An Artsy-Fartsy Aftermath MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

‘Tis said that the third time’s the charm. Well, maybe not always.

June 9 dawned bright and sunny and warm, and it got warmer – heh – it got hot. But that’s fine, because there had been threats of T-storms which didn’t materialize, and there was a nice breeze that almost took our canopy away. I’m getting ahead of myself.

We got to the park a little after 8, and our booth neighbor was already hogging multiple parking spots with his SUV and trailer. But we were sorta close, and we got all set up before the opening ceremony at 9:45. FCD managed to run a screw into his finger while assembling the shelves, then he got a big ol’ splinter while hooking up the extension cord – ouchie…

While we were setting up, Ada, my last ceramics teacher, stopped by and said hi. She was in a booth for the college with some student works and a bunch of equipment for demos. But I just saw her in passing, because I was pretty busy most of the time. Just as for my first show last September, once I started throwing, I had tons of people stop to watch and talk. I was really surprised at the number of adults who stopped, although the kids outnumbered them. (The camera went dead after this group, so that’s all the pics I have. Sorry.)

I got a kick of how subtly some of the kids said: “I really wish I could try that!!” One little girl went so far as to sit down in my chair when I got up to wrap up some of my wet works. When kids came one or two at a time, if they seemed really interested, I offered them a pick from my basket of freebies. I managed to get rid of some silly little things that I made by hand, and the kids all seemed to be happy.

The kitty jars were a big hit – I sold 3 of them, as well as one of my favorite pieces. Unfortunately, the bunny jar lost one ear – she got bumped as we were taking everything down. Oh well… I’m not sure what else sold, since I was throwing most of the time, but I know I had one fewer box when we packed at the end of the day. According to the photographer in the adjacent booth, the crowd was smaller than last year. I expect it had to do with the location – out in the middle of nowhere – and the price of gas.

The photographer also told me my stuff was priced too low, which got me a huge “I TOLD YOU SO” from a certain spousal unit. So I guess I need to rethink my prices. I also need to rethink my stock and how I’m going to market things. My mom is really good with flower arrangements, so I may ask her to do some arrangements in some of the pots. I may try to do something with candles, too. Or candy.

Anyway, the show was supposed to go till 5, but by about 4:30, I was ready to be gone. I started packing up some of the small cheapie items. Then FCD brought the van around, and the packing started in earnest. We managed to get most of our crap loaded and get out of there by 5:30. My bottom line – my booth space was paid for, and I came out $20 or $25 ahead, so it was about the worst show so far. Lucky for me I don’t do this for the money, right? Yeah, it would be nice to make a little more, but what the heck…

And now for a little snark.

My other booth neighbor was a painter. Her paintings were priced $1500-$3000. I swear, and I’m not kidding, that her “style” reminded us of a moderately talented high school art student. Now, I cannot paint – well, except for ceilings and walls with a roller. But I’ve looked at a lot of art, both good and bad. Hers was pretty bad to my eye. And yet I heard her telling about commissions she had to do murals and faux finishes in hotels and stuff. Maybe I don’t know art after all, but if she’d offered me one of her paintings, I’d have declined.

Oh yeah, and I heard her tell one person: “That painting is $1500. It took me three days to paint!” I wish someone would pay me $500 per day to make mediocrity.

End of snark.

Over the course of the show, I threw a dozen pieces that survived, and probably 6-8 more that I killed. The survivors include a couple more kitties, including heads. I’m thinking critter jars will be more successful sellers. Next show in September – we shall see how that goes.

Before then, I’m going to go through everything and, as I promised months ago, I’m going to have another ceramic give-away of select items. All I ask is reimbursement for postage. I’ll give MMPers first choice before opening to the board at large. Because you’re all the Cool Kids and because I’m nice, dammit. :smiley:

Let the Monday begin.

2

I’m guessin’ this is one of those learn as you go things. Anywho, congrats on the success. It does sound like critter jars are the popular thing. They are kinda cute. Perhaps you can get some of those medallion thingys for the next show too. Seems to me if you attract kids, that means pre-teen girls who’d be all squee over the medallions.

I’m up and caffienatin’. Soon Ima read the paper and get myself all purtified to go test my aptitudes for workin’ at a brewery. Should be innerestin’. I will, of course, give a full report of what this is all about.

Ok, off to read and purtify.

Later Y’all!

ETA: I’m first! YAY!

3

Great OP, FCM even if it wasn’t the best of shows. It sounds like your critter jars are going to be a big hit though, you’ll have to get plenty of them ready for September but I’m sure Swampy will be able to lend some support if you run short of motivation!

It’s a beautiful Monday here, far too nice to be in the office all day but at least today I have committee papers to deliver so I get to have a wander around campus. I have already told the boss (Miss Tin Knickers) that I’ll be out for most of the morning. The envelopes of papers are quite heavy so I’m going them in four batches, culminating in the Maths building 'cos it’s right next door to where my friend Nicki works and we’re going out for lunch. Seems quite sensible really…

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I’ll read the OP tonight - I have to go to work. (I suddenly came down with a case of the “I don’ wannas”) on the down side, my iPod finally gave up the ghost.

