Blog

November 5 & 6

Winnsboro, Texas  

Saturday: 11 to 5
Sunday: 11 to 4  
Downtown in the Cultural Arts District
Sponsored by the Winnsboro Main Street Partnership
75 Juried Artists
Deadline:  August 1

In November, when it's cold in most of the country and the festival season is winding down, the Winnsboro Fine Art Market offers a great opportunity for Christmas art sales--a perfect way to conclude your art fair season.   

The second Winnsboro Fine Art Market will take place November 5^th and 6^th in historic downtown Winnsboro, Texas. Streets will be closed to traffic and transformed into an art buyer's Mecca. The first Art Market was so successful that every exhibiting artist expressed an interest in returning. 

The area surrounding the town's restored train depot will feature continuous musical entertainment, a wine garden and a wide variety of fine food.  Children's activities and demonstrations by participating artists will provide a great experience for everyone.

For those unfamiliar with Texas, the "Upper East Side" is heavily wooded with numerous lakes, making it a relaxing retreat for harried urbanites wanting a little slower pace and a lot friendlier atmosphere. Daytime temperatures in early November are in the 60's and 70's and the leaves are at their autumn best.  Winnsboro's small town charm and friendly people complete the atmosphere.  

A short drive from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, second homes dot the seven lakes within a 12 mile radius of Winnsboro and the City draws tourists to a variety of restaurants and live music venues. Winnsboro is a MainStreetCity and a Certified Retirement Community. While the country is experiencing a downturn in the economy, Texas is holding its own and people are still buying art.

The Winnsboro Fine Art Market will be strongly promoted in Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, Longview and surrounding cities and is expected to garner a substantial turnout of patrons wanting an enjoyable weekend in the country.

The weekend kicks off with a Patrons' Reception held on Friday evening featuring fine dining, wine and entertainment.

To make the weekend relaxing for exhibiting artists as well, event promoters have made arrangements with a nearby retreat for the use of their newest addition-a lodge overlooking the woods with private rooms and baths for $49 a night-the perfect chance to relax and mingle with other artists in the common area of the lodge. 

We hope you'll join us this fall for a profitable and enjoyable weekend in East Texas.  For more information please visit our website at www.winnsboroart.com or call 903-342-3438.

Hey Peeps!  Connie asked me to share a bit about a project she saw on my personal blog.  I got to do an artist-in-residence project this May.  So freaking cool.  I swear it was a blast every day.  You know you hear the sappy stuff people say about these things - stuff like how they get more out of it than the kids?  Well......true that!  It was really a rewarding thing.  This project had about a billion examples of why it is so important to support the arts in schools.  A LOT of these kids were special needs kids.  The vast majority of them were around 12 or 13.  They worked their tails off to get this accomplished and it was fabulous.  I highly recommend it if you ever get the opportunity to share your gifts with kids......or whoever.

Anyway, I did a short little video of the month that I was at this school https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf4DZJDAq6g  about 30 seconds in the music will start.  Ovuca -Awesome music and YES, I got permission from the artist to use his work legally.  All my videos have legal music.

The school set up a site to explain our intentions with the project.http://www.wrsd.org/district.cfm?subpage=1279031

I have a little wrap up about it in my blog too.  http://lindabillet.blogspot.com/2011/05/warrior-run.html

.....and if you're really into it, we made their local paper. http://dailyitem.com/danvillenews/x1759378153/Warrior-Run-students-create-mosaics

Hello everyone. 

I just wanted to encourage everyone to check out our Classified section here at AFI.  There is no limit to what you can sell here.  There are pro panels, and credit card machines, but there are some other very interesting things, too.  Did you know there is a cottage for sale right now?  That's right, a cottage on Indiana's Brown Lake about half way between Chicago and Detroit.  This cottage could make a great stopping off point for artists traveling back and forth to Art Shows. It could also be a great summer vacation get-a-way for your family.  We all need time to recuperate.

