At my first Sugarloaf event an elderly artist told me that there's an old joke- you can do festivals/craft fairs until the money runs out. That's very funny. Well I'm out of money. The old-timer photographer I was talking to at Mayfair said this is a very strange year. Some shows are going okay and others are complete disasters. Overall it's starting out as bad year for artists. It is easy to look back at a show and say that particular show went the way it did for this or that reason. But looking ahead I don't think anyone really knows how any given show is going to go this season. Some will be okay. Others will fall apart. From here on out I'm sticking with low cost events. I don't have any further resources for high booth fees or travel. Right now I'm focusing on getting a full time day job to stabilize my financial situation. And I'm following my own nose for shows- no more recommendations from other artists and no more guidebooks.
The strange thing is that I'm more confident than ever that I'll eventually be successful at this. From the sales I've had and the feedback I've been receiving I feel very good about my long term prospects. I'm especially encouraged by the kinds of people who are taking to my work. But in the short term I need to be able to pay the bills before my landlord kicks my ass out.
So what's happening? That's what all the artists out there are struggling to understand. Everybody seems to have their theory. And the answer is probably a complicated one with no single pat reason. But I'll give one anyway. My brother was at Mayfair on Sunday. And seeing the small crowd he speculated that there is some underlying anxiety that is keeping people home and from spending money. It might be said that they have a kind of bunker mentality. I think artists are the canary in a coal mine for an ill society/economy. People buy art when they are happy and feeling confident about the future. But our nation is suffering a deep malaise at the moment. Some of it's this damn war. Some of it's the overall direction of the nation under the Bush administration. Festival sales across the nation peaked in the late 90s and then declined throughout the Bush years. Bush tries maintain his political support by keeping people afraid. But that isn't working out for him anymore even while it's hurting everything else. It may be that this situation won't get turned around until there's a different administration in power.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Mayfair is a Train Wreck
I really, really want to report good news on this blog- I really do. But I can't yet. Mayfair is horrible. It's the sort of place bad artists (maybe I should say evil artists- there can't be any one place big enough for all the bad as in lousy artists) end up. It's artist hell. And I am in it for two more days. There's something kind of funny about all this. I just can't put my finger on it right now.
Mayfair was supposed to be a decent festival with lots of people. Not the best in the world but good. With lots of people. The people part has been missing. The woman next to me sells jewelry. She's from Florida and has been doing Mayfair for the past 15 years or so. This was the slowest Saturday attendance-wise in all that time. It's really bad. Everyone's sales are down. It's not like a modest decline down- it's more falling off a cliff down. And yes the woman beside me came up from Florida. I'm staying with a sister so aside from the booth fee it's not a huge expense. But other artists have major travel expenses in addition to the booth fee. I feel bad for them. To add insult to injury the food is terrible and expensive (the worst funnel cake I've had at any event so far.)
Maybe something miraculous will happen in the next two days. Maybe the artists will start rioting. I'll keep you posted.
Mayfair was supposed to be a decent festival with lots of people. Not the best in the world but good. With lots of people. The people part has been missing. The woman next to me sells jewelry. She's from Florida and has been doing Mayfair for the past 15 years or so. This was the slowest Saturday attendance-wise in all that time. It's really bad. Everyone's sales are down. It's not like a modest decline down- it's more falling off a cliff down. And yes the woman beside me came up from Florida. I'm staying with a sister so aside from the booth fee it's not a huge expense. But other artists have major travel expenses in addition to the booth fee. I feel bad for them. To add insult to injury the food is terrible and expensive (the worst funnel cake I've had at any event so far.)
Maybe something miraculous will happen in the next two days. Maybe the artists will start rioting. I'll keep you posted.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Bird Crap Really is Good Luck!
Who knew? Apparently everyone except me. And Bush and I having the exact same mishap in the same week? That's just scary.
I'm staying at my sister's place so I have Internet access while away for an event. I'll be doing a couple of posts over the weekend.
Mayfair is going- well, it's going. Talking to the other artists I'm hearing the same things I've heard at other events- it's much slower than last year. Tomorrow and the rest of the weekend will be the key days. I did have a couple of cute girls come through the booth over the course of the day/evening and buy some 5x7s so the day wasn't a total loss. And there were some other people talking about purchasing some of my large prints.
We'll see what happens tomorrow...
