This is part II of my Gasparilla notes and I'm glad to say it seemed to go well. We were happy with our sales, the weather held up and the teardown, although a tough one, was not nearly as scary as last year's would have led us to fear. We were nervous about the rain predictions for Sunday, but the rain was over with before the show started and it turned out to be one of the most beautiful days we had seen at any Gasparilla (see last photo).
The crowds were very heavy (see next to last photo) but, alas, the buying wasn't quite up to the size of the crowd. Maybe next year. Again, we were not displeased with our sales.
There were some artists who were not having a good show, but a graphic artist had his best show in years. An encaustic artist was staring into space in stunned disbelief when I asked him about his sales. I asked him if it was going OK and he slowly nodded. I'm guessing he will be very happy when the shock wears off.
Teardown. Oh, boy. I think the staff did as good a job as anyone could have with the cards they were dealt. They brought in a batch of cars at a time and the vehicles that were lined up waiting their turn were in a good position for dollying. Many artists chose to dolly, period. We were among them. I saw many people pushing their dollies with an expression that said they were happy to have the option to get it done instead of having to wait their turn.
The staff and the police were courteous, helpful, and shared with the artists the common goal of getting everyone out of there as smoothly as possible. I heard very few complaints during teardown other than those associated with the problems of advanced age on the body.
Next year? I just hope we'll get in again. This year I was called in off the wait list and considered myself lucky. I've been doing the show on and off for years and our pattern is getting in four years in a row and then getting rejected four years in a row. Over and over.
John Corso, one of the directors, dropped by the tent and we had a nice talk. They are very interested in artist feedback so the comments on any report on this show will be read and given careful consideration. Let's hear from as many of this year's participants as care to comment. Pro or con.
Comments
Nice nighttime shot, Bill! I smell a jury image!
I pretty much agree with all that's been written about the show. Location-wise, being at the very start of the show had some problems. The wind tunnel effect on Thursday and Friday were quite bad. I also heard lots of folks saying how much they loved the work, '...but they just got there...'.
Sales-wise, Sat was ok, but Sun was much slower. Definitely a 'print' crowd, as I only sold 1 framed piece.
I must tip my hat to the lunches they provided. I also thank the folks that were there on Thursday trying to help me keep my tent from becoming air-bound. To the folks who brought the monster weights for me - 'thank you!'.