Did you know there is also a house and studio for sale in Minnesota?  Where can you sell a house or a cottage for only $25.  That is quite a bargin, too.  Both the price of the house and the cottage are negotiable.  Check it out, you may want to make an offer.

Once you post your ad, the ads stay on the site until they are sold.  There is no time limit!  How great is that?  All ads cost $25.  Plus, the beauty of listing things at AFI is that everybody here basically is in the same business as you are.  Everyone here needs almost the same things to conduct Art Fair business as you do.  You have the best chance of making a sale with your items than any where else.  Over 5,000 people may need what you have.

You can also post cars, vans, boats, and trucks for sale here, too.  You can include photos to help you sell your items, as well.  Photos can be a very valuable selling tool.  If you included a photo with an ad to sell a car in your locale newspaper it could very well end up costing more than $25.  Plus, with an ad in your local paper, the buying audience interested in your item may only be a handful of people.  Here at AFI, you are selling your items to an audience of over 5,000 people!  How great is that?

Do you need to swap houses for a month?  Do you need to find a nanny?  Do you have a boat or travel trailer to sell or trade?  Do you have tickets to a concert that you need to sell?  Do you have a cottage that you rent out by the week all summer long?  It is time to clean house and unload those unwanted items.

You can sell or find almost anything here.   All the information you will need to list your items is in the following link:

http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/categories/classifieds-1/listForCategory?categoryId=2160589%3ACategory%3A37834&page=2

Check the Classifieds out today.

Our plans were to head for Michigan on July 4th to see family and to do some summer shows in northern Mich.  About a week ago we stopped at a rescue shelter to take a look at 2 boxers that were listed on the Carolina Boxer Rescue as URGENT, meaning death was eminent.  We met the boxers, one male and one female and found them to be beautiful, friendly dogs, not deserving the fate that awaited them.  They were found as strays and had been in the shelter for 3 weeks, sharing the same cage and getting vertually no exercise.  Both were extremely under weight.  Well, we left the shelter with both dogs wagging their tails.

We planned on fostering the dogs through the Carolina Boxer Rescue and they were so happy that we took both dogs, they waived the house visit and other particulars.  They did want us to make an appointment with the vet to schedule vaccines, neutering, and spaying.  They would pay the vet bills since we were fostering.

The vet saw the male first and took care of his shots etc.  When she examined the female, she wanted to take x-rays of her stomach area,  as she seems bloated.  While the x-rays were being developed, she checked her out and guessed her to be between 1 & 2 years old.  The male was about 3 years old.  When the tech came in with the x-rays, we were congratulated on being new parents.  X-rays showed 7 puppies with skeletal formation of puppies around 50 days or more, gestation being around 60 days, she was due at any time from one or two day, to two weeks.  We were in shock.  We spent the last week making a whelping box and getting all the information we could get on having puppies.  We have had the boxers now for 9 days.  We named the male, Joe & the female, Jazzi.  They are great dogs.  We've had some housetraining issues, but they're getting better.   Unfortunately, they are both heartworm positive & they will start those treatments as spoo0n as we can.

I will miss not going to Michigan this summer, but after the puppies are adopted out, we'll see Michigan in all of its fall splendor !!

Waiting for the big day, will let you know how the puppy delivery went.

Shirley Baker

I'm getting ready to order Pro Panels for a new set-up and I'm stuck on the color. There are eight colors to choose from; oatmeal, buff, teak, pine needle, moonbeam, light gray, dark gray, and black. The most common color I see used is light gray. I've never seen the teak or pine needle used, but that may just be a local thing.

I've seen the black used with large abstract paintings and it looked great, but I think it would overpower my smaller frames. Is there a reason I see so much of the light gray? Do judges prefer it or does it wear better? I need some feedback from artists who love or hate the color Pro Panels they have. I don't want to make such a large investments and then find out later there is a reason the color I chose is uncommon.

