Blog

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.

Artists,

This year, for the 6^th Annual Coconut Point Art Festival that will be held on February 11^th & 12^th, 2012, we would like to give you the opportunity to be rewarded for coming out to participate with us! At this year's event, Howard Alan Events will draw 40 of its participating artists at random to receive $100 each in gas card prize money!

Don't Delay! Only artists who apply at least 3 months prior to the show and put down a $50 minimum deposit will be eligible.

We look forward to sharing the success of the 6^th Annual Coconut Point Art Festival with you and rewarding you for your continued support!

Applications are now available on Zapplication.org or our website, www.ArtFestival.com. 

400 Cypress Dr., Suite 1

Tequesta, FL 33469

(p): 561-746-6615

(f): 561-746-6528

www.ArtFestival.com

***CONTEST EXCLUSIONS***: To be eligible to receive gas card winnings artists must have applied for the show at least 3 months prior to the show date with a minimum $50 deposit down as well as be present at the show on February 11^th & 12^th, 2012.

It's the night before Framer Dude and I leave for our trip north to Michigan and New England, and I'm staring at the last few essential items sitting on my living room table that I never pack until we're locking the door on the way out: laptop, show book, wallet, sunglasses.  I'm still wondering if I am forgetting anything essential. Tent? Check. Inventory? Check.  Mailing list? PDAnet? Check, check.

I'm still waitlisted at Krasl.  I'm thinking this is a total crapshoot going all the way to Michigan for basically one show, Muskegon, but that's the life I chose.  I spent five months honing a schedule so we weren't driving back and forth up the East Coast, but still were good show choices.  I went out on a limb on Craigslist and got lodging at total strangers' homes for the RV.  I'll let you know how that turns out.  This is very different from the 3 month Expo show, where we set up a home base for 3 months.  I've got 12 shows in 12 weeks, and I'm responsible for Framer Dude's well being, in a sense, because this is my dream, and he's been integral in my pursuit of it.  So I hope I've planned well enough, and it's not so grueling that he flies back to Florida in the middle of it, because I don't even know the ins and outs of  the RV like he does.  I believe what I need to do, at this very moment, is crack that beer in the fridge, watch the last Bones I recorded on DVR (since we won't have a real TV for the next 3 months) and consult my magic 8-ball.

Magic 8 ball, will I make money?

Ask again later.

Magic 8 ball, am I crazy?

Possibly.

Magic 8 ball, should I go back to a 9-to-5 job?

HELL NO!!!

As artists, my wife and I are always on the lookout to use a good idea for our art business.  So when we decided that we wanted an aisle sign (a very, very good idea), we started checking the search engines for a bracket that would attach to our tent.  It had to be removable; light weight; and strong.  After several days, we realized there were no ready made sign brackets suitable for art show tents.
 
Until now.
 
Being in the exotic wood box and exotic wood jewelry business, we were familiar with wood.  After a few  designs, we finally came up with a perfect way to hang a sign at ninety degrees from a pole.  Whether it’s a round pole or a square pole, our bracket “hangs tight”   And… it comes down in seconds when you need to put up the overnight sidewalls.
 
Exhibitors might not realize how many times customers “never saw them” while walking down the aisle.   And for the customers who say “I’ll be back.”, an aisle sign is indispensable.  It leads them back to your tent in a very simple, easy-to-see way.  We sell our bracket with a limited one-year warranty made in our shop in Brooksville, Florida.  Come take a look at www.ShowBrackets.com  Thanks! 

Michael and Diane Johnson

Welcome to our newest advertiser -- www.ShowBrackets.com! See their ad at www.ArtFairCalendar.com and www.CallsforArtists.com.

Just wanted to share this, its from my last showin my home town.

This show was great I got lots of good feed back, a was also interviewed by the local Rosarito channel 69, I was so nervous and have yet to see the video, but just the action that they like what I do and  wanted to interview me <3..... AWESOME!!  
 

 Erika Glaubitz

Took a leap of Faith, and have been applying to shows. I was accepted in to the ARTaffair show in Belleville, Mi. Curious if anyone else will be there?

