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I'm a digital artist and the work I create is an odd size. Pictures are either horizontally formatted or vertically formatted, but they are all around twice as wide as the are tall, or twice as tall as they are wide. So, when I size them down to 1920 pixels on the longest size, there is lots of black space. I'm considering showing cropped sections of these paintings for Zapp for my applications. I can crop some of them so they look pretty good in a square format. But when a juror looks at the booth shot, they will see the actual pictures in the booth, not the cropped ones I use for the jury. The cropped pictures will definitely have more impact, but is it kosher to show cropped images? Anybody out there have an opinion on this?   

Does anyone have feedback, pro or con, on Howard Alan Shows? I'm trying to figure out what to expect and if I should look for alternatives. I create original copper overlay and etched art glass, and most of my work is in the $150 to $1000 range.

I'm looking to escape Michigan's winter for a month or so in Florida and have applied and been accepted into the 10th Annual Coconut Point (Bonita Springs) Feb 20,21; Stuart 26th Annual Downtown Festival of the Arts, Feb 27,28; and West Palm Beach 6th Annual CityPlace March 5,6. What are your thoughts on these or other Howard Alan shows? What FL shows do you recommend? Thanks!

 I got an e-mail from an artist that had their computer hijacked Wednesday by installing an Adobe Flash update that turned out to be a virus. There was a segment on the Today show about it this morning and they recommend paying the money to get your files back. All the files on the computer are encrypted and the hijackers want $500 within 96 hours to get everything back. 

She can't afford $500.

I've been working with her for over ten years and can provide a complete backup of her artwork images. But between her and her husband, they've lost all their financial data and her husband's complete business files.

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

There has been a bit of negativity on the sight lately and I totally understand...a few bad shows in a row will rock you, make you wonder if it's all worth it and make you question your sanity-Ha! I find that most of the time when that happens I just wait it out and pack up and head out to the next show. It sort of becomes an addiction I think....If I'm home for a while I get antsy and crave a road trip...but give me a few shows that suck and I just want to hunker down with a good book and get off the grid for a while. 

This post is about something that happened to me a while back that I just want to share, maybe it will help your outlook, maybe it won't, but it recently made me realize why I love doing shows so much and why I keep doing them. Believe me I am no big moneymaker. 

Three years ago I was exhibiting at Coconut Grove. I had a pretty good show and on the last day an artist came up to me and said she liked my work, we talked for a while and she said she was exhibiting in a different area and I loved the work on her card, so I said yes. She said to come down and trade and then she would come back and get the piece she was eyeing. I said, just take it now, I trust you. I wrapped it and gave it to her. I was by myself with limited help and I put her card in my pocket. Later when I had a bit of a slag, I pulled it out and by mistake I think I pulled out another card from someone else or else I lost her card.. Long story short...I could never find this artist and I just chalked the loss up to my stupidity and guilelessness of handing over my work to someone I didn't really know.

There have been many posts about scams on here and I have often thought about writing about this one but I never did. I somehow felt that if someone did this then I deserve it and also I thought that my usually good instincts just didn't follow the path I thought that day.

Fast forward to Kentuck this year, which by the way,  I reviewed last year, and is one of my favorite shows for a myriad of reasons.Great people, nice atmosphere, great combination of folk and contemporary art. A great director and support system running the show...and besides all that....I won a Merit Award...what more could you ask for.

Sunday morning as usual, I go to get some coffee from the artist's tent and when I come back there is a note on my display table. It says " I owe you a two hundred dollar painting" .Well, for the life of me I couldn't figure what this was about. When I got a break I went to the number on the piece of paper. I recognized the work right away.  Leslie Peeples is a wonderful printmaker and she explained that she owed me a piece from Coconut Grove and wondered why I never came to get the one she owed me. She had hoped that we would meet up on the road but this was the first time she had seen my name at a show she had been at. I was blown away....totally blown. I had put this to bed long ago thinking it was my mistake and karma had turned it full circle and made it right.

And the piece of art...oh my god, it was like she did a piece of art that was completely directed at me...it was a intaglio that said " I was blessed by cranes. I dreamed I had to train my replacement when I lost my job as an art teacher and decided to become an artist. They asked me to dance and we danced and I knew everything would be ok." There was a bit more to it than that... but that was my life on a piece of art. That happened to me five years ago....you know the drill...bring in a recent college grad, befriend and train her for a few years, she wants your job....you're out -she's in (at a lower salary). You get the gist. And sometimes believe it or not, in hindsight-it's the best thing that has ever happened to you... but during the upheaval you are broken for a while. This piece of art will be precious to me forever. 

