This was my second time at Las Olas. I did the October Las Olas last October. I only made almost 2x expenses at that one, but it was before many snowbirds were down. This was my third HA show. Despite the early same-day setup, I like his shows so far. No frills, but they bring in the people.
Weather was the big concern for the weekend. There were chances of off-shore rain on Saturday and the cold front on Sunday. We received rain both days in the mid-afternoon. At a small show, this would killed the show, but not this one. I actually made over half of my sales while it was raining or sprinkling. I am an abstract digital artist. If I can get people to actually stop and find out what it is, then I have a much better chance to make a sell. When the rains hit, people would duck in for cover and then start looking around to see what was on the walls. I made sales to every third person during that time because they actually took the time to understand my art. This was great, especially after I discovered that my booth was located were water pooled across 2/3rds the front of my booth. After the rains hit on Saturday, my booth was flooded for the rest of the time. The artist beside me had his electrical cord running to his generator across the street right through part of the pool, so some people were very reluctant to step anywhere near the 2-4" deep pool. At least we were on the street and not in mud.
Despite the rain and pool, I made almost twice as much as the October show. I tried a new technique a fellow artist recommended to me a couple weeks ago. I visualized what I wanted to make at the show to be happy. I visualized already having it in my pocket. At closing time I was with in $300 of my goal. Twenty minutes into breakdown, a gentleman came in my booth and wanted a $300 piece. He had walked by our booth earlier in the day, but just did not notice my work until breakdown. I guess my visualization worked after all. I made as much here as I did last year at Gasparilla, which had been my best show to date at that time.
Load out went well since the rain had passed. My tent is wet, but my work and me remained dry during teardown.
I only heard from one artist that said they did poorly. Most said they did average or great. Definitely one to consider again.
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