I'm staying at my sister's place so I have Internet access while away for an event. I'll be doing a couple of posts over the weekend.
Mayfair is going- well, it's going. Talking to the other artists I'm hearing the same things I've heard at other events- it's much slower than last year. Tomorrow and the rest of the weekend will be the key days. I did have a couple of cute girls come through the booth over the course of the day/evening and buy some 5x7s so the day wasn't a total loss. And there were some other people talking about purchasing some of my large prints.
We'll see what happens tomorrow...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Mayfair Festival of the Arts, Allentown PA
Mayfair starts these evening. I don't know much about it yet other than it has lots of people. The official numbers are 200,000. Friends who've attended it said that number sounds reasonable. The largest event I've done so far was maybe around 20,000. So this will be a festival on a whole new scale. It will also be my first five day festival.
The thing I'm most excited about is the hours. It runs from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. though I guess we can be open later than that if we want to. I haven't been to an event yet that runs later than 6:00 p.m. I don't tend to sell anything before 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon. Especially at the indoor fairs that started at 10:00 a.m. I would sit around for the first several hours despairing of selling anything time after time. Then late afternoon I'd start selling. I guess the kind of people who like my work don't come out till later in the day. It was getting to the point where I was thinking about not showing up until noon but you can't really do that. So it'll be cool to see what happens with evening hours.
A bird dropped crap on my shoulder as I left to drive out here yesterday. A friend said bird crap is good luck. I'm not sure where she got that. I'd think getting crapped on is a negative indicator but maybe bird crap is special. It was a lucky shot anyway.
The thing I'm most excited about is the hours. It runs from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. though I guess we can be open later than that if we want to. I haven't been to an event yet that runs later than 6:00 p.m. I don't tend to sell anything before 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon. Especially at the indoor fairs that started at 10:00 a.m. I would sit around for the first several hours despairing of selling anything time after time. Then late afternoon I'd start selling. I guess the kind of people who like my work don't come out till later in the day. It was getting to the point where I was thinking about not showing up until noon but you can't really do that. So it'll be cool to see what happens with evening hours.
A bird dropped crap on my shoulder as I left to drive out here yesterday. A friend said bird crap is good luck. I'm not sure where she got that. I'd think getting crapped on is a negative indicator but maybe bird crap is special. It was a lucky shot anyway.
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Earnest Young Photographer
At the Milford CT show a young photographer came by to chat. I think he was a little younger than me and this was his first festival ever. He reminded me much of myself back when I was young and just starting out a few months ago. We talked about how we each were doing- things were really slow for him. I said I thought it was due to the overall sales climate right now and us being new there. He didn't seem to be interested in hearing that and believed it was the show itself. He said he knew of another photographer who had done really well at a show in Pennsylvania but he couldn't remember the name of it. We wished each other luck and he left.
He is still going to be chasing the magic show. This is a show in which just because you've gotten in the people who come will automatically buy your work. Maybe that's the way things were at one time. Maybe there still is a show somewhere where that sort of thing still happens. Taking that approach doesn't really make sense to me at this point. I'm done consulting the show rating lists and chasing this or that show just because someone said it was good. The one consistent thing I've heard at all the events I've been to so far from the old-timers is that what's making the shows for them is their existing clientele. I've heard artist/craft people selling the oddest stuff tell me they had an okay show even when a lot of other people were having a bad show. I'm always hearing something like "my previous customers came out and that saved the day."
My objective from here on out is to cultivate a clientele. This will mean returning to the same areas via the same show or different shows in the same area. I will not be so concerned with what the rating of a given show is on someone's list. I've encountered cultivated, intelligent people in the humblest of venues. Their numbers may be small at a given event but that ultimately doesn't matter. I've gotten the sense that I could sell just about anywhere once some people have come to know me there. It switches the objective of doing a given show from making money to gaining exposure. And this approach feels very good to me. I want to people to understand my work and what I'm doing. Obviously I'll need to starting making money at some point or I'll have to give it up. But I think this approach will build a much sounder foundation for the future rather than chasing the ghost of a magic festival.