5

Great OP, **FCM **-- and not too bad a day, I think. Especially considering that I can barely assemble ready-for-assembly furniture with my own two hands, so I’m in awe of people who can actually create stuff!

I think **FCD **is right about the pricing – if you price higher you may actually sell more, because people will take you more seriously (“if this is expensive, it must be good”). This is almost certainly the logic behind your booth-mate’s pricing, and, well, you didn’t say anything about it but… you wouldn’t have been so upset if it hadn’t *worked *for her, right? There’s some sort of lesson about human foibles in all this, but I’m not sure I want to learn it…

Anyway – at least the show paid for itself! And I’m sure you’ll have better success next time :slight_smile:

**Swampy **-- appendages are crossed!

**Rosie **-- Sounds like an OK morning so far? Well, other than the iPod dying on you :frowning:

I’m in the middle of a Client Crisis… workworkworkwah!nolunchworkworkwork…

On the upside the weather isn’t nearly as brutal as it was yesterday.

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Caffeinating as I type. 'Twas a rough weekend, indeed. I even took an ambulance call early yesterday morning for a heart attack; this time, the guy was alert the whole way and no CPR was needed.

Minding the fort during the funeral, nothing happened. :cool:

I tried to mow the yard in the morning, and broke the mower deck drive belt. :mad: With my schedule, it’ll be Wednesday before the mower is fixed and the grass cut. Loki is already complaining about his butt getting tickled when he does his thing.

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Thanks for a lovely OP, FCM! I know what you mean about the painter thing - my brother and I just saw some pieces by a local artist at the Oak Park visitors’ center yesterday, and they were severely over-priced. Honestly, who buys those things?

Damnit, I hate having to wake up at 6:45 on Monday mornings. Monday, ewwwww.

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Great OP, FCM. I’m sorry the show was not as successful as you would like, but you’re learning important stuff for future shows! Put me on the list for freebies! I love your stuff.

Mondays suck. That is all.

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I’m with Dolores - Mondays are a great big PITA.

Sorry the show didn’t go as well as you wanted, FCM. But at least you did make some money.

Did scout ever show up this weekend into the MMP?

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I have a painting I bought from a street artist. One of those guys who use a few pre-cut shapes and some cans of paint to create “starscapes”. It’s a bit damaged now from an accident during one of my many moves but that’s another problem.

Cost me 500 pta - 3€.

Last week there was a booth from a local art gallery in the train station. Similar-looking stuff, similar size (ok, framed, but excuse me if I don’t faint at the sight of the frame) - upwards of 1K CHF

Are you kidding me? Maybe these ones were oil instead of can-of-paint (didn’t look like it to me) but in any case no way thanks - I’ll go on doing my art-shopping in Las Ramblas!

Many, many years ago, when the dinosaurs didn’t quite roam the earth but only because they’d rather stay put, I used to lend a hand to my favorite stores when they set up their booths in the Setmana del Còmic de Barcelona. This meant that instead of having to pay to get between Friday afternoon and Sunday (by which time some of the best stuff was already gone), I was able to get in for free since the show started on Wednesday. One year there were some dudes from Russia, selling a comic book (think hardcover graphic novel) - they had it in Russian and in something that tried to pass for Spanish. They also had tons of pins: Russian flags and Soviet stuff. We spent several hours convincing them that they needed to raise their prices to match those around (it would be the price people were used to, people would actually be more likely to buy); in fact, they should mark their stuff a bit higher since it was clearly imported. We knew they were going to sell out in no time and bet them they wouldn’t be opening up on Sunday at all. Reluctantly, they changed the prices.

If a stack of comic books could move at the speed of light, those would have. I never knew what it was really about (hey, like I said the Spanish was awful), but people thought it was so incredibly cool to have those two guys there, they would have bought anything. The russian version sold out within the first day.

Young lady, you really need to raise those prices wags finger

11

Dammit’s it’s hot out, and I hate having to get dressed up for an interview when it’s hot.

Okay, I’m done now. :slight_smile: Off to my interview. One today, one tomorrow, and we’ll see what happens, I suppose.

FCM, at least you made your booth money back. Last time I did a show, I took a loss on it.

12

T.G.I.M.

I’m off today, and all my cleaning is done, so I can goof off all day.

FCM, sorry the craft show wasn’t as good as you’d hoped. Still, beats a day at work, right?

Sean, looks like scout only hangs out in poop threads. We’re no longer TMI enough for her. :dubious:

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Hey, FCM, you done good if you wound up with one less box! I love the snarkiness - you and welbywife ought to go bowling, she’s in the same mind as you when she looks at “art” that’s mediocre and way too over priced.

