All Posts (7588)
Sort by
But how many of us make that a plan of action?
Are you, as an artist, focusing all of your attention on one stream of revenue? Maybe you only sell paintings at one gallery (or from your website or Etsy), or are you all art fairs?
It’s time to step out of your comfort zone and step into the world of a booming art career.
Come watch and listen as Ariane Goodwin, host of the smARTist Telesummit, joins me on this open telecall to talk about new ways to help you diversify how, and where, you sell your art so you can flourish.
Sign up for the live event on November 30 at 7pm Eastern (4pm Pacific) by clicking here: http://smartist.com/live-telesummit/2011-2/connie-ariane/
See you there!
Connie
I did Paradise City Marlborough show for the first time, and it was good. It is expensive show, but it paid off for me. First thing: it is very intelligent show, and I like it. Also it is very comfortable show, and "soft animal of my body" likes this comfort very much. Also I like how it is organized, and quality of craft (it was mostly craft show) is very high: the jury has very good taste and knowledge. Show was in Royal Plaza Trade Center. Space is very good: big, warm, light. Nice gallery-holidaylike atmosphere, good food in cafe, great security. Set-up/tear down was ok, we dollied from/to building (it is 1st floor) to parking lot. All artists were very polite and friendly. Sales were good for me. I sold large framed pieces mostly, and very small amount of unframed small etchings from bin. At other shows it goes in opposite direction usually. Maybe I was just lucky this first time. I want to return to check it out. I know how 3 other artists did. Beautiful and expensive fiber wearable did ok. High end jewelry did expenses + a little bit more. Great photographer was not happy, and does not want to return.
Holly Allen Mull, 64: Holly Mull of Atlanta, the eldest daughter of a Michigan mayor, served as an assistant and director of festivals and special events for four Atlanta mayors. Mull died from complications of a massive stroke at Emory Hospital.
Read the news obituary.
Read the news obituary.
http://www.atlantaintownpaper.com/2010/11/remembering-holly-mull/
With the right tools, the right information, and the right attitude you can turn your passion for art into a thriving income.
Join me and Ariane Goodwin, host of the smARTist Telesummit, on an open call, this November 30 at 7pm Eastern (4pm Pacific). And we’ll make sure you can start laying down the foundation for your Bridge de Triumph.
Ariane has been helping artists turn art into money for nearly a decade. And after four years of organizing and hosting the only annual, professional conference for visual artists, she has gathered top information from 49 leading authorities and successful artists who have given keynote presentations at smARTist.
You can sign up right here > http://smartist.com/live-telesummit/2011-2/
...and then, get your questions ready.
See you there!
Connie
Just completed the 9th annual Winter Garden Fl art fest. Because it was downtown, there was no Fri set up. But set up went relatively well Sat am. Able to drop off your stuff, then park only a block away. Tear down was similarly easy. Weather was pretty good although it was overcast Sunday and we had a couple short, very light, sprinkles. Crowds were a little light both days although Sat was busier by far. This was a small show, only 20 - 30 artists (if that), but good ones. The rest of the booths, located on the next block down, were vendors, food, and re-sellers. It was good that the artists were segregated in the same area.
Nice setting all in all. very pleasant old down town area. Lots of good retaurants, cafe's etc. Public bathrooms easily available in the Edgewater Hotel, near the booths.
The show was run by the downtown merchants guild. Sherry DeWeese, deserves special mention. She seemed to be the main organizer/manager, and she was all over it. Came by the booth several times. Very attentive, friendly and helpful. Sherry mentioned that although this was the 9th annual, that this is only the 2nd year that they've been running the show in house. Reading between the lines, my guess is that prior years were run by a commercial organizer and they were not happy with the end result. I got the impression that the merchant's guild were in a building process, not only for the art show but for the entire down town venue. So, although the crowds were a bit light and the show small, I think the show will only get better next year.
We hit our financial goal, thanks, in part, to a $250 award check (pleasant surprise & blessing), but would still have been happy even wiithout it. It wasn't our best show, but even with the light crowds, we did well enough. I'm planning to go next year.
