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This business keeps you humble.

Coming off two strong weekends in Rehoboth Beach, I was eagerly awaiting this past weekend's Seawall Art Show in Portsmouth, VA.  Rarely have I seen more positive "buzz" among artists for a show's pre-event communications, ease of setup and parking, and the immense respect artists are accorded during the event. 
And the weather forecast, viewed three days out, looked fantastic: clear skies, temps around 80.  I had every reason to think this would be a solid show, one that would help me gauge the suitability of the Tidewater area for my bird photography.

And the show delivered on all the aforementioned amenities, from being welcomed at check-in like I'd done the show for twenty years, to the high quality of art surrounding me on all sides, to the tasty artists' Saturday-night dinner under the oaks at the art league headquarters, and a solid awards program (up to $5,000 for best in show). Pro-active, helpful volunteers everywhere you turned. Friendly, accessible show director (Earlene Lampman, perhaps the friendliest, warmest person I've ever met on the circuit).  A pretty setting, right along Portsmouth's historic waterfront.  From that perspective, the show was a complete home run.

And then, there was the weather.

Hurricane Irene caused the show to be cancelled entirely in 2011 (and, in keeping with its reputation for treating artists well, the show refunded $100 of the booth fee). Nothing like that this year, but I couldn't help but wonder if TS Isaac, which was churning things up 1000 miles to the south, might have had something to do with the revised forecast, which began heading downhill on Thursday morning.  Each successive update pumped up the possibility of rain another notch.  By Friday night setup, the next-day forecast called for a 70% chance of rain Saturday, and 40% Sunday. 

Skies were only overcast during early Saturday morning prep, but minutes before the show opened the squalls started rolling in from the south.  Then, thunder.  As I was rolling up the front flap for the third time within 45 minutes, a volunteer came by to announce the entire area was under a tornado warning, and everyone should seek cover in the parking garage. 

Well, the twisters never materialized, but the roiling skies sure were a buzz-killer.  Hardly anyone came on Saturday, even though the clouds began clearing around 1:30 and the day ended in sunshine.  Shoshana Matthews (AFI member and Sunshine Artist reviewer)  told me early Sunday morning that the area surrounding the show had experienced even heavier rains and flooding than what we got, and people had difficulty getting out and around even after the storms had passed.

Sunday wasn't much better, unfortunately.  Although it only spritzed occasionally during show hours, there were again squally showers and occasional rumbles of thunder all around us, and the hoped-for Sunday buying crowd never materialized.  Those that came out weren't spending money, and not just with me.  The long-time veterans of the show (and there were many) with whom I spoke reported that sales were off two-thirds or more from their usual take. 

Because crowds were so sparse and the weather so rough, it's difficult for me to draw a conclusion about the show demographics.  Perhaps people would have bought more had they not had to carry artwork in the rain; perhaps not.  But if you strolled about the historic downtown area, it was hard to miss the number of shuttered businesses and restaurants.

I had two sales all weekend--one medium-sized canvas and an 11x14 print on Saturday; I zeroed on Sunday.  And
 as a final flip-o'-the-finger from the weather gods, a half-hour rainstorm rolled in as we all broke down (an hour early) around 4 PM, giving us all the immense pleasure of a wet load-out.  Yech.

The saving grace for the weekend was that I won the show's Morris Award for mastery of my medium and a  nice check during the Saturday-night awards dinner.  And, of course, forging a few new friendships among the artists and the local arts community--which, judging by the quality of work I saw during the weekend, is thriving if not exactly blessed by the weather gods.

I'll post the entire awards list when I get it.

Show link: www.seawallartshow.org