Anyway....I guess I just wanted to say thank you to the universe and to Leslie who was and is a kindred soul and Kentuck and to Connie and the AFi community and this life blood lovely site.  I hope this makes you smile and makes  you believe that everything works out in the end as it should. I hope this isn't too convoluted or weird...it's a bit personal and this is not what this site is for... but I hope it's ok to post and that you too will realize that magic in life still and always will happen. 

Hey kids,

The last show I did was an inaugural show. Duh. Kick myself. I stood in freezing weather, and rain - in a location that was frequented by no one, sold not a thing... like most of the people around me. Booth fee, hotel, meals, gas...had to be $1K for zip.

I could bitch and moan about this business, but I signed up for it.

I have always wanted to control my career, and as we all know, we can't count on festivals to make a living...although many of you do, and I applaud you and admire you a LOT for figuring out how.

I am going to take the money I have left and open a bricks and mortar gallery/workshop/open studio space in a small town down the road. I'd rather be mad at myself if things don't go well than blame a promoter, blame the weather, blame the customers, or get mad at the next dog to pee on my work.

I'd rather control what I show, who sees it and how I market it. It's possible I've lost my mind, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

One thing I am good at is marketing and PR... I know how to talk on TV... I can manage my own web site, and for once, I feel like I can control my destiny... creating a space that [I hope] people will want to visit - and potentially buy some art. I am going to CURATE my own shows, and my own life.

I'm also over 60, and want to use the energy I have to create something I've always wanted...

For now, I'm going to keep the pro-panels, and find a place in the garage for the tent...just in case.

Good luck, everyone -- you are the real road warriors, these days!

We are nearing the end of our 6th Annual Pledge Drive. We held the drawing for the top ten winners on Friday, 5/29.

If your name is listed below you'll be hearing from us. Go to the pledge page, look over the options and send me your top two to three choices. We'll fulfill the win in the order your name was drawn.

In the order that their names are listed they can choose a prize from the listing on this page:

http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

Some of our sponsors:

 

       

             

Here we go again! ArtFairCalendar.com and ArtFairInsiders.com's shameless promotion asking for your help in keeping these useful sites alive and well. From May 17-June 1 we are asking for donations to our 6th Annual Pledge Drive. 

We give  you helpful information all year, we bring buyers to the art fairs and we help improve the nation's art fairs.

Did you like any of the podcasts, the videos, the friends you met here and then later at a show, the useful tips on tents, shows, security, earning a living, etc.? Sure hope so! If you did and you donate a little $$ you'll be entered in our prize drawings also. You win and we win!

Look at these prizes:

• Make your own art display & folding sales desk plans from Ernie Kleven
• $40 gift certificate from Canvas Giclee Printing
• Art from Fran Debra Placky, John Leben, Matt Pecson, Rani Primmer, Nica Bell, this limited edition poster from Mark Loeb and the Palmer Park Art Fair & more
• an e-course from Artsy Shark; 2 website reviews from Scott Fox
  
• booth spaces -- nearly coast to coast from some of your favorite show organizers
• space in a pop up shop in Chicago and art lessons near San Francisco
  

 & 30 more ... goods and services specifically helpful to your art career

Click here to learn more

The winners of the 11th Annual Artisphere event held in Greenville, S.C., presented by T.D.Bank and featuring G.E.'s Artist Row were announced recently with $15,000 in awards going to artists.

There were 121 artists represented from all across the country and these are the winners:

G.E. Artist, Best of Show: Robert Farrell (metalworks)

2nd Place: Danielle & Christopher Merzatta (jewelry/precious)

3rd Place: Patricia Kessler (painting/watercolor)

4 Honorable Merit Awards: Richard Wilson (drawing/pastels), Chris Coffey (photography), Hallie Gillett (painting/watercolor) and Tara Locklear (jewelry/semi precious).

The Hainsworth Sinkler Boyd Mayor's Choice Award winner's are: Erin & Jason Hall (ceramics) and the new Cherry Bekaert People's Choice Award, determined by festival patrons is Sarah Mandell (jewelry/ semi precious)

For more information about the artists, visit www.artisphere.us

I just heard about Norm Darwish passing on to that great, eternal art show in the sky.

He was Connie's husband.  They were notables on the art circuit during the "Golden Age of Art Festivals."