This was our second year doing this small show (it's third year in existence) and we were overall pleased with results.
This is an indoor show held in the small but lovely Garfield Park Arts Center. The organizer is very accommodating and goes out of her way to communicate all aspects of the show - from advertising/publicity to food arrangements. Organizer also arranges to have a few musical/dance groups perform periodically which enlivens the crowd.
The unjuried show is supposed to be a fine arts show and for the most part succeeds very well - the calibre of art being fairly consistent and not "craftsy" in nature.
Load in is very easy - you're able to drive right up to doors that open into the main vending rooms. You can load in late Friday afternoon prior to the Saturday/Sunday show dates as well as Saturday morning. I like to take over my display fixtures and set up Friday and then bring in my art Saturday morning to finalize the set up. Total set up time alotted between 2 days is 6 hours - which is more than enough.
For a small fee - food is provided for both days (breakfast, lunch and snacks). Beverages are provided to all artists at no cost.
Cost for booth is nominal ($75 for a double booth - which is well worth it space wise).
As to traffic - about 1,000 attendees over the 2 day event. Not a large crowd overall - but for the size of the venue not too bad. Saturday was the better day sales wise, we always contend with a drop off on Sunday because our local Pro Football team is very popular (although they ultimately had a loss this weekend).
We work in a variety of mediums: Painting (watercolor,oil and acrylic), Photography, Pencil Drawings and Wood Turnings. We sold a bit of all this event - mostly in the under $50 price range. Small items: miniscapes - (miniature acrylic paintings complete with easels) and photo card sets sold the best at $20 and under.
Most artists around me seemed to be doing well also - in the smaller price range and I heard a couple had nice larger sales.
Load out was just as easy as load in - we were packed and out in about an hour.
I was disappointed to hear two artists talking - and one said she was going to have buttons made up to wear that read "Cute doesn't feed my kids" and "Pretty doesn't pay my bills". I found this to be a very distasteful attitude - our booth visitors are not obligated to buy - and nobody forced us into this art venture.
For my husband and I - this has been a wonderful experience. We are producing and sharing our love of art in a way we enjoy. And while it's not today enabling us to quit our "day jobs" it does provide an outlet for something we would be doing anyway. We both demonstrate as we work our booth - I work on commissioned pet portraits (it's great dedicated time to paint) and he draws. We have found this draws people into the booth and stimulates conversations. We also very much enjoy talking with kids that are interested in what we are doing and think we might be encouraging future artists in this small way as well.
Next up for us: the Winter Market at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis December 4th. That show's a bit more costly but has been a good show for us in the past as well. I'll review it after the show.
Happy and safe holidays to all and happy arting!
-k-
I didn't think I could ask for more: A venue only 10 miles from my south Fort Myers home. Sunny skies, warm (but not oppressively hot) temperatures, and a jewel of a location: Coconut Point mall, the upscale "lifestyle center" on US 41, the heavily-traveled lifeblood of SW Florida retail. And, to top it all, Howard Alan's first fall foray into the area this snowbird season (with a welcome all-day-Friday setup option, to boot)! Surely Howard's vaunted marketing savvy would make this show a winner.
Well, as they're fond of saying on the sports talk shows after an upset loss by the home team: "That's why they play the game." The second annual Coconut Point fall art fair brought skimpy crowds (by Alan's high standard, especially) who seemed to have Thanksgiving travel, not Christmas shopping, on their minds. After a short burst of Saturday-morning shopping energy, the crowds leveled off, then dwindled by late day. And Sunday was more of the same. I made only a dozen sales all weekend--8x10 matted prints and the occasional 16x20--and barely made my booth fee, the worst showing I've had at an Alan event in a long, long, time.
And although a few artists I spoke with captured lightning in a bottle by selling an expensive piece of jewelry or a large, original painting, most were spotting the same trends that I did.