Just had to pass on this article from my friend, Jack Stoddart's newsletter, Jammin' at Hippie Jack's.

We all know it takes many people to make a festival happen, not only the artists and the art fair organizers, but volunteers, electricians, carpenters, food vendors, cleaning crews, but have you ever stopped to thank the porta-pottie people? Here's Jack's story:

Message to the Hippie Jack Nation

It’s Friday on the farm, and the festival has been over for more than a week. I feel great about the music and all those who attended. We had the biggest crowd ever, and are certainly approaching being maxed out. We are a small town now, for those few days. More than one person said it, Barry Choate said it first to me. Sometimes things happen in small towns that make us sad. On Saturday, our friend Tommy Breeding drove his toilet pump truck away, slipped off the mountain and died. I hesitated to write this because the last thing I would want is for people to think that an effort was being made to capitalize on the emotions surrounding this tragedy. In the end, I had to write it...for myself and for all those who knew him or even watched him work. Tommy ran the best portable toilet business I have ever seen. I spent 35 years on the road doing street fairs and park shows, I have been in my share of angry, dirty temporary toilets. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, I have been in enough for you as well. If Tommy was less of a man, he wouldn’t have been pumping every few hours, Tommy owned the business, if he was less of a man he would have always sent others to do the hard part. He could have stayed home or sat in the shade, he could have been bitter and resentful, he was none of those things. He was a philosopher king with an abiding interest in everything from lady bugs to roots music. He was our friend and protector, I always felt safe when he was around. He brought the lights for the parking area as a gesture....he didn’t want anyone hurt. There must have been a dozen people who claimed to be the last to talk to him. He was so important to the Hippie Nation that everyone wanted to claim a piece of him. He was the talk of the town...and then he died. There will never be a note of music, or a laugh or a good conversation that won’t take place in his honor. There will never be a festival where we don’t miss him. Goodbye Tommy, I loved you, we loved you, and the people that never had the good fortune to meet you are diminished that they never will...just ask me anytime people, I’ll be glad to tell you all about it. - Hippie

This summer art fair season, local media in all the art fair towns are likely looking to interview artists like you. In fact, people who host radio shows, podcasts, and TV talk shows are always searching for guests to interview on their programs. They have to fill all those minutes on the air!

As an artist you have interesting expertise and stories just waiting to be tapped. In addition, I know many of you are experts in other areas as well.

If you are an expert artist who would like to be interviewed by the media RadioGuestList.com may be a good place for you to get some free publicity for yourself and your art.

RadioGuestList.com is the #1 free radio guest, podcast, and talk radio interview booking service online.

Its "Guest Request" emails are free and they'll arrive in your mailbox daily with interview guest requests from Radio Guest List's thousands of talk show hosts and producers who are looking for guests.

Why not subscribe now? Learn more and subscribe here: http://www.radioguestlist.com/radio-talk-show-guests.html

For any of you out there looking for a place to hang between shows in Northern Michigan, the lodge next to me is a great spot.  It's inexpensive, is good for working or playing and has lots of vacancies this summer.  Brethren Bungalows is in the small town of Brethren.  It is right next to my cabins.  Brethren is on the Manistee River which is an awesome fishing, tubing, canoeing river.  It is about 15 minutes from Manistee and Lake Michigan.  The lodge consists of 6 small 1-2 bedroom, clean and cozy cabins and a big house which rent for the day, week or month.  You can look at their website:  www.brethrenbungalows.com or call Patty at (231) 477-5588.  Tell her I sent you...

Good Luck out there!

Just got back from Chicago last night after doing thge above listed show.  Show is in downtown Arlington Heights on the two main cross streets.  Easy  set up and tear down.  Can drive right to your booth.  Set up is two flights, one for each side of the street.  Allows first flight to get in, unpack and park before the second flight.  Parking very close by. 