At my first Sugarloaf show I asked one of the bear/eagle photographers how business was going. He started giving me the lowdown on the festival-photography hack market. He said he had done a show up in New England somewhere with a variety of different pictures. That season he sold out of all his lighthouse pictures. So the next time he went up there with nothing but lighthouse pictures. He only sold one. You never can tell what the crowd wants. I guess not. This seems really obnoxious to me- he might as well be selling funnel cakes. He doesn't make his own prints either- it seems to be all of a package. I'm not sure what motivates him to do this apart from making money. For me it would have no meaning at that point. But if he can make a go of it the more power to him.
He is still going to be chasing the magic show. This is a show in which just because you've gotten in the people who come will automatically buy your work. Maybe that's the way things were at one time. Maybe there still is a show somewhere where that sort of thing still happens. Taking that approach doesn't really make sense to me at this point. I'm done consulting the show rating lists and chasing this or that show just because someone said it was good. The one consistent thing I've heard at all the events I've been to so far from the old-timers is that what's making the shows for them is their existing clientele. I've heard artist/craft people selling the oddest stuff tell me they had an okay show even when a lot of other people were having a bad show. I'm always hearing something like "my previous customers came out and that saved the day."
My objective from here on out is to cultivate a clientele. This will mean returning to the same areas via the same show or different shows in the same area. I will not be so concerned with what the rating of a given show is on someone's list. I've encountered cultivated, intelligent people in the humblest of venues. Their numbers may be small at a given event but that ultimately doesn't matter. I've gotten the sense that I could sell just about anywhere once some people have come to know me there. It switches the objective of doing a given show from making money to gaining exposure. And this approach feels very good to me. I want to people to understand my work and what I'm doing. Obviously I'll need to starting making money at some point or I'll have to give it up. But I think this approach will build a much sounder foundation for the future rather than chasing the ghost of a magic festival.
At my first Sugarloaf show I asked one of the bear/eagle photographers how business was going. He started giving me the lowdown on the festival-photography hack market. He said he had done a show up in New England somewhere with a variety of different pictures. That season he sold out of all his lighthouse pictures. So the next time he went up there with nothing but lighthouse pictures. He only sold one. You never can tell what the crowd wants. I guess not. This seems really obnoxious to me- he might as well be selling funnel cakes. He doesn't make his own prints either- it seems to be all of a package. I'm not sure what motivates him to do this apart from making money. For me it would have no meaning at that point. But if he can make a go of it the more power to him.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Wrong Side of the Tracks
Quakertown was the worst of my shows and the best of my shows so far. Everything that can go wrong went wrong with it. Sales were low for me and the other artists I talked to. There was a main town square area where most of the artists were along with most of the crowd. That was on one side of the railroad tracks. I was down the street with a handful of other artists away from the main action on the other side of the tracks. After a few hours of good weather the sky darkened up and the wind started. I had to hold my booth down multiple times to keep it from blowing away (and yes I use weights with it but they were only ten pound weights. That apparently doesn't even faze a strong wind gust.) Then mid-afternoon they told us to pack up and go home because the weather was supposed to get really bad. It actually didn't but the show was over at that point.
But.... I had the highest percentage of passing people come into my booth of any place I've been so far. And I received a lot of very positive feedback from a lot of people. I also went through as many business cards in that period of time as I have for other whole shows. I went from seeing most people walk by my booth to seemingly as many come in as walk by. And my work was solicited for a local gallery. This show really had a different vibe to it- somehow my work seemed to resonate with a lot of the people coming through. I'm not sure why that was.
There were a number of times I was talking shop with some amateur photographers who were several decades older than myself. People coming through the booth would keep complimenting the older men I was talking to on the work. Age prejudice I guess.
I will keep coming back to this area also. This event reinforced my new show strategy- a very exciting development. More in the next post.
But.... I had the highest percentage of passing people come into my booth of any place I've been so far. And I received a lot of very positive feedback from a lot of people. I also went through as many business cards in that period of time as I have for other whole shows. I went from seeing most people walk by my booth to seemingly as many come in as walk by. And my work was solicited for a local gallery. This show really had a different vibe to it- somehow my work seemed to resonate with a lot of the people coming through. I'm not sure why that was.
There were a number of times I was talking shop with some amateur photographers who were several decades older than myself. People coming through the booth would keep complimenting the older men I was talking to on the work. Age prejudice I guess.