Hard to say what happened, though I'm still a bit woozy from the car wreck, Officer. I make a point to ask visitors to my booth where they're from, and I didn't get the mix of upper-Midwesterners that I normally do this time of year. Most of the visitors were full-time residents, and a few were from Great Britain. Here in SW Florida, many snowbirds come down when the weather gets cold in October or November, then head home to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays up north with the grandchildren. So it could be that they were home packing, not strolling the shows.
From a marketing standpoint, I don't think Howard and his crew did anything wrong here: Customers mentioned newspaper ads and TV spots promoting the festival. The mix of artists was healthy, and the 2-D category was especially strong, featuring some of the best work I've seen in awhile. There was even one of those signs-on-a-forklift along US 41 flashing "Coconut Point Art Festival today", for gosh sakes. But it's worthwhile to keep in mind that this is only the second year for this show. Alan's well-established Valentine's Day weekend show at the same locale, by contrast, is a proven winner and always one of my strongest Florida shows. So it will be interesting to see if its weak sister begins to pull its weight next year, or not.
The good: Easy load in and out, with large carts and helpers on hand to unload your vehicles.
There was a good bit of advertising for the show with signs and adds in the newspaper, local magazines, etc.
It was beautifully curated, a lot of really great artists!
The bad: Only a handful of customers showed up.... It seemed you were lucky if you made your expenses.
After talking to some of the artists, I was told that there were 3 or 4 other events going on during this same weekend, so maybe that was the cause for poor attendance. This was a paid admission event and the promoters gave all the artists free tickets to hand out to anyone and everyone on Saturday evening, in an attempt to get people into the show on Sunday. I'm not sure that worked. We had a little surge in attendance, but that was mostly neighboring church members.
It was sad, as I felt everything was in place except for the buying crowd. I was one of the lucky few who doubled my expenses. If this group puts on another show, I would probably consider it in hopes that this time there won't be any competing events and the crowds will come.
It's late and I'm tired but I wanted to get this out tonight!
Art in the Gardens (www.npbchamber.com/aitg) in located off PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and took place on November20 and 21, 2010. The show is located ona road in the Midtown outdoor shopping center between the main buildings andcan’t be seen from the road. Midtownincludes a 500 seat theater, 300 room banquet hall, and 225 condo units. This project has been around forapproximately five years (reported from repeat offender artists), and is quiteempty – I’d say at least 50% has never been occupied.
I choose to make the three hour drive Saturday morning versus spending a second motel night and arrived 15 minutes prior to the show’sopening. And this is after a quick stopat McDonalds in Okeechobee, Florida for a morning sausage McMuffin and blackcoffee. The security guard was adamantthat even though I had my packet and parking pass that I could not drive in forsetup until I checked in. Check in wasquick and included another packet with show badges and my name on an 8 ½ by 11sheet of blue paper. She also went overthe artist amenities which included coffee, water, muffins, and fruit in themorning, and a sandwich and chips each afternoon. Very nice. They were set up in a vacant store front which included an indoorrestroom for artists. I drove right tomy booth and set up – piece of cake as most artists had set up Friday night –it doesn’t get any better than this.
I took a quick walk around the show prior to opening and the work quality was very nice. However,there was a lot of photography and jewelry. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t see any pottery and there was one othersculpture artist than myself. In oneblock, there were four photographers in a row with one across from them; I knowhow I’d feel if I were one of them. I’destimate there were about 100 artist booths and a few chamber of commercemember’s booths.
Saturday, Day 1, had a light crowd that did not appear to be buying from most artists around me. Isold four smaller items but nothing of any merit. One copper artist near me sold threereasonable size pieces but told me he had to discount one by 50% and another bya smaller percentage.
Sunday, Day 2, was worse for me but a few of my neighbors sold a few pieces. One photographer Ispoke with that lives ½ mile from the show said he’s been coming since the showstarted five years ago thinking that he was going to make some money and ithasn’t happened yet. Another I spokewith sold a few things but it was questionable that he’d make any money.
Tear down was a cluster. A few minutes before the show closed, vehicles started driving in fromtwo different directions. Fortunately, Iwas parked at the end of the road. Threecarts and 34 minutes later I was able to make my escape. There were a number of artists that weretrapped on the inside but everyone was polite.