I thought I would raise a great glass to him and write some kind remembrances.

I know a lot of you are relatively new to our game.  I can't blame you because you don't know about some of the "notables" on the circuit back in the late 70's, thru the glorious 80's and even into the ending 90's.

So I thought I would give ya a little history lesson with some fond memories thrown in about them.

And Norm, and Connie, were solidly in that mix.

In 1978, I was just a brash new face on the circuit.  Fresh back from Hawaii, where I was in the Army and also started doing my first art shows there.

So, from my naive perspective, I thought if you could smoke good Hawaiian pakalolo all day (Mary Jane), suck down Olympia beers and make $300 a day at a show--you were a hot shit.

So I came back to Florida and started doing my 36-shows-a-year thing.  Basically, I was grinding it out, barely making a paycheck, and trying to get something cohesive going in my body of work.

In 1983, I got into my first big art show--Winter Park.  It was a whole other world I had never been a part of.

I remember walking down the sidewalk and going by the fried dough booth.  At 11 AM they already had dollar bills stacked sky-high in their booth.

A little further down I ran into this booth filled with hand-tinted black and white photos.  Some were comical, some were almost obscene, some were very romantic.  They were all entrancing.

There was this cohesive vision of soft, luminous light permeating through every figure in every image.  It was a world I had never seen before.

And sitting on a chair was this enigmatic person with piercing silver eyes and he was wearing a headband, not like a hippie, but more like some mystical creature from the far east.

It was Norm Darwish.

Beside him was this bab-a-licious, comely blonde, his wife, Connie Mettler.

Right away I thought, "Lucky guy.  Some day I want to grow up just like him and have a beauty like that beside me."

Norm did not suffer fools well.  Maybe a better way of putting it, is that if he wasn't really interested in talking to you, he would ignore you.  He would be almost pretending that he was deaf.

And that is how he reacted to me the first time I met him.

Hell, maybe it was because I was wearing hot pink Converse sneakers and wearing an Aloha shirt filled with pink flamingos. Maybe my eyes looked a little too happy, maybe stoned, and I had this big shit-eating grin on my face.

I was smitten--with his work.

I said to myself, "Now that is a cohesive body of work--and so is his wife."

I walked on and saw some of the other biggies of that era at this show.  There were the Brunos, whose son Chris is now a biggie on the circuit.  There were Jim and Robin Wallace, there was Bill Coleman and trusty sidekick, Carl.  There was Emerson with his radiant smile.  There was Alan Klug.

These guys all got into the big shows on a regular basis.  They made mucho moola.  It was the Golden Age of Art Shows and if you had a cohesive body of work and got into the big shows--you made serious money.

Back then, the Florida shows dominated the scene for top ten shows.  You had the Grove, you had Las Olas Museum show, you had Winter Park, even Gasparilla.

You could catch a good buzz off the residue from hundred dollar bills back the.  It was the Miami Vice era, and the vice was everywhere.

So, I first saw Norm there.

As years progressed, I would run into him three to fours times a year.  Sometimes we were both grinding it out, trying to make a paycheck at the second tier shows.

I never was able to have long conversation with him.  He would look right through me with those intense Lebanese eyes and say a few words and then be gone.  He never smiled at me.

But I loved his work.  he had a great command of symmetry and light with just the right colors thrown in.  He was a maverick, like me, he went his own way and found a way to make it successful.

One of the funniest things I ever got to do to Norm happened at the Crosby Gardens show in Toledo.

At that time I was doing a  humorous body of work that include penguins and flamingos.

I had bought four life-sized plastic penguins at Fast Buck Freddies in Key West.  I even gave them names.  Glen, Ben, Swen and Ed.  I also had my flock of plastic flamingos.

So at the show, while Norm was off somewhere from his booth, I set up the penguins and flamingos all around the front of his booth, and took and old "Best of Show" ribbon I had  and put it on the front of his booth.

When he came back to his booth and saw all this, he did not even crack a smile.  He clearly was not amused by it.  I loved it of course and laughed my ass off.

After that, he talked even less to me.  If I got five words out of him, instead of ten, I was doing good.

I kept admiring him through the rest of years and got to be good friends with Connie.

So I am raising a toast to him now.  There are not many more left on the circuit from that Golden era, but they should be remembered.  They paved the way for a lot of the success that this  business has provided.

Aloha, Norm.

Just off the phone with Connie. Norm Darwish passed away last night from his third occurrence of prostate cancer. He was first diagnosed 20 years ago and twice over that time it had gone into remission.

