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  Ruth Finkenbiner October 24, 2011 at 11:12am

  Connie - glad to hear we have some more reviews for the West Coast.  I just looked at WA/OR/CA and didn't see any new reviews. Is there a way to search on the shows Robbie added?
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  Connie Mettler October 24, 2011 at 10:39am

  Many thanks, Sharrey, for posting this question. Gary is right -- if everyone just looks for the information and then doesn't add their own experiences, this section of AFI won't grow. We do need reports from the West and welcome them all. Also, it was interesting to read his analysis that perhaps one of the reasons why there is so much discussion on the site about Midwest shows and Florida is because the art fairs are more popular destinations in those areas. Lots of artists live in these areas and know one another and are ready to report. Robbie Curnow recently added a bunch of shows on the West Coast to www.ArtShowReviews.com. Wherever you want to report is fine with me. But I'd think also, it is fun to meet fellow artists at the shows and this site will help you find "friends".
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  Ruth Finkenbiner October 22, 2011 at 1:27pm

  Colleen - thanks for the info.  Steve was looking for information regarding the Aratwalk in Little Italy and while I had talked to artists who have participated in shows in No CA, none of them had made it as far south as San Diego.  Just curious since you are in So Cal, have you ever participated in the Beverly Hills shows?  I think there are 2 of them, Art in the Garden or something like that, one fall, one spring show. 
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  Ruth Finkenbiner October 21, 2011 at 11:21am

  Hmm, not sure I'd want to do Big Fork if you really have to set up and tear down each day, it takes us 2 hours to set up, 1.5 to tear down so that's a lot of work. 

  We've had a really strange year with shows, there were a couple of repeat shows like the Spring Best of the NW and Allied where we had great shows, way up from last year.   And of course due to our awful rainy summer this year, shows like Gig Harbor that are usually among our best got rained out and we sold less than 1/2 of what we normally sell. 

  Steph you might want to try Allied Arts instead of Bellevue.  Here's my rationale, Bellevue has 3 shows the same weekend, approximately 600 booths.  How many of those are glass?  One of our jewelry friends counted the jewelers among the 3 shows that she walked this year, officially there were 150 or so jewelers that juried into that categroy, but well over 200 booths had jewelry.  Not sure if these numbers are totally correct, again, this was the report from a friend of ours who walked all 3 shows.  We've done well at Allied Arts the past 2 years, it's the same weekend as the Belleuve shows, but it's only a Friday / Saturday show, we take Sunday off to ride our bikes and have some fun, even maybe visiting a winery or two.

  I've used the Art Shows reviews site to review all of our shows this year, or at least most of them.  I might have missed a spring show since I didn't discover this site until this spring. I've also added some show reviews either as blog posts or in the Forum posts.  I would love to see more reviews for shows in this region.
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  Steph Mader October 21, 2011 at 3:05am

  Thanks for the shout out, Ruth. I will have done twelve shows this year, all in Washington. I did hear that you have to set up and take down each day at Big Fork, so depending on how much work that is, that could be a deal-breaker. It seems like all the shows have been down this year, so it's getting hard to know what to do about next season. I've had two slow shows in a row at Bellevue Festival. This sucks, because the people who put it on are great, and do lots of good things for artists & charity. It just might not be a good fit for me. It can be a good show, or even a great show, for some. I think it's hard in this economy to tell what the heck is going on.

   

  I have had some good tips from other artists this year. I'm happy to share them. Sharrey, whatcha makin'?
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  Gary Haynes October 20, 2011 at 11:48am

  The answer to this is to write a review :).  I have seen postings on Colorado, Utah and California shows over the past couple of years.  I think some of the difference is the sheer volume of shows from Kansas east.  Florida alone probably has as many shows as Colorado to the west coast combined.
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  Ruth Finkenbiner October 20, 2011 at 12:19am

  Steve - saw an artist last weekend at an OR show who said the Balloon festival was way down this year and has been a declining show for 4 years in a row.  That made us decide the drive or NM is not worth the risk.
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  steve appel October 20, 2011 at 12:01am

  I like this site but have found it to be very lopsided in reviews.  I did make a comment about that in a recent post and got one reply from someone who lives in the NW.  Well i live in AZ and do some AZ shows.

  I have also traveled to CO, UT, and NM.. and years ago did a show in KS   WA. is too far for me to travel too, but i plan on going to  Calif. next year.   Did a show in La Jolla,  not sure it was worth a long drive.   I did ok not great, but if i do not get into UT next year will try La Jolla again.   My family lives around there so it is a two fold trip.  Some Co shows I heard are good especially the mt. shows.  UT.  the only shows that are decent are park city ( hard to get into)  and setup on a hill (Yuk) and Ut. arts festival ( hotter than hell) and also hard to get into.   AZ shows the only one i do is tempe.    NM Shows vary depending where you go.   Balloon i heard is good if you could get into.   I know over a dozen people who were rejected this past year.  Santa Fe used to be good shows but they have gone down hill.  Well that is my two cents from someone who lives in the southwest.   PS.   heard shows in No. Calif bay area were not good this year.
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  Ruth Finkenbiner October 19, 2011 at 10:10pm

  Hi Sharrey,  I would love to hear about the shows you've done.  We participate in about 20 shows a year in WA/ID/OR, I've written reviews for many of them this year if you want to check out my blog posts.  Steph Mader has also written a couple of reviews and provided comments.  If you search on Washington, Idaho and Oregon you'll probably find some of my posts.  Next year we're venturing outside of the NW for the first time.  How is the show in Bigfork?  I've not heard much about that and know a couple of artists from Montana who skip that show.  Will you be at the Fall Best of the NW this year?  If so, stop by and say hi, Steph Mader will also be there.