I will keep coming back to this area also. This event reinforced my new show strategy- a very exciting development. More in the next post.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
No Lighthouse Prints
I realized that this blog might have some new readers after last weekend who might not have the full context yet. I won't be selling lighthouse prints- I was only joking. And I wasn't trying to cast aspersions on Quakertown Alive this weekend. Just because it's a small show doesn't mean it's going to be lousy. There are decent small shows. I don't think it's going to be great but that doesn't really matter. It's part of my new strategy for tackling festivals that I'll post further about.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Milford CT Followup
I finally made more than the booth fee there but still lost money overall when travel expenses were taken into account. Losing money is such hard work. On the other hand I sold my largest piece to date- a $200.00 sale. I also won first prize for photography out of maybe a dozen or so photographers so that was very cool. This show had the largest attendance of any I've done so far- maybe in the tens of thousands. I wrote before going to Great Neck that it was going to be my biggest show so far at 50,000 but it was definitely under 10,000- maybe more like 5000. These show produces lie so bad when it comes to attendance numbers and I keep falling for it. Milford was in line with stated attendance though. I also went through the most business cards at any event so far.
Otherwise it was pretty much same kinds of people most excited about my work- more professors (I'm thinking Yale faculty make more than Bucknell people but I could be wrong), other kinds of art people (I've had two sales to other artists now) and other professionals of various kinds. There were more Europeans also- French folks this time. They seemed startled by my work. They were very inquisitive about it- asking what the various things in my pictures were and how I came to be photographing such things. They were very much victims of the lighthouse/bird-in-tree/ bear photographers and seemed to have very low expectations when it came to art photography. I wonder if they have art fests in Europe. It would cost a small fortune to go over there though with a boot setup.
I seem to be developing a following among landscape/nursery people and I have more prints on the way that I think they'll appreciate. I also had my youngest patron to do date. A boy around five or six was quite taken with my work for some reason. He was so cute in how he went about asking about the prices of my framed pictures- even trying to finagle one for free. But he only had a budget of $5 so he finally settled on my spider card. He asked if it only could be used as a card to be sent to someone. I told him that he could find a small frame for it and use it as a picture. So his dad is going to help him make a little frame for it.
I didn't have as much opportunity to get around to other photographers and artists to ask how the event was going for them because I was getting much more booth traffic than past shows. But one photographer who was able to get around dropped by. And I did talk to a couple of other 2-D people- all painters. From what I gathered there were only two photographers who were doing well there and they both sold more traditional/conventional work than mine. The painters I talked to said it was a show that you have to attend for a couple of events before it becomes financially worthwhile. The people there need to get to know you and they want to see that you're serious about what you're doing before they'll start buying much from you. The painters and most of the crafts people seemed to be doing well- primarily with established customers. And that's a positive sign for the overall art market this summer in contrast to the Sugarloaf events and Lewsiburg.
I'll definitely return to Milford. From the interest expressed I'm confident I can establish a viable clientele there with a few more shows.
I'll be doing Quakertown PA this coming weekend (small one) and then it'll be Mayfair in Allentown PA for memorial day weekend. Mayfair is a major deal at five days and large crowds.
But I gotta get back to making some lighthouse prints for this weekend.
Otherwise it was pretty much same kinds of people most excited about my work- more professors (I'm thinking Yale faculty make more than Bucknell people but I could be wrong), other kinds of art people (I've had two sales to other artists now) and other professionals of various kinds. There were more Europeans also- French folks this time. They seemed startled by my work. They were very inquisitive about it- asking what the various things in my pictures were and how I came to be photographing such things. They were very much victims of the lighthouse/bird-in-tree/ bear photographers and seemed to have very low expectations when it came to art photography. I wonder if they have art fests in Europe. It would cost a small fortune to go over there though with a boot setup.
I seem to be developing a following among landscape/nursery people and I have more prints on the way that I think they'll appreciate. I also had my youngest patron to do date. A boy around five or six was quite taken with my work for some reason. He was so cute in how he went about asking about the prices of my framed pictures- even trying to finagle one for free. But he only had a budget of $5 so he finally settled on my spider card. He asked if it only could be used as a card to be sent to someone. I told him that he could find a small frame for it and use it as a picture. So his dad is going to help him make a little frame for it.
