Hi, everyone! I'm a painter (I will attach a photo below), and have been accepted to Art Fest Boca and the San Marco Art Festival. The first is by Patty Narozny; the second by Howard Alan.
I've read about these shows on line, and both look like they are good. I've never done either (never done any Florida shows) and I would love to hear any comments or insights any of you might have.
I paint with a palette knife; my work is fairly large, and concentrated now on florals and landscapes. My prices run from $100 to $2,400; sizes from 10 inches by 10 inches to 36 by 72.
Replies
Nice work, Carrie! Such a pleasure to see it. I have no opinion here but just wanted you to know I like the work. Both of these people work hard to bring in people to their shows, but I am clueless as to which would be better.
Thanks, Connie! I've had much more success getting into shows since speaking with you about my display and booth shots.
Hi Carrie: Agree with Connie, both shows have potential for you. One thing to consider is that Boca can be a tough scene to work if you've never shown there before. They haggle, often bluntly. They won't want to pay sales tax. That's not the case elsewhere in Florida, including San Marco. So if you show there, price your work up so that when you give them the 20% or 30% or 40% off, you've still made your number.
Geoff and Connie, thanks for the warnings! I will price accordingly.
I'm with you on that, Geoff. I don't know what it is about Boca but it is the place where the most haggling happened for us. "I don't ever pay sales tax." "I never pay retail." "Everyone negotiates." "Here's the cash. How does that work for you?"
That being said, we did make some nice money in Boca, and made return trips.
Boca did teach me how to negotiate.
Now, when a customer says, "Do you negotiate?" I look 'em right in the eye and say,
"Up to a point. My opening price is right on that tag, there. Your turn!"
It's very important not to drop your price until you've heard theirs.
I've done one show in San Marco not done by Howard Alan. The weather was horrible, the promoter was clueless and I did not do well. For all the money that was supposed to be in San Marco I didn't see much evidence of it in the people who came to the show. But that was years ago and a different promoter and there is money in the area. I think it is almost a coin toss here except in Boca you will most likely get a Friday setup and a lot more room. The one time I did Boca I had oodles of storage space behind the booth which always makes doing a show more pleasant.
Thanks, Alison! I am still tossing the coin...