Connie's address if you want to send a card:

Connie Mettler
298 West Chicago St.
Coldwater, MI 49036

Norm was one of the top photographers on the art show circuit, specializing in hand painted black and white photography. You can see his work on the web site: http://normdarwish.com

I've also attached a few pictures of Norm that I've taken. The first is Norm and Connie with fellow photographer Chris Maher in Chris' booth and the second is Norm working on his original hand colored photos behind his booth at the Cain Park Art Festival.

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

I told myself that will keep this year my post low and keep a low profile. I like to meet the people that are part of the group but at the same time I created problems for myself.

Last October was my worst month as income goes. As eternal hopeful I am I was hoping the One of A Kind Show and Chicago will save me has it has done in the past but it was not the case. I got some orders for the Holidays and that help but my moral was low.

To make things worst, I also only got into only three shows for the winter. The choice was simple: gamble my savings for the winter or stay put and using my savings to hold on until the shows start again, I am assuming I will get into shows. I find myself wondering what I will do for the next four or five months. I realize, I wont be able to work in new images until the month of March. My lady friend asking what you would for the next months.

I find myself in a cage. I decide to ask if my old job need help for the holidays and winter. I manage to get 20 hours in there. I am surely found myself doubting my choice of living the company but surely enough I found out that I did the correct choice for myself.

I Also found myself doing a recommendation of my lady friend I sign up for Postmates (an app for people with a money or no time to get stuff for themselves). Postmates turn to be a great choice since as time when I start bring in at least 500 a week per 20 to 25 hours of work. The best part I sign when I want and keep busy enough that make my time away from lady friend pass faster. At this point I will doing it with the shows.

Artists may think that I could support of myself with my art or was not good enough to get into shows but there is no really reason why some have great success and other don’t. Even worst how thing in art show change from day to day and weekend to weekend. The weekend before Cottonwood, I was part of Amdur productions boot camp. It was great experience since I basically confirm base what she was talking I already doing everything she recommends to do.

I head early to Dallas to spend some days with lady friend before the show. My first show of the year (2015) was Cottonwood. While I find myself meeting people, I was concern of people knowing about my post specially when promoters I told me that I do not speak highly of some the shows, I had been black listed.

I think the best part of the show was spending time with James Parker, Karen, Anita, Stephen, Mark and Wendy. I think they all have a great show. I have a bad Saturday and good solid Sunday but not enough to make up for the bad Saturday. I should walk out of there sad but I walk feeling very relax and happy. I really can not tell you why but I just saw the show as work time and nothing else. The dinner time with my friends and the days before with my lady friend make me appreciated my life.

During the show I was looking how the new people react to the my first two 30X45 frame to 36X51 and introducing the 18X24. Both was successful and the only thing was I could not sale one of the large pieces. I also figure out what speed I need to drive with the trailer attach to match ratio of fill up the gas tank when I was not using the trailer. So overall you may not see reviews about the shows from me anymore but more about the experience of doing the show because lets face it when I am at the show I going to the mobil show to work. Plus there are thing that people tell you that I am doing because it is good advice and for that I am grateful.

Please vote today for the Best Posts on AFI in March and choose a member to receive the Red Dot on their photo.

1. John Leben - 3/4/2015 "Lake Wales: 3rd of 5 Florida Art Fairs for this Midwest Artist"
2. S. Brian Berken - 3/11/2015 "The Way It Were"
3. Sandy Walker 3/18/2015 "What's This Jury Panel all About?"
4. Barrie Lynn Bryant - 3/30/2015 "Review: Fairhope Arts & Crafts...& Pussy Willow!"

And then give a big thanks to one of these people who have also been generous with their help this month:

1. Camryn Forrest
2. Cindy Welch
3. Tina Towell
4. Roxanne Coffelt
5. Barbara Bloom

Deadline: March 15 6 pm ET

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

How to take better pictures with your iphone

I just completed an article about how to get better quality photographs from your iphone. It's a good follow up to my article on how to set your camera to photograph art.

Did you know that there's an app that allows saving as a TIF, offers exposure compensation and exposure bracketing.

http://bermangraphics.com/blog/iphone-camera-photography-tips/

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100

  I went to the Broad Ripple Art Fair Open Jury in Indianapolis in February. I got to be a "fly on the wall," watching five judges as they decided the fate of 539 artists that had applied for the show.