Weather was great both days, sunny and in the mid 70's.  Cool breeze most of the time.  Town folk really ome out to support the festival.  My sales were up almost 40% over last year.  Although heat may have been a factor last year.  In the 90's.  Saturday had difficulty closing booth as customers kept coming in.  Sold over $250 after 5:00 pm. Show folks and city workers were great.  Was tearing down and had a low blood sugar event.  Show folks, city workers and even a couple of patrons in the restraunt came out to help Carole finish the teardown and load out.  Amy Amdur wouldn't let me get up to help with the finish.  Said let let the others do it and made me sit.  Nice when the show director cares about her artists like that.  After a big glass of orange juice, I was OK but really tired.  It's really nice when strangers pitch in to help without being asked.

Gotta go.  Leave for the Berkshires tomorrow for the weekend show.  Way things are going, Won't have any inventory left.  Got to complain about something.  Here's hoping the weather is good wherever tou may be traveling this weekend.  Be safe and good luck to you.

Ed Schmidt

Wooden Toys 

Who would ever have thought that with thirty years of promoting fine art and crafts shows, we would have a new weather experience: - nickel sized hail and over three inches of rain in less than two hours. Rain and wind, yes, many times, but a deluge that just didn’t move away - not when we were on site for set up. 



There we were at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield/Montclair, New Jersey. It was Friday afternoon with 90 out of 145 exhibitors checked in and set up.

By 3:30, as exhibitors arrived, we warned them of unstable weather in the area. The sun was still shining but there was constant thunder. Pretty spooky actually.

It was 4 pm when we ran for the truck when the lightening, thunder and wind kicked up; and saw on the radar that there was a large intense area of storms heading our way. We moved the truck behind the booth to help protect our Show Off canopy from the winds, but as we watched, one of the bars on the top moved and a dip in the roof occurred. A pool of water was created that kept growing and growing.



Howard braved the storm with an umbrella, hoping to push the pooling water over the side but it was too heavy. Ever the boy scout, he took out his knife and cringed as he cut a three inch slit in the roof, near a seam, to allow the water to drain. It was that or lose the legs of the canopy which were bowing inward.



Finally, some time after 6 pm, we were able to start inspecting the show site for damage. For the first time, I truly understood the term “flash flood” as we viewed one exhibitors booth isolated like an island in the middle of a lake with water rushing across the path creating another lake opposite the stranded booth. 

We spent the next two hours assessing the damage and were pleasantly surprised that by the time we got back to the first booths we checked, the water levels had receded remarkably and knew that by morning, all the booths would be fine.



We called the "island in the lake" exhibitor to tell her to be there early and that we would have employees on hand to help move her canopy and display. By morning though, all was fine except for a water line 12” up on the stranded exhibitor’s display cloths. Her new badge of survival from Friday’s deluge.



Mulch (thirty bags worth and three employees later) took care of tidying up the show site by the 10 am opening. We knew just how fortunate we were that Brookdale park drains amazingly quickly and well.



Two exhibitors lost their E-Z Up canopies due to the weight of the water on the roof. One important trick that many but not all E-Z up owners know about it using pool “noodles” or hula hoops in the corners of the canopy to create a more rounded roof thus fending off the water pooling that bends the frame. Fortunately, neither exhibitor had their work in the booth and the displays were unharmed. They were both appreciative of our 8 pm phone calls advising them of the damage so they could make arrangements to get alternate canopies for the morning.



The sun was out all weekend, with a warm and humid day on Saturday and a less humid day on Sunday. The crowds came in force and started to build by 10:30 on Saturday morning. 

Throughout the show, we kept reminding each other just how lucky we all were that the “deluge” came late Friday and not over the weekend.

http://www.monroefineartfair.com 

No, it's not "Day Monay" or even Greenville. But it is a pleasant local show in a beautiful botanical park in Toledo, Ohio. The show runs Friday from 6-9PM, Saturday from 10-7PM, and Sunday from 10-4PM. The early breakdown means everybody is out of there before sunset, and you can set up on Thursday or Friday, any time. It's a relaxed setup and a laid back show. I've done it a few times, because it's close to home for me (about 100 miles door to door), and we've got friends to stay with in Toledo.