Last year we went to an artsy fartsy festival in Alexandria, and there was a lady there who painted some stuff that made your average 5th grader look like Picasso. She spoke in an ethereal, moony voice about what her art was supposed to “represent”. I laughed to see prices of $800 or $1000 on paintings that a monkey with a severe twitch could have painted better. The best thing was when, as the artiste was explaining a particularly bad painting to welbywife and quoting some ridiculous price she look at artiste and said “You really think it’s worth that kind of money? Who would hang that on a wall?”

This weekend the wife and I went to Virginia Beach for a wedding. We stayed at a really nice campground in our trailer - our view was of the protected wetlands of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The wedding was nice, and we were glad to see two of our friends finally tying the knot. The only negative was the caterer. He was a sweaty, sweaty man who was using a towel to wipe his face, pick up trays or food, clean off plates, etc. The topper was when he dropped his nasty towel into the cole slaw, picked it out, and shook the peices of cole slaw stuck to the towl back into the bowl. Fortunately the groom’s mom had made a big old batch of her home-made spring rolls, so we stuck to those and avoided the caterer altogether.

That’s it for now, off to act like I’m a hard worker now.

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Congrats, FCM! Sounds like it went fairly well, all things considered.

I am also caffeinating as we speak. I will be back in a bit to update you guys on my trip. I didn’t get to meet MBG, because of flight delays, and I’m sure glad we didn’t plan on the way back, too, because I was delayed then, too. More in a bit!

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FCM, great OP! And you have given me ammo to use against my SIL about the fair we are doing next month. I was showing her some “little girl” bracelets I’ve made and telling her I thought I’d sell them for $2 or 3 for $5. She thinks I should sell them for $1. I’m gonna stick to my guns on this one. If they don’t sell at all I can come down on the prices but if they do sell I’ll have made twice the money.

I’m already sort of hacked at her because she is accepting stuff from her friends to sell, without them being there to work the booth. I really don’t like that idea - if they want to sell they can come sit in the heat with us. If it’s only the two of us it means basically no breaks all day - and the fair is open from 1-9pm. Why should I work my butt off to sell someone else’s stuff? I won’t even make any money from it! The “Southern Aspects” website will take a commission, but I’m not an owner of that. So I’m pissed.

Everything is crossed, Swampy.

Hope you have a great day, Rosie. Sorry about the i-Pod - I’m glad I’ve never invested in/gotten addicted to those things.

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FCM… Come to my area - I wanna see kitty art! I admire folks who can not only create, but are willing to let others see their creations - Bravo!

I have Mondays off - so why am I awake? Poison Ivy. Arrgggh, I finally react to it. I. Will. Not. Scratch! And I still have a 50’ X 12’ space to clear. Gonna be a fun summer!

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That sounds like a lot of fun, FCM. It’s too bad it wasn’t lucrative, but that’s partly because you need to raise your prices, right? :smiley:

QD and I went to a craft fair in the local park yesterday. The pottery wasn’t as good as usual, but Monster Factory was there. I really want to get Lucy for QD. She’d be perfect. I didn’t buy anything but QD got a nice handmade wooden cutting board for a friend’s wedding present.
I’m awake, about to sort the laundry, and waiting to see if I throw up. It’s a normal Monday.

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Bleh.

That is all.

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Morning, all. I’m caffeinating and contemplating work, as usual. I’ll get to it eventually.

I agree you should raise your prices, FCM. And maybe work on some bigger pieces, too? Hopefully the doggie bowls you’re making will help you learn how to do bigger stuff, because I’ve noticed that bigger things tend to see as well as, if not better than, small things – people can see more of a use for them to make up an excuse for why they’re buying them. Anyway, if I can still join you for September, I’ll have some knitting to add to your pottery and maybe together we can knock 'em dead!

The only time I saw something priced for 3K at an art show that I desperately wanted to spend the money on was a simply stunning quilt, hand-pieced by the seller and then sent to some Amish women for quilting, who quilted it, I swear, at about 15 stitches to the inch; I’ve never seen such tiny quilting stitches, even on the quilts at the Amish market here locally. It truly was worth every penny of that 3K. Except that I would have wanted to give 2.5K of it to the Amish women since their work was what made it worth every penny. I’m willing to pay for handwork, not for crappy paintings that take 3 days. 3 days? Good grief. Did she sell anything at all, or get any commissions?

It’s a nice morning here, but supposed to get hot again. Yuck. There’s this stupid low sitting off the coast that keeps wobbling back our way, stirring up the atmosphere just enough to raise the temp. (And humidity, but that doesn’t bother us after Louisiana.) I don’t mind it being warm; I mind it being stuffy enough in the house that I have to turn on the AC. So here’s hoping it doesn’t get a lot warmer today; right now it’s just lovely.

Sorry about the iPod, Rosie. Is it truly dead? Have you tried rebooting it? Mine has “stuck” a couple of times and I’ve had to reboot it, and it’s worked like a charm each time. There’s instructions online. And good luck at work! Don’t work too hard, and get lots of sympathy for the knee!

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I hate my job :frowning:

That is all.