Hi all,
My name is Nathan and I'm new to the art fair community...as in I haven't done one yet! :-)
I've been working hard on my craft for the past couple of years with the goal of replacing my full time income with photography. Fine art is my main niche, although I'm fairly spread out in style there.
I moved to Florida, from Chicago, in 2013 and I'm excited for the number of shows that happen within a few hours of Orlando. I'm hoping to do my first show this fall, but building a house may push that back a bit.
I've been perusing the classifieds for used tents and such. I've already got most of the artwork that will be on display, so it's just a matter of what to buy and such.
I'm a digital marketing manager by day and have spent the last 15 years in web development and design. I just finished Phase 1 of my new website (http://www.nathanheldmanphotography.com) and will be spending a good deal of my remaining summer building out the ecommerce side of the site. I have a widget to FineArtAmerica as my shop for now, but will have that all in house very soon.
I'm married to an amazing woman (our three year anniversary today) whom I've known for 17 years. I was a music director for her youth group when she was a senior in high school and that's how we met. We are 15 years apart so you can understand why we never really thought of anything until 13 years later. :-) She's very supportive of my work, and is an artist in her own right, with dozens of digital audio books to her credit (Brooke Sanford/Heldman), tremendous acting and directing skills, and a very accomplished dancer.
We both look forward to meeting all of you as we get out on the circuit, timidly in 2014 and then with more time and experience, a little more regularly in 2015!
Peace to you all!
Replies
Hi Nathan, and welcome to AFI. I enjoyed reading your "backstory" and am wishing you much success as you negotiate the unpredictable world of art and selling art. You'll find lots of help here, don't be shy about asking for some, as there are many voices and much expertise to be had on these pages.
Thanks for joining our group and good luck to you!
Great to meet you, Nathan, and to have you join us. Sounds like you're ready for business. Very smart, getting that website into gear for e-commerce and finding other avenues of income beyond the shows. If you're looking for any e-commerce advice I also belong to a community like this one specifically for helping each other with their online biz activities: ClickMillionaires.com.
It isn't free to join but if you go to this link it will take you to the site where you'll find the password for free membership: http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/help-is-on-the-way-inte...
Since you're from Chicago I'd guess you've already attended a bunch of art fairs, as Chicago is THE town for fairs. If not, don't neglect attending as many as possible before you do your first one to pick up all kinds of tips that will smooth out your learning curve. It is a dynamic marketplace with lots of ups and downs and then you get addicted looking for that next "high."
I look forward to your participation here. We answer questions and can share lots of info, but, as you may have discovered, there is a lot of solid info already on this site.
So, what is the show you have planned?