Jim & Denise Ardis

Annette Poitau (painting, on right) with a customer

Got there around 1PM on Friday afternoon, and pulled into the park no problem. The layout is confusing, windy and booths are basically spread out all over the park. Winding paths, trees and sidewalks intersect at crazy angles, and even the show-supplied map isn't much help if you haven't done the show before. Every year the show organizers try to simplify it, but every year it still confuses everyone. My booth was moved about four feet this, but I was still neighbors with metal artist Jim Ardis and his wife Denise. Across the way, Antoni Kozlowski, a jeweler friend from Michigan, was setting up. Steve Palmer, glass, was just on the corner. There were a couple of new faces on the row. The Kuntz kids were in their usual spot towards the entrance. David Haun was there, minus Travis Lindenbaum (best wishes to Travis and Tom -- that's Travis's story to tell.)

"Handsome Phil" makes lovely bird habitats and custom tiles

Many regulars, and a few new faces, particularly some photographers I hadn't met before (Craig Brabson, Jay Canterbury). Elaine Lanoue and Giteau were there from Houston, both showing paintings. Kevin Liang was also there, although I didn't get a chance to say hi. Holly Olinger was on the other side of the park, and I finally got a chance to see Holly's metal media, and talked with her about trailers. 

Ok enough of the social stuff. As Nels says, here's da meat:

The layout really could be simplified. There were holes and inexplicable paths. Even the judges had problems finding everybody's booth. My spot at the back of the show gets traffic, but not as much as the front end of the show near the food in the parking lot. Patrons wander the show, eyes on the map, trying to figure out where they are, and if they've been there before. 

Steve Palmer, trying to figure out why the show painted green arrows on the lawn

The weather was great. No rain, no heat, not much humidity. Usually it's either rainy, or humid, or both. Rain can really hurt the show. This year, there were lots of people on Saturday until about 4;30-5. It really tapers off after five. Sunday, the crowds start coming around 11, and go until about 3. The Friday night VIP preview starts at 6, and goes until 10. They ask the artists to stick until 9, and then they can go eat awesome hors d'ouevres in the VIP tent, and pay cash for cocktails, like the VIPS. A few people wander around the show, but not many. Mostly the artists stand around twiddling their thumbs and talking to each other. The show used to provide electricity in some areas, but didn't offer it this year. Some artists use their generators, and others are able to codge some power from on-site outlets. Others are dark caves of despair. The organizers could throw a great party off-site, and let the artists set up Friday night, and everybody would be happier. But I did make a couple of sales on Friday night, as did a couple others. Some artists had some decent sales -- this is unusual for VIP night, so it started the show on a positive note. 

Jim Parker gets a blue ribbon for his awesome photography (if I do say so myself)

Jim Ardis gets crowned by Denise

Steve Palmer is surprised to win a third place ribbon (the first place always goes to a local favorite)

Saturday, the crowds came, and I made a couple of good sales, enough to make a little money and pay some bills. The judges came around and oohed and ahhed. They managed to find everyone's booth by 7PM, and the award team came by after the show closed, handing out ribbons. I got a first in category; Steve Palmer got a third place for glass, Antoni Kozlowski got a third in jewelry (but they couldn't find him until Sunday, and he had to pack up and leave Saturday night because of a raging flu), Jim Ardis took second in mixed media and a painter next to Steve won a blue as well. The hats and hooters were flying. They bring out the crown on a stick and take your picture. It's positively uplifting and it is fun!

Sunday, another nice day, and a few more sales. But that blue ribbon didn't add up to a wowser day for me. By 3 it was clearly over, as traffic slowed to a trickle. Artists started to line up at the artist parking lot on the south side of the park at about 3:15, waiting to bring in the vans at 4. It took a while for everybody to get into the site, and some of the artists were grumpy about that. While the show is relaxed about a lot of things, they micromanage the load-out, much to the chagrin of some. It took us 3 hours to get packed up and loaded out. We were on the road after stopping at our hosts' house for a late burger and a beer.