Joe’s View
The best thing about this show was meeting two fellow AFI’s – Hi Rich and Sherry. This show is in anarea that has potential to draw a great art buying crowd. Unfortunately, it’s got a lot going againstit including: being in a near vacant shopping center with the booths hidden fromthe view of PGA Boulevard; no real signage from the road indicating a fine artshow is going on; and a very low turnout of potential art buyers. I do want to stress that the promoters dotreat the artists well. However, we dohave to make money and it’s going to take some changes if that’s going tohappen here.
I did this show last year and it was the best of my fall shows so I had high expectations. It was definitely a Saturday show last year since most of the little shops and restaurants in Deland were closed on Sunday. So you can imagine my disapointment on Saturday evening when I went home with a little over expenses. But this year the shops stayed open on Sunday and I managed to do almost as well as last year.
Vounteers for booth sitting were numerous. The artist party on Friday night is very nice. They feed you both breakfast and lunch. Both were very nice although I wish if they were going to give us meat in slices (roast beef on Saturday, Turkey on Sunday) they would give us knives. I never like Saturday morning setup but this one is not bad. I always arrive early and unload to the sidewalk and then setup when the street is closed at 6AM. I hired help for both setup and breakdown (you have to be off the street by 7 on Sunday). I probably could have done both my myself but I get stressed easily when I don't have a lot of time for setup or breakdown and it was worth it to be done with both in plenty of time.
I find it strange that I do so well at this show. I live near the area and I just don't see the demographics but apparently they are there. Every other show this fall in central florida I have sold only one (or none) framed prints. The rest of my sales were all unframed. This show I sold five framed prints. People seem to walk the whole show and then choose. All of my big sales were people who had come by the booth at least once before. People do come by before the show officially opens so it helps to be open early.
One of my neighbors did not do well. I don't know how the other one did. I didn't get around much. I always feel I'm going to miss that one big sale if I leave the booth for too long so I don't know how others did. I talked to a few people on Sunday morning and they were not real happy but I wasn't happy on Sunday morning either. I hope everyone's sales picked up on Sunday like mine did.
I've got a lot of framing to do before I'm off to Naples this coming weekend.
Both super for me! For the Deland Arts & Crafts in March, see my comment to Tom Baron, Nov.21st. The Halifax Art Show has been on my list for awhile. I just got to it this year and will never miss it again! Loading in and out was the easiest I've ever done. I was on South Beach St. It is held in the "Old downtown" on the water, not on the beach. My neighbors were nice and had the same experience I did. There was some incredible art there. It was easy for me to stay in the area because my son lives about 10 min. away, so I set up on Friday. The judge breezed by without even a nod, which disappointed me because I made a couple of special pieces just for the judges. I've decided that at those really big shows, the judges preview from the slides and go straight to that artist's booth. No matter, I made $ and lots of admirers. The crowds were massive Saturday and Sunday, in spite of the bitter cold on Saturday and the wind on Sunday. They come before the opening time, so be ready. A friend came by and gave me a restroom break and I only had time to sit down 2xs on Saturday. There were booth sitters but not always when you needed one. I only had a couple of larger sales and everything else was $5-$50. A few customers walked the whole show and came back for good sales. There was serious consideration for my more expensive pieces but no sale. Customers were still being cautious with their $. This was the first time I actually sold out of my less expensive pieces! I had Flamingo Follies on the beach the next weekend and was panicked trying to get ready the next week. In talking to someone else who does copper sculpture, my experience was not necessarily the standard. The copper sculpture did not meet expenses even with small items like the tree ornaments. I kept my prices reasonable and did not bump up the silver price even though silver had shot through the roof that week. I think people realized the value for the dollar and were buying for Christmas. The show was huge - 252 booths, although I saw quite a few empty spaces?? People who paid the fee and skipped the show?? I couldn't afford to do that.
