Hello friends,
Did you ever have one of those shows where you left with mixed feeling and wondering what happened?
Well, Seawall was like that for me. On the plus side, it wasn't a complete bust, but rather what could probably be described as "soft" sales.
I also got to meet Bill McLauchlan from AFI. Sorry Allison, I know you were there, but since I was by myself, just didn't get time to stop by to visit. Also spoke with Mr. Heinz from Oceanview.
The show setting is literally on the seawall in old downtown Portsmouth and a street leading off the seawall. The staff and volunteers were outstanding, the load in and load out were easy from my location, and the parking was very accessable.
So with all the good stuff going on, why mixed feeling? Well the aforementioned sales are a primary reason for concern. I had lots of lookers and lots of folks admiring my work, but my sales with one exception were of my lower priced items. (under $100). One of my neighbors was a metal worker who had lots of very nice metal wall hangings. He did sell a few of those, but mostly he spent his time putting hot dog holders together. He was selling them for $10 each and they were selling as fast as he could put them together. I did see folks carrying 2D art pieces, but didn't see a lot of 3D art leaving the show. Several of my neighbors also did not have good shows. I am sure there were some that had a good show, but I didn't nor did my neighbors.
I think the overall demographics of the area had something to do with the show. Many folks said that they would love to have a piece, but simply could not afford to spend the money. Also, the main tunnel from Norfolk was closed for the weekend, which may have cut the number of folks that came.
So, will I do this show again? I really don't know. However, I did learn some things this year and if I do the show again, I will do some things differently.
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