They had these big entrance to the show that you drove under.

This guy was on his unicycle going around asking who ordered a "Tall Latte."  it got old after a while.

Ellen with her "Cows on Acid."  She sold enough to have a good show.

They had a sculpture garden between the two parallel streets.  I liked this shot at twilight on Saturday nite.  Notice the lack of big crowds in the street.  This was around 9:15 PM.

Every artist's dream--their own cooler of Texas Titos Vodka, this was right beside me.

Well, Ellen and I made our first trip there for the show, we both got in.  It is a nine-hour trip from Saugatuck, we broke it up and left late Wednesday and stayed in Davenport, Iowa for the night, a river town on the mighty Mississippi.  Found a great restaurant--the Duck City Bistro, see my Tequila Report.

It is a three-day show with setup on Thursday.  Only 190 exhibitors, and supposed to have crowds over 200,000.  A recipe for moola if there ever was one.

First off, BS, no crowds of that number showed up this past weekend.

All 190 artists were looking strong, didn't see any blatent buysell.

This is conservative country, they buy real safe, tried and true, stuff here.  I took a chance with my tropical stuff here, they loved Ellen's cows, but only a few bought them.

Bottom line, this is a worthwhile show to try for.  You gotta show up to see what you will do.  For me, it was not as good as Artisphere(Greenville, SC, see my May blog) but I still made serious moola for the three days.  Ellen basically made all her money on Friday, she sat without a single sale for 10 hours on Saturday--what a drag!

So there, I have given you some meaningful meat.  read on if you want to learn more, enjoy the ride.

We arrived at the show around noon on Thursday, you have an all-day to set up.  Show hours are 11 AM-10 PM on Friday, 10 AM-10PM on Sat., and 10AM-5PM on Sunday.  I guess they don't want artists to have fun and go out and eat dinners at night because their show hours suck!  Sorry, Stephen King, the show director, you run a great show, but your hours are totally clueless.  There is no REASON to be there that late--what are you thinking!

When we got there an artist who was next to Ellen but two booths away from me(Clue, Ellen and I were side by side) was already there with his van and cargo trailer, he ended up keeping the whole rig there for five hours.  My neighbor, also decided to keep his rig there for about four hours.  We finally got them both to move a little further apart.  We then parked our vans at 45-degrees in front of our spots.  Don't ya just love neighbors like that.  Hint, they were both seasoned artists and should have known better, but basically, it was all about them.

We got setup with lots of weights.  You are pretty much on concrete, no room for dog-stakes and tie-downs.  I had 90-pounds of John Deere weights on each front corner.  We each bought four cinder blocks in Davenport and anchored our rears of booth with them.  Where we were located, was storm-central last year when a lot of booths took a big hit from winds.  Happy to report nobody took bad wind damage this year.

Here is some info about the show layout, wish the rest of you when you blog could be little more instructive about how a show is laid out.

Basically, the bulk of booths are on two streets parallel  to each other, Grand and Locust, I believe.  Then at the western end of the show (the two streets are running east to west) are a line of booths perpendicular to these streets. (Gee, I hope you guys passed high school geometry) These are booths for corporate interests.  At the eastern edge of the show on another perpendicular street are about 15 artist booths, they get half the crowd because everybody skips that street and crosses over the park to the other streets.   You don't want to be on that row, it sucks.  Stephen, put the corporate people there and the artists at the western most edge.  That way everybody has an equal chance to make money. 

Breathe easier now Stephen, because I an now done saying anything negative about your show.  From here on, it is all pluses.  It is a very well-run show.

All booths have ample room for storage behind.  There is room on most artists sides to hang art.

