This is the blog I posted this morning. It is directly related to a specific art fair but it's not the first time I've come home empty handed. In this day and age and economy, perhaps more of us are dealing with this than not....
I recently returned from an art festival in Louisville where I have previously shown with success. Not so this year. Not one sale. Zip. Zero. Nada. I left the show thinking “I could have had so much more fun with the $600 I just spent to be here!” The experience left me pondering. If I look to financial success to define the weekend it will always and forever be an abysmal failure. However (you knew that was coming)…
If I look to the results of the show I will be left with a different view point. The results: a decision to pursue different types of shows and festivals, a confidence to know it wasn’t about the quality of the art I create, a confirmation to be intentional with my pursuit of honing my craft and developing my personal style, a sensitivity to the art festival market, a beginning of a 5-10 year plan that might take my art out of the outdoor festival model.
Armed with a different perspective, Louisville will never be a failure. It will be a turning point. The ah-ha weekend. The starting line of the next leg of this adventure I call life. ” Failure” is only the end of the line if I allow it to be. I vote for allowing it to be a catalyst to a creative problem solving process that will move me forward in my journey. Not the end, but the beginning of the next step. Who knows where that step will lead. The possibilities are endless. I’m all in.