. I also found out my tent leaks in heavy rain- that's awesome. Stupid EZ-Up company! It gets a bit scary at times when you see your tent starting to rise straight up into the air under the force of the wind. Fortunately the storm didn't last that long. But till we got our tents opened back up and the water drained away the show was pretty much over and most artists closed up and left.

Today was my best sales day so far at Mayfair. It started off like it was going to be the worst and then late afternoon some people started coming through and buying things till the storm shut it down. I've been comparing sales notes with an old-timer photographer there. I like his work- he's a very sharp person. He's been doing this show for the past ten years or so. Yesterday he did better than me and today he didn't sell anything but all of our sales don't add up to much. I had a similar thing happen at Sugarloaf Gaithersburg where I outperformed a well-established photographer. Such information is helpful for me to know because it tells me that my low sales performance for this event isn't a reflection on the salability of my work. But otherwise I don't consider it a good thing. If he'd be doing well I'd no doubt be doing better than I am- and vice versa.

So what is happening with the art festival market? There are still shows that are doing okay. A woman told me Lambertville was an alright show for her but she was still down about 33% from last year (for salaried people think about taking a 33% pay cut.) Another artist told me she had done a couple of shows in the Carolinas and they went well. So it's not as though every show out there is completely tanking. But something significant is clearly going on- something that reaches beyond specific shows or regions. As I've talked to these older artists about it I've kept hearing them say this particular show (whichever one it may be) isn't typical and not to base my overall prospects on it. But I wonder if they say that for their own reassurance as much as mine. I think they are worried about this and are trying to make sense of what is happening as much as I am. I think my brother made a comment this afternoon that starts to get at it. But that's its own post.

Not all the news from Mayfair so far is bad. I've had some very interesting observations (and one horrific insult) made about my work which I'll get to later. But now I have to get my beauty sleep for tomorrow.