~Crystal

October 1 & 2
Rhinebeck, New York
Dutchess County Fairgrounds
150 exhibitors
Deadline:  July 15

For nearly 35 years hundreds of creative artisans have traveled across America to participate in the renowned Crafts at Rhinebeck, the finest showcase for American crafts on the East Coast.

This is the fall Crafts at Rhinebeck, held on the fairgrounds outside of picturesque Rhinebeck, NY. The fall show has more of the flavor of a family festival. While many of the same artists participate as in the June show, with a petting zoo, hay rides, and plenty of pumpkins, the fall show is produced with the family in mind. Both shows are juried and attract some of the finest artists from around the world.

Here is your second chance to be part of a fine craft show at this legendary location. Fall brings "leaf peepers" to the region and day trippers heading out from nearby New York City, insuring you a sophisticated audience for your work.

                  For more information and to apply:  www.craftsatrhinebeck.com

                         *********************

Looking for more art fairs for your 2011 art fair season?
                   Click here:  www.callsforartists.com

I have only good things to say about this show, easy set up, beautiful sunny weekend, great neighbors, perfect organization, good parking spot, great sales, happy patrons enjoying art, lots of buyers, couple custom orders paid in full and positive energy.

I had great sales both days probably Saturday better than Sunday but lots if people asking questions, asking for custom pieces, giving me their info and asking me to contact them, I had to let a guy go because I was busy ringing up a sale but he left me his card and wrote his e mail address on my client list. I sell original paintings, no reproductions and that kept me busy all day. 

Amy was on top of everything, supervising that everything was great, visiting booths several times a day, asking if everything was all right. Her employees very friendly and helpful, they even helped me to set my booth on Friday night because I had a late start setting up. There was two sep up times, and the first flight didn't move on time so it slowed down the second flight causing a little traffic but nothing bad, it was manageable.

I walked the show really quick Sunday morning. I really loved most of the work. Great amazing talented artists :)

I didn't have time to check it out with more detail, but we didn't have time, everybody was busy :)

Hope everybody had a great show, at least all my neighbors did, and everybody left with a big smile and great vibes. 

Got to go to paint! Very low in inventory, yay!!

PS Great laughs with Geri, such a fun lady with great points of view. She already has her review from the patron side. Damn, she's fast!

This used to be in the top 3 of my personal favorite festivals.  In the last couple of years, it hasn't had the same consistent level of  top-notch artists as in the past.  The artists they do have, for the most part are very good but there aren't that many WOWs anymore.  I did see the same buy/sell guys as last year and there may have been a couple of others.

An interesting thing that they did was have an area that had several booths where the proceeds from the sales went to various charitable organizations.  At first I thought they were buy/sell but they weren't.  With so many organizations needing help, this was a good way to do it.  The items were not so costly as to interfere with the other artist's businesses. 

Patti and Bob Stern can tell you about all the artist stuff and hopefully they had fantastic sales.  

I won't cross this off the list but I hope it starts to trend the other way, these last few years have been disappointing.

You will hear a lot about this festival because there were quite a few afi-ers there and   I got to meet several of them.

This show was laid out on two streets that intersected.  Three out of the 4 blocks  had very good artists and the last one did not have the same overall quality as the others.  One of the artists I spoke with was not completely happy about the quality of the show and I think that is why.  There was a lot of jewelry and a lot of 2d art.  There was a minimal amount of glass and pottery so I was a little disappointed.  

The AFI-ers that I met and/or spoke with  are all amazingly talented.  Their work is wonderful.  I didn't get to talk to everyone because some had booths that were full of buyers (hopefully) when we walked by and I didn't get a chance to do a second circuit of the show.  Hopefully Carla Banks and Anita Peters got a chance to meet as they both live in the same town.  I will soon be wearing a pair of custom made earrings from Diana Ferguson who is going to be combining her wonderful style with my love of blue and green.  (and my cousin can't wait for her fuschia and purple ones.  The same cousin who scooped up a gorgeous pair of earrings from Anita)

I am still trying to understand how a candlemaker got into this festival and there were a couple of other booths with work that wasn't what I would  consider Amdur standards but the art festival world is changing.  Regardless, you still walk away from one of Amy's shows relatively satisfied.