I didn't have as much opportunity to get around to other photographers and artists to ask how the event was going for them because I was getting much more booth traffic than past shows. But one photographer who was able to get around dropped by. And I did talk to a couple of other 2-D people- all painters. From what I gathered there were only two photographers who were doing well there and they both sold more traditional/conventional work than mine. The painters I talked to said it was a show that you have to attend for a couple of events before it becomes financially worthwhile. The people there need to get to know you and they want to see that you're serious about what you're doing before they'll start buying much from you. The painters and most of the crafts people seemed to be doing well- primarily with established customers. And that's a positive sign for the overall art market this summer in contrast to the Sugarloaf events and Lewsiburg.
I'll definitely return to Milford. From the interest expressed I'm confident I can establish a viable clientele there with a few more shows.
I'll be doing Quakertown PA this coming weekend (small one) and then it'll be Mayfair in Allentown PA for memorial day weekend. Mayfair is a major deal at five days and large crowds.
But I gotta get back to making some lighthouse prints for this weekend.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Milford CT
Sorry about my lack of posts this week- it's been a crazy week. I will post about Great Neck last weekend early next week. I got a really big break and will be in Milford Connecticut this Saturday and Sunday for Meet the Artists and Artisans (http://www.meettheartistsandartisans.com/shows.htm) I really enjoyed the people who came through my booth in Hartford so I'm looking forward to this weekend.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Great Neck, New York
On Sunday I will be at a show in Great Neck on Long Island. This event had 50,000 attendees last year so it will be my largest event yet. The weather is supposed to be perfect. And it will be. I have no idea what to expect- it's not an event that's hard to get into so I'm sure there's going to be a lot of junk. But the crowd will be more affluent than Lewisburg and quite a bit larger.
There's a reason there aren't a lot of applicants for shows on Long Island- the drive out there is a nightmare. It also costs about $20.00 in toll fees one way. After the first time I did an event out there I vowed never to return because of the drive. But I think it's an area with great potential and so I've decided to keep working it.
There's a reason there aren't a lot of applicants for shows on Long Island- the drive out there is a nightmare. It also costs about $20.00 in toll fees one way. After the first time I did an event out there I vowed never to return because of the drive. But I think it's an area with great potential and so I've decided to keep working it.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
My First Bird in a Tree Picture
A woman barged into my booth at Lewisburg and asked if I had any wildlife pictures. Nope. She turned around and left. I've finally caved in to market pressures and decided to try my hand at the wildlife thing. I know I'm going to get criticism for "selling out" and pandering and all the rest of it but I have bills to pay. Here's my first bird picture.
Something seems slightly off about it but I'm not sure what. Probably if I had a more experienced eye for wildlife pictures I'd see it right away. I guess I'm just not there yet.
If you are new to this blog you might want to read this post for context.
Something seems slightly off about it but I'm not sure what. Probably if I had a more experienced eye for wildlife pictures I'd see it right away. I guess I'm just not there yet.
If you are new to this blog you might want to read this post for context.
Lewisburg follow-up
The weather was lousy and the turnout was too. The woman next to me said last year was a gorgeous day and you couldn't see across the street for the crowd. That wasn't the case this year but some people did come out. It wasn't a great sales situation for me but I had good traffic through the booth and lots of positive feedback- even more so than the Sugarloaf events. But people weren't dropping much money. Lewisburg is home to Bucknell- it's a university town so that may explain some of that (educated people without a lot of disposable income.)
The jurying was definitely a notch below Sugarloaf. The woman behind me sold various kinds of kitchenware with sterling silver wire wrapped around the utensils- for example wine glasses with the wire wrapped around the stems. She had done this for spoons and knives- candle holders- all kinds of crap. It was really lame. And there was a photographer who specialized in lighthouses. There were some fine art painters there with some cool stuff but they didn't seem to be getting much traffic. I'll probably do it again next year just because it's local and inexpensive to do. And I met some interesting people and made some worthwhile contacts. But no relief from the starving artist lifestyle just yet.
The jurying was definitely a notch below Sugarloaf. The woman behind me sold various kinds of kitchenware with sterling silver wire wrapped around the utensils- for example wine glasses with the wire wrapped around the stems. She had done this for spoons and knives- candle holders- all kinds of crap. It was really lame. And there was a photographer who specialized in lighthouses. There were some fine art painters there with some cool stuff but they didn't seem to be getting much traffic. I'll probably do it again next year just because it's local and inexpensive to do. And I met some interesting people and made some worthwhile contacts. But no relief from the starving artist lifestyle just yet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)