   Because I am a jewelry artist who participates in juried art shows, and because the jury process has always been dark and mysterious to me, I decided to attend. It was a show to which I had applied, located an hour from my home, and an invitation had been emailed to all applicants.

     When I got there they were finishing up in the photography category. It was in a conference room with a large screen in the front, where the digital images were projected. The five judges sat at two long tables in the front row. Each judge had a laptop in front of them, seeing the same images that were being projected on the large screen. As they viewed the images - all three plus a booth image, the narrator read out loud the artist statement. There is very little interaction between the judges. The images would be up for about 30-40 seconds, the judges would mark their scores, and go on to the next artist.

   I found it fascinating to see the artist entries for photography. They ran the gamut from traditional to contemporary and realism to abstract. Seeing exactly what the judges saw, and in the short time given for each entry, I started to gain an appreciation for the challenge of judging an art show.

    It's all subjective, after all.

     After photography there was a break for lunch and then the jewelry category began. The host briefly showed images from each entry in the category. Then he went back through them, giving 30-40 seconds per artist, while the narrator read the artist statement. Since jewelry is my category, I was especially attentive to the images presented, the booth image, and what the artist said about his or her work. With 128 entries, the highest number of any category, it can all start looking the same after a while.

      "We should score down every time the term 'unique' or 'one of a kind' is used!" one of the judges jokingly said during a break.

Interested in the exact statistics from one of the highest rated art fairs in the country? Then you'll enjoy this detailed report from the Saint Louis Art Fair:

2014 Saint Louis Art Fair Rundown

We are great at squirrling away some of the profits of the booming sales leading to Christmas, however it seems like some of the down months (January, February, March) when there is little of any art events going on, and our income drops sharply is just when all of the big applications are due.  We had thought we planned sufficiently for those costs, as well as operating expenses but this year we have underplanned, and find ourselves scrapping together funds to apply for shows.

1. How do you handle the cost of jury / booth fees for upcoming shows?  

2. How do you carry yourself through those dry months?

We have been working at this for 5 years, and are still surprised by unexpected expenses, and a budget that runs super lean. I value all of your input. 

I just got my annual rejection from Cherry Creek and it got me thinking.  There is a problem in our business that effects many artists like me.

The last time I did Cherry Creek was 1992 (its second year).   I was 11 years into my art fair career and still showing tried and true photography,  That year I showed an ironic new image, that combined with a provocative title, caused people to see themselves in a whole new way.  My sales went up dramatically and I had my best show to that date at Cherry Creek.  

After that, I began to look for more image/title combinations and soon ironic turned to comic.  I became successful beyond my wildest dreams topping out a few years ago at Main Street; Fort Worth with a $21,000 show.  People come in my booth and chuckle constantly, then, before leaving, they say, "I love your sense of humor".

Well, 34 years into my career, my body of work has progressed to the point where what I do is very popular with patrons of art shows, but because of the restrictions of 10 second viewing by jurors I can't include my titles and even if I could they wouldn't have time to "get the joke".  A glance won't do it!  So, of late I'm getting more rejections because I'm jurying with my new work assuming shows want variety and diversity.  Wrong!  It seems to me, that shows want the same-old-same-old work every year.

The problem with the whole system, is that the entire jury process is disconnected from the buying of art.  Shows choose their jurors from the same pool every year.  The jurors are all from the pool of people who are "suppose" to know art.  NOT people who consume art.  So, the same artists (many great ones) populate the best shows year after year.  However, the public is denied the experience of seeing a greater variety of artists (many great ones).  

We all know the serious type of people shows recruit to their juries (e.g. Museum directors, gallery owners, artists and academicians).  I don't believe they take humor seriously!  

If you have four eye-popping images that take no thought to process you're in.  It's the same with judges at shows, they glance at a wall of work but consume none of it.

I know the people of Denver would love my work, but they will probably never get the chance to see it. 

An artist friend of mine thinks the best shows are commission shows, because the public votes with its dollars and the top sellers are invited back.

Something to think about.

December 12, 2014  20/20 is doing their show on "Closing the Sale."  I have been looking for some info on what exactly they will be covering and I can't find anything.  I did see the brief promo for it last week at the end of their show - you know when you are trying to catch the Christmas tree before it falls over and you aren't completely listening to the TV. 

I do know it is on closing the sale but I don't know if it is about helping the customer to not be talked into making an unwanted purchase or if it is about good tips for the seller when making a sale.  Anyway, I think you may want to watch.  No matter which direction the show goes in you should learn something from it.