They have wonderful boothsitters.  They put water coolers behind booths so we can fill up bottles.  They have a great artist party.  They communicate well, you get booklet with a gazillion pages of info, from how to find a food store, to who has the best martinis in town.

They are very mindful of the weather and give lots of warnings and preparative-ness to help us.

They have an artist lodging program, which we took advantage of, where Des Moines people put up artists in their homes for free.  And we are talking about staying in really classy houses, with lots of art on the walls and ample wine cellars.

Teardown is organized and fair.  We got out in an hour and fifteen minutes on Sunday.  Lou Zale was packed and gone in 30 minutes--that guy is the King of Art Show Getaways.

So there, Stephen, I said a lot of good things, hopefully I will get a fair shot at jurying next year.  You sound like a fair person.

Thursday after setup, Ellen and I were able to meet up with Munks and Madonna, his beautiful and soulful wife, for dinner.  He took us to the Flying Mango Cafe.  It serves awesome Cajan and barbeque.  Had the best smoked brisket with a sweet potato pancake I had ever eaten.  Had my first mouthfuls of Templeton Rye Whiskey that can only be gotten in Iowa.  If you are lucky to find any.  Munks was doing the other show at the fairgrounds.  I think he will do a report on it.

We got to stay at the home of Dean and Diane Peyton.  They are recently retired, and are both living the good life.  They not only put up Ellen and I, but also another couple.  We all had our own bedrooms upstairs with our own bathrooms.  House came equipped with Henry the Golden Lab and Jack the Cat.  Dean had great wine to share with us.  Diane cut up fresh fruit every morn along with tasty coffee.  I must admit I was a bad influence on Dean and maybe led him down a bad path.  We both drank lots of Jack Daniels, Templeton and lots of wine.  Sunday nite, after the show, Ellen and I treated them to dinner and wine, they loved it.  We all had the times of our lives.  The artists sharing homes plan is a great bonus of this show.  Frankly, it made our weekend.

A little about Des Moines.

You think Iowa.  You think flat lands, corn fields going on forever.  Well, that is true.  But Des Moines is a lovely treed city with curving hills and beautiful architecture.  They have several colleges, a lot of great restaurants, and some of the nicest people you could ever meet.

The other two nites, after we finished at 10 PM we ate at Red China Bistro.  This is a sauve place with a fusion menu of Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisine with a little Vietnamese thrown in.  Plus a full liquor bar and acoustic live music.  It was also a deal to eat at.  We ate good and light given the time of night.

OK, back to the show.  Friday we had the prettiest weather of all three days.  Beautiful blue skies with wonderful clouds.  Weather in the low 70s with gentle breezes.  Small crowds during the day, but they surged in the evening.  Many artists did $3-4K that day.

Then the show warned us that we might get really bad weather early on Saturday--like at 5 AM.  Think nasty storms and evil winds.  Everybody took proper percautions.  I nailed down all my booth legs plus had all the weights.

Well, Sat. arrived with no bad storms at 5 AM.  But then it proceeded to rain all the way to about 1 PM.  It was crowd-killer.  They never really came out.  Sales were still made, but it was pretty lightweight day compared to what it was supposed to be. One photographer, who had his booth destroyed at Columbus, was sitting on nearly five figures by day's end.

Sunday, we awoke to clouds and chilling temps.  Crowds were a mix of Friday and Saturday.  Friday brought out the older corporate crowd with money.  Saturday it was lots of young kids, some had money, some just were hanging out.  Sunday was mixture.

I made the bulk of my Sunday sales between 1-3 PM, then it was La-La-Ville after that.

Overall, you can't knock this show.  It might be in a lot of people's top ten.  You gotta try it for yourself.

Well, Aloha.  Gonna try and reboot my flagging golf game, and then on Thursday it is off to Boston Mills for Ellen and I.  Hope to meet up with Jim Wilbat, Bob and Patti Stern and of course Leo Charrette and lovely wife Carol.  We will all have a hell of a great time, and hopefully make some serious moola.