I Survived The Art Show

I am happy and relieved to report that I survived the Art Show without having a nervous breakdown or getting into a fist fight with anyone. There were many highs, some lows and some just "HUH" moments but overall, I was pleased with the way things turned out - even though our sales were down about 40-45% from last year.

It was really clear that the economy was on the minds of people who visited the Art Show. In previous shows, we could not keep anything under $50 on the podiums or the walls. People would just buy, buy, buy at that price range. This year, people would really contemplate their purchases and would not hastily purchase a $20 pair of earrings or a $40 ceramic pot. Even the $5 notecards we had sat for most of the weekend. The only "hot" seller were the $12 ocean-themed necklace that featured very beautiful and intricate glass beads and shells. Those went out as soon as we hung them.

The good thing is that people seemed very impressed by the layout of the show. Clearly, you could tell that a professional had done it and I didn't hear any of the "Oh, it looks like the Swap meet" or "I feel like I'm in Walmart" comments like I heard repeatedly last year. No, we did not hire anybody to do it. A participating artist took it upon himself to hang the whole show on his own - totally voluntary - when he saw poor LF working on her own trying to put things up. Now, if you know LF, you know she is on the petite side so this help really was a Buddha-send.

My broke famiiy still ended up buying stuff but only a bunch of inexpensive pieces. Well, except for the Professor who bought two tiny paintings - about 2" by 2" - that were $40 each! They were very nice but I have a feeling he's already lost them since I don't see them hanging in his room.

I've been asked to help out next year and in the frenzy of packing up on Saturday night, reluctantly agreed to sign on. However, in the light of today, I'm still on the fence.