My favorite show has just thrown me a curve and I would like opinions.
I do mixed media collage and hardbound books. I make cards out of my work and they are very popular. One weekend last year I sold $900 in a day and a half. My collage is not terrible expensive ($40-$100) so this is a substantial boost to my bottom line.
I do this show twice a year and it is my best. I love the show, the people who run it, the venue, everything.
At the July show, the organizer told me on the first day that I would have to remove my cards. We discussed it on and off during the weekend (amiably) and I was assured that by the next show (next week) there would be defined rules.
The show prospective does not disallow repros. It says all work must be original of course and that only work juried in was to be exhibited. I have never juried in the cards before, just the basic stuff: Collage, books. When the organizer told me at the last show that they did not allow repros and I said that was not in the rules, she promised to check. I always read the rules. If it says no prints, I do not bring cards or prints. If it says they are allowed but limited, I follow the rule. If it is not clear, I call and check it out. I am not a renegade here! heh
At the last show, printers and calligraphers were allowed limited prints. I was allowed none.The calligrapher had a wall of cards. I just kept my mouth shut and hoped august would be better.
Today the chairman informed me that the board would not allow my cards because I photographed them and printed them myself so, therefore, they are photography and they do not allow photography (It is a fine craft show).
I am not a photographer. My images are scanned and, while I do tweak them in photoshop, to call this photography felt like a real reach. I am wondering if they are trying to find a way to limit my work while leaving the door open for the printers to bring in giclees or something?
I am wondering now if I dare bring my 5X7 prints or, God forbid, some 8X10's She only mentioned cards.
I have a week to figure this out and produce mew work like crazy.
Honest opinions welcome. If I am full of it, please tell me :)
Thanks
Replies
I agree with Connie about it being unfair and Chris is right, they can do what they want. I know the show and read the rules and they very vague. That means everything is subjective. I am so sure that next year ( not by the August show ) there will be the "defined rules."
I think the issue is not cards per se but the fact that they are repos even though they are you own work. It would seem that the show director did not feel the calligrapher's card were repos.
As far as prints, 8x10 or 5x7, if they are done the same as the cards you may run into the same issue, if they are "one offs" you are probably OK.
Good luck.
Thanks John. I may bring the prints and, if others have some, I will put them out and see what happens. The prints are a small part of my income, but every penny counts.
Update on the "card debacle" :) SO,the 2nd show at this venue comes and as I prepare under the new rules, I realized that I had become lazy about my work. With the cards bringing in an easy $1000 or more at this show, I had bulked up on them and eased up on my "real" work. SO, faced with the loss of that cushion, I had to reassess. Clarity is a funny thing. It can be painful and rewarding at the same time Here I was at a prestigious, profitable, beautiful show and I was skating. Decent money was almost guaranteed for me, so I didn't work as hard. As the 2nd show approached I made many more matted collage, constructed treasure boxes, displayed prints in 2 small, discreet bins (that I could restock during the weekend), made more 5X7 prints that could replace the cards (since many of my regulars frame them anyway and the card size was not an easy frame) and crossed my fingers. Several funny things happened. First, transitioning back to artist from production work reignited my creativity and reminded me what I loved about what I do. I love collage work. The freedom, the creativity, the permission to be free of rules. Joyful. I was able to make a good stockpile of originals. The 11 X 14's all sold. All but one of the 8X10's. We started doing "minis" a while back, matted 5X7 and they sold like crazy. They work up quickly..the actual work is really 3X5...and people just eat them up like candy. I got back to making hand bound journals. They had become boring to me after 15 years and the journal craze had, I thought, passed. But..hello! Needing to make more of them also amped up my creativity and I got new, funky papers and had a good selection to choose from and they flew off the rack. We were stunned. I made at least $1500 over my best show there. And it is already my best show by a mile. And that as without the cards, remember. The director of the show, a really special woman, stopped by several times to check in and see how it was going. I thanked her for the tough love and for setting me back on course. She was really pleased. This sudden rule change had been against her wishes and caused her a lot of stress over the 2 shows which wasn't fair since she hadn't been the reason. But now I get it. They want this show to have a certain "look" and 2 big honkin' card spinners weren't part of that. Plus, printers shouldn't have tougher rules than everyone else. So, anyway, I carried this new philosophy through the rest of the season, making sure I had a good selection of originals for people to choose from. Funny how that works, (Yeah, I know.) I did bring my cards to the rest of the shows, but just the best ones, and just one spinner. :) I am looking forward to the coming season to see how this will carry forward. I think we tend to get a tad complacent in this business once we have found our "niche" and figured out some sure income producers to bump up the bottom line. It is helpful to have a reminder every so often that the bottom line is number one for big business, but not necessarily for creative types. I have made it number 3. And happier and more profitable for it. Go figure!
I'm so happy that you made this work despite the rule changes!
The calligraphers cards are prints. Not sure how they produce them. She also called my cards "photocopies" which they are not. I print them on a high end Epson. There was a dust up last year when they decided to disallow printers. Then they decided to allow them back in with limited repros. I'm thinking the printers complained. I'm just going to suck it up. Although I do not think it is a rule fairly applied across the board. I love the show, the chairman, the venue. I still made decent money even after I pulled the cards but I know how much I'm losing and it hurts. I am not a rich artist :)
I think they want you to have your original work instead of copies.
Of course and I do have lots of original work. The only "copies" I have are the cards.
They make the rules. We either follow them no matter how silly, or we find another show. It's one of my facts of life in this business.
If the promoter decides to enforce the rules with you and relax the rules with another exhibitor, too bad, so sad. They can do whatever they want.
You have three choices here. 1- Complain and stomp your feet and say it's not fair, 2- Comply with their rules, 3- Find another show.
by the way...I have done this show for years with no problem regarding cards or prints. Just for clarification.