I"m Pooped!!!!

[Dick Wilson]

I had my last art show of the year this weekend.....thank God! It is also the last time I will do this show. I did well BUT they put me next to a 10x20 "booth" with s--t on a stick "lawn art". I never knew that cooking utensils, sauce pan lids, screwdrivers, wrenches, spark plugs, pad locks, nuts and bolts, and all manner of metal crap that can be welded could be stuck in the ground like that. One piece of "lawn art" is a travesty to good taste let alone dozens of them. Oh, he even had several propane tanks painted pink with a bunch of crap welded on them........look Ma a pig!!! By yesterday afternoon I was looking for razor blades. I do not know if I would have been able to survive if I had heard "Oh, aren't these cute" again. AAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

It is interesting what is happening in Art Shows. This and the other shows I have done in past years have been excellent regarding artistic booths. This year I have seen more and more "lawn art" painted board "folk art" and even buy and sell flea market crap. I suspect that high end artists are backing off shows and the people who run the shows are desperate to fill the booth space and will let any goober in.

Well, I feel much better now that I have vented, I am headed to my shop to turn and burn for next year:D:D:D:D

[Bill White]

At least it beats the tires painted white and planted on the edges of the driveway. Oh well......Art is in the eye of the beholder.
Bill

[Betty Fox]

*creeps out at night and hides her whit painted tires*

[Greg Just]

I feel bad for you. I did a show 2 years ago and will never do another like it. Everyone was supposed to be screened for quality and originality of the product. I thought this would be a really good place to show off my goods to find I was competing with a bunch of crap from China glued together to be "Original". It was original crap and priced at practically nothing! Never again.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dick I feel for ya. I did a show a month ago and my show days are over. I am not going to compete with .25 junk. My wife and I walked the place all the time she was just shaking her head. I think the highest priced thing we saw was less than my cheapest ink pen. People are there for a bargain. I did cover my booth cost and made $5. Woohoo.

[Michelle Rich]

I hear ya...I quit doing shows a few yrs back as the folks came as entertainment for themselves and had no $ to spend ( not critcism, just fact) and as you said, to fill the show they downgraded the talent part!!! Resale of stuff from china was the worst...

[Reed Gray]

I have one show I will continue to do till they just can't cart me in any more. The Oregon Country Fair, known locally as the "Hippy Faire". Most fun, and most profitable. The thing with show business, you have to check out the shows first, then decide if the show is right for you. There are craft fair guides which give some indicators. Selecting the right shows is as much of an art as making your product. I don't do well at the artsy fartsy types, and won't do state fairs, or all comers type shows. The shows I do well at are the ones were "You can shake the hand of the person that made what you bought".

Outside of Christmas shows, you need tourists. The only time people spend as much money as they do at Christmas time is when they are on vacation. That is what makes the OCF such a good show. The people on the inside are on vacation, and the people coming through the gates are on vacation.

robo hippy

Old hippies never die, they just move to Eugene, where tie dye is the official camo.