Well, we got hit bad on Sunday, pretty well tanked any sales because of the all day down pour.
Things were not nearly as good as past years here..
Let me explain.
This is a solid show. Local committee runs it. Everybody gets to park behind their booths among gorgeous old oak trees. The locals are well off. Very conservative, but they do have disposable income.
Most years I can do a minemum of $4k or better at this show. Have done it since the early 90's.
This year Ellen was in, I was on the waitlist, resigned to doing Apollo Beach, near Tampa, but nowhere in the class of this show--think cow-pies in the middle of a big grassy cowfield.
Anyways, you setup on Thursday and the show is the next three days, they come and they buy, everybody goes home happy.
Ellen and her neighbor Dianne both notice there is an open space between them on Friday. Ellen speaks up for her man--and whadda ya know, I am in the show. I was on the waitlist. It is just, after a certain amount of time the committee doesn't call anybody on the waitlist. Well, I drove over Friday night. Hit torrential rain, which closed the show down at 4 pm on Friday.
Murphy's Law. As you know if you have ever driven route 60 east out of Tampa, there is one lonely, deadly area of that road, thirty miles long, that is head-on traffic. Everywhere else it is two-laned. Murphy's Law. I was going east, no bad weather, and when I hit that stretch, all of a sudden the rain was so bad I could not see four feet in front of me. Lucky me, got to drive in it for 35 miles--what a character builder that is. The Boy Scouts could give a merit badge for it.
Made it in, joined up with Ellen, in marital bliss, and we had a great evening.
Next morn, I set up early and was ready at 9 AM when show opened.
Ellen had a killer Friday as did others, there was buying energy and big crowds.
Saturday there where big crowds, but sales sucked, mostly lowend. Usually I can do an easy $2K-plus on any Saturday at Vero, this year I had to settle for $1400 and part of that was a $600 sale. Sales around us were the same way, mostly lowend and not much big framed pieces going out the door.
BTW. The show puts on a great Artist dinner and awards on Friday night, nobody complained, all were well-fed.
The best part of the day was ahead of us. A lot of lucky artists got invited to a killer party at the house of Alan Teger and Barbara Krupp. They put out a spread to die for.
And again, for the second year in a row, I got to practice an Andy Shea move, which involves as you walk out of the party to go, you slowly walk backwards and wave to everybody, and , at least he and I think, everybody else thinks we are walking in. That Andy, he is always coming up with clever killer ideas for parties.
We then got sushi at the that great little Siam Thai Orchid restaurant.
Sunday we awoke, full of Sake hang-over. And the skies were ugly. They proceeded to get worse.
Had a good breakfeast, read the NY Times and arrived at the show just in time for the first of many rain showers, they just kept coming.
Bottom line, it rained all fricking day. Some booths, you could swim laps in. We dammed ours, but who was gonna come in. I made $100 for the day which barely covered the price of my fish sandwich at the local restaurant.
We all tore down, very wet, and headed home.
It was not a good year at Vero. But there are many, still to come.
Comments
Ah, the photography as original art debate again. It does get old. Yes of course there can be multiple originals of the same image. Photographers have made (and sold) more than one print of the same image since photography was invented. There was never any debate or controversy over this until the advent of the digital image for editing and printing instead of a physical negative. The argument, I suppose, is that it is too easy to crank out multiple prints of an image using a computer and printer and so shouldn’t be promoted and sold as “original” art.
There is some truth to this for those who use the factory labs (like Costco) to crank out their prints. (As a photographer I see way too many technically mediocre photographs at shows these days. For me, the dividing line in this argument is the use of the factory lab vs control of the exact look of final print by the photographer - either by the photographer making his own prints or directly supervising a custom lab. As long as the photographer keeps total control of the print, it is no different from an artistic standpoint then prints made using a negative in a wet darkroom and is within the photographic tradition of making “multiple originals” because each print is individually custom printed.
Sorry to hear it was a wash out on Sunday Nels, I'm amazed you sold anything that day!
Remember this, Virginia:
1. All art debates are made from the perspective of whatever is best for the person doing the arguing. There's never any considered thought about the position taken by your debate opponent.
2. In an art debate, nobody will ever really change anyone's else's mind. Ever. Our minds are already made up. Period.
3. Any idiot like me easily can argue process; creative content actually is far more important.
3. Just for sport, take some contrarian position on a site like this. It's like sticking a broom handle into a hornet nest and quickly wiggling the broom around in figure eights. Enjoy!
I'm glad I got rejected and stayed at home. The last 3 shows I've done have been rained out on Sundays lol
To Dennis, So sad that that you think that way, as Original pieces of art will always be held in high esteem. Why do you think museums pay such hefty prices for original art. I don't know of anytime that a Museum purchased an image that was reproduced in the hundreds.
I am not begrudging anyone from making a living in what they do. Heck. if I could come up with a widgit that I could mass produce and sell, I'd be a happy camper. I just think there needs to be clarity as to what is an original or not.
No Amen, From me. Multiple originals, What is that? Sounds like to me that those two words are a contradiction. It is either an original or not, changing the size of the same image does not make it an original.
By Definition an original is :productive of new things or new ideas ;inventive - Being the source from which a copy, reproduction,or translation is made.
Enough said!!
Amen!
The photographer that one first place for water color did try to return the award and remedy the situation
Well, Now all you photographers know what it is like for all of the rest of us 2-d people (painters). I for one create all original pastel paintings and was not allowed a repro ie: Giclee either. But my point is, you all have 20 bins with all your different sizes of photo prints in them for sale. When we watercolorists, oil painters and pastel painters can't possible do that. I create new work so that my skill level is always improving. I create new pieces for the challenge and for the joy of my craft. When I look at many a photographers booths it is the same old same old. If it sells, we'll just print it over and over again.
For those who are ignorant, to the watercolor medium--YES there is such thing as a watercolor canvas.
You photographers sure do wine a lot!!! I take great pride in the fact that my customer, buyer, truly owns an original piece of art not one that has been cloned many times over and you know, they are very appreciative of that fact. Their purchase will last well beyond many generations and is an investment.
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