The show is on at 10 pm on ABC Eastern Standard time.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/

Greg Strachov: Picture Imperfect (8275 views, 12 pages of comment)

Stealing Intellectual property at art fairs by photographing artists work

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/intellectual-property-theft-at-the-art-fairs

Jennifer Ivory: Bayou City, I May Have Excommunicated Myself from the Bayou City Shows, but I go Knowing I Tried to help (2396 views)

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/i-may-have-excommunicated-myself-from-the-bayou-city-shows-but-i

Paul Flack: Are the Big Shows Toast?

A trend that I have been noticing is that the "model" for the big shows (by that I mean the 300+ artists shows) overall is down and heading further down....

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/are-the-big-shows-toast

Geoff Coe: Got Show Help Here?: Pay it Forward

Geoff's helpful information on sharing and posting on AFI, making it easy for you to share and help each other ...

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/got-show-help-here-pay-it-forward

Carol Knox: Mock Jury (1997 views), 5 pages of comments

A veteran artist attends a Mock Jury and learns -- a LOT, and reports her findings here:

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/mock-jury

Karen Cooper: Art or Product?  (1086 views, 3 pages of comments)

What are we doing here? are we making art or products? Solid discussion of the facets of both

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/art-or-product

Karen Holtkamp: Rejected and Told Why-Sort Of (2395 views)

Artist requests jury info and gets solid help from the show director

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2160589%3ABlogPost%3A471945&commentId=2160589%3AComment%3A472664&xg_source=activity

Mark Loeb: Licensed Work?  (2561 views, 6 pages of comments)

A show director tackles whether or not licensed work belongs in his shows ... and the controversy begins

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2160589%3ABlogPost%3A481179&commentId=2160589%3AComment%3A483133&xg_source=activity

Margaret Luttrell: New Lighting...What's Hot, What's Not

Ok, So I have been using the same lighting for the last four years and it's ok as standards go except that the...

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/new-lighting-what-s-hot-what-s-not?id=2160589%3ABlogPost%3A464493&page=2#comments

Brian Berkun: A Good Read...For Beginners and Others Alike

I've been doing shows for a good number of years but it never hurts to get a reality check once-in-a-while and make sure the rudder is heading in the right direction. I saw a reference to a new book called Death To the Starving Artist by Nikolas Allen and feeling as though I were a starving artist after the shows in 2013 ...

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/a-good-read-for-beginners-and-others-alike

Barrie Lynn Bryant: Important Hotel Security Info

Useful tips for staying safe when you are on the road

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/important-hotel-security-info-1?xg_source=activity

Susan Parry: Caught a "Cat Burglar" in the Act and Need Your Opinion (1445 views)

When one artist steals another's ideas and work and presents it as their own

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/caught-a-cat-burglar-in-the-act-and-need-your-opinion

Choosing the Right Wholesale Crafts Market - An Opinion

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/choosing-the-right-wholesale-crafts-market-an-opinion

Promoting Your Work, Part I - The Business Card (4353 views)

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/promoting-your-work-part-i-the-business-card

Oscar Matos Linares: What it Means to be a Hispanic Artist

Oscar's poignant post brought out a flood of helpful commentary

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/what-it-means-to-be-a-hispanic-artist-in-united-states-of-america

Larry Berman: Booth Picture Tips (2128 views)

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2160589%3ABlogPost%3A515999&commentId=2160589%3AComment%3A517101&xg_source=activity

Ellen Ruckstahl: Are there any Compassionate Art Show Promoters out there?

A discussion not only of the promoters but the ins and outs of selling paintings

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/are-there-any-compassionate-art-show-promoters-out-there?xg_source=activity

Some of the fun: 

Barry Bernstein: Back to College, Parts I, II & III

A great read from a veteran of the art fair wars. What really happens when reality and dreams of being an artist collide in the classroom.

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/barry-goes-back-to-college-life-in-the-twilight-zone-part-1

Greg Little: Do I Really Need to Join Facebook?

This is a good place to learn about Greg's being bi-sack-ual and more!

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/do-i-really-need-to-join-facebook

Lynda Wallis: The Horror! (2015 views)

A funny photo brings a flood of views ...

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/the-horror

My personal favorite from Nels Johnson. Nels reminds us why we are addicted to the art fair life: 

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/artigras-some-new-and-old-thoughts-for-2014

For even more good reading, while you are at this link click on "View Blog" under the title of that post.