Stephani Stephenson on sun 6 may 01
Today the town was filled with the twice yearly craft fair, billed as
the largest one day event of this kind, in this area.
The city of Carlsbad does a good job of it. 900 vendors in balmy
weather and nice outdoor venue right in the heart of town. Attendance
projected at 80,000-90,000. Don't know how to comprehend those numbers
but I believe it.
Before heading down to the studio for a day's work, I did an early
morning walk through to see if there was any potteryat the fair. Saw a
couple of people who had clay knick knacks. "thingeys" to hang on the
wall, not awful but not outstanding.
Only saw ONE potter. This person was doing very traditional pottery
with floral motifs, like Aunt Bea's country dinnerware . Her booth was
SWARMING with people. I didn't even get that close, there were so many
people at her booth. Peeking between the people, The work looked
wheelthrown and quite nice. She was wrapping pots furiously as people
snapped them up.
This whole thing got me thinking. Everyone has come to pooh pooh these
fairs, but ONLY ONE POTTER? So I wonder if the pendulum has swung too
far in the other direction. A pottery booth would have really stood out
, midst the other more predictable clothing , jewelry, and cutesy
wooden yard accesory booths. But then I AM biased!
And if there WAS another potter there, sorry I missed your booth!
Stephani Stephenson
Alchemie Studio
mum on tue 8 may 01
Hi Stephani,
I noticed the lack of pots at C'bad street fair too. I only recall maybe =
4 booths total.
One on Grand, two on streets heading north and one on a street heading so=
uth. When I was there none of the 4 potters I saw was doing a lot of busi=
ness.
I was disappointed - it seemed like a lot of swap meet type vendors: shoe=
s, purses, tshirts... The craft stuff was rather limited and schmaltzy. A=
ll we bought was a glass of lemonade.
Happy potting,
mum
Date: Sun, 6 May 2001 18:32:51 -0700
From: Stephani Stephenson
Subject: Craft fair: Where's the pots???
Today the town was filled with the twice yearly craft fair, billed as
the largest one day event of this kind, in this area.
The city of Carlsbad does a good job of it. 900 vendors in balmy
weather and nice outdoor venue right in the heart of town. Attendance
projected at 80,000-90,000. Don't know how to comprehend those numbers
but I believe it.
Before heading down to the studio for a day's work, I did an early
morning walk through to see if there was any potteryat the fair. Saw a
couple of people who had clay knick knacks. "thingeys" to hang on the
wall, not awful but not outstanding.
Only saw ONE potter. This person was doing very traditional pottery
with floral motifs, like Aunt Bea's country dinnerware . Her booth was
SWARMING with people. I didn't even get that close, there were so many
people at her booth. Peeking between the people, The work looked
wheelthrown and quite nice. She was wrapping pots furiously as people
snapped them up.
This whole thing got me thinking. Everyone has come to pooh pooh these
fairs, but ONLY ONE POTTER? So I wonder if the pendulum has swung too
far in the other direction. A pottery booth would have really stood out
, midst the other more predictable clothing , jewelry, and cutesy
wooden yard accesory booths. But then I AM biased!
And if there WAS another potter there, sorry I missed your booth!
Stephani Stephenson
Alchemie Studio
Jeremy McLeod on tue 8 may 01
> This whole thing got me thinking. Everyone has come to pooh pooh these
> fairs, but ONLY ONE POTTER? So I wonder if the pendulum has swung too
> far in the other direction. A pottery booth would have really stood out
> , midst the other more predictable clothing , jewelry, and cutesy
> wooden yard accesory booths.
I belong to a Potters Assoc. with which I show my wares for sale.
We've noticed that when the event at which we're selling is one
that features the "more predictable..." stuff, we do fairly poorly.
When we are surrounded by more "arts" than "crafts", we do well.
It would seem that the crowd that shows for what's come to be known
as "crafts" is different than the crowd that shows up for "arts faire".
Jeremy McLeod
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