Now for Flamingo Follies - Ditto to above!! Only a couple of sales near $100 and every thing else was in the $5-$50 range. Not the crowds I remember from last year but we had 2 beautiful days and I was in the same spot as last year and customers remembered. It is harder to get in and out, but I had no trouble. It is one lane in the middle of the boooths, but with the side streets parking wasn't a problem. You set up in the a.m. and I got there a little late about 7:15 a.m. The restuarants on Flagler Ave. were accomodating for drinks and restroom breaks. Again I stayed at my son's so no motel expenses. An artist friend of mine had no sales on Sunday and she does mermaids and 2D work also. The crystal jewelry lady down from me wasn't selling on Sunday either. Still don't know how ppl found me and decided to buy, but glad they did!!
Best Italian restuarant in the area - We happened onto a fairly new restuarant on Rt 92, Speedway one block from SouthBeach St. on the intercoastal in downtown Daytona. EVERYTHING is made from scratch and it is family run. DON VITO'S ITALIAN RESTUARANT!! I've never had a meal so perfect in everyway. We all got something different and it was all delicious. Nice way to end a good show.
The show is held in a huge camelot tent structure with a main tent and 2 smaller ones branching off from it. It is advertised as being heated. That was not always true. Fortunately, it was an unusually mild weekend for November, so there was no true suffering until Sunday when the sun went away and the winds kicked up and the rain started. They had not staked down the sides of the tent, so the wind would pick them up and blow cold air right up your hoo ha. Plus, the heat was off. On the plus side, as soon as we bi..mentioned this to the staff, there was a guy outside staking the thing down and the heat came on.
This is a market, so most of what was for sale was appropriate to gift giving, although there was a fine selection of photography, engravings, that paper cutting art I can't spell and watercolors. Mixed in with that was candy and jams and fancy olive oils. Basically, the kind of show where I love to shop and hate to sell.
We needed 3 nights at a hotel, 30 gallons of gas, meals. After you factor in jury fees, booth costs and product costs, I lost money.
The crowds were there but they weren't spending enough. Some folks did really well, not us. The show is trying to be artful, but the crowd they are pulling in right now is looking for a craft show. Nothing wrong with that, but my stuff doesn't sell at a craft show.
Jewelry did well, domestic crafts, puppets, soaps & lotions.
The staff and the volunteers were, as promised, stellar. But they can't make people spend money.
Sunday morning I broke my foot while paying more attention to the strudel booth than the craggy sidewalk. I will be wearing the velcro embellished ski boot for 16 weeks. Right about the time the apps come out for next year. It will serve as a reminder and a warning.
Hello, I would like to announce the website (with a few tweaks to come :) of the Florida Keys Art Guild.
We have been in exsistence for 10 years now and have recruited some new blood to bring the Guild into the 21st Century.
I would like to say a few things about the Guild which I hope will educate all who are interested.
We are a collective of hard working individuals who strive to bring the best artist from all around the county to our beautiful Florida Keys.
- We are painters(of all media types), photographers, sculptors, jewelers, mixed-media artist, glass blowers,woodworkers, potters, fabric artist and many, many more.
- We are staff artists.
- We are not an artists club.
- We are a Guild: a union of men and women in the same craft or trade.
- We jury artist based on a collective of different individuals who strive to bring high quality arts and crafts to the buying public.
- We don't fix prices or mandate pricing structure at our art shows.
- We need you. As more and more artist join our ranks, the bigger and stronger we become.
An advocate is:
- One who pleads the cause of another
- One who defends or maintains a cause
- One who supports or promotes the interest of others
The Florida Keys Art Guild is your advocate.
In closing, we are here to support artists of all walks. How about taking a walk with us.
Thank you.
Joey R. Smith (Large Format Photographer)
Show Chairmen
I'm trying to decide between 2 art fests for March 26/27. 1 - Deland outdoor arts & crafts fest or 2. Lake Wales art show. I'm a fused dichroic glass artist, with most of my work being jewelry in the $25 - $40 range, and some ecthed dichroic panels in the $100 - $200 range, and kaleidoscopes in the $300 - $450 range. But by far most of my sales are from the jewelry.
I've never attended either show. In fact I'm new to the show circuit. Any input on either show would be appreciated.
Thanks.
