Cheryl Hoffman on thu 16 aug 01
John,
No offense, but that was really uplifting for a newbie planning for
her first craft fair! Think I'll go eat worms.
Cher Hoffman
Cantello Studios on thu 16 aug 01
So....... my two cents worth. Thanks for starting the subject John H. It
is a VERY good one to get out here in CLAYART.
Wow, wonder what we would get for a "buck's worth"? Great post... Got me
thinking.
Tracy - who has just joined the husband to work fulltime in the studio after
a 15-year hiatus. Craft shows are it for us. OY VEY...
www.cantellostudios.com
Joyce Lee on thu 16 aug 01
ok
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Baymore"
To:
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2001 2:49 PM
Subject: Craft Fairs and Money
Sitting up cause I can't sleep......... .........
Most potters feel they have had an extremely good day if they sell over
$1000 per day at a high quality, well run, retail fair. I suspect an
honest
daily average for potters is somewhere closer to $5-700. Of course it all
depends on the quality of your work and its appeal to the buyers at a
particular fair--and the weather, and the economy, and your booth set-up,
and etc. etc. etc.
Great post John H.!
Yeah........ a grand a day is my "target" yardstick to decide if I should
even be there. Ain't too many retail craft fairs that happens at anymore
.
In my opinion, the retail craft fair as a marketing venue for potters is a
great idea that came......, happend......., went........., and is pretty
much DEAD now. It may still be good to test public reaction to new pieces,
or to gain some PR, but a a serious revenue generation tool......... tough
row to hoe. Maybe if you are a newbie just starting out and trying to
guage the market and the opinions of your work...... or for ANY cashflow at
all ......then it's still useful. But if you have been around for a
while............ not the way to go. Too much work, not enough money.
Takes you away from what you do best too...... making clay stuff.
Every town now seems to have at least one handcraft shop .... and many more
within a few miles drive. The "traveling road show" is no longer a
necessity to find good crafts. Many artists now have small (or large)
showrooms in their studios... and people come to see the artist, his/her
lifestyle and workshop, and to buy. The needs that a craftsfair once met
for our customers are no longer so relavent.
I forget who coined this phrase.... think it was potter Ken
Russell........ it showed up on the Compuserve Crafts Forum a long time
ago...... but the "Crocheted Pink Poodle Ketchup Bottle Cover" (CPPKBC) is
what many people think of when they hear "Craft Fair" these days. Hence we
have invented the "Fine Craft Fair" term to differentiate. Would that be
as opposed to "Unfine Crafts" ?
Any other opinions on this? I think it is a useful topic for this forum
because it will help newer potters to set realistic expectations about the
craft fair world. My own experience is that I don't do well enough to
justify continuing doing fairs. When I figure the true cost of booth fees,
lost production time, travel expenses, etc., my return is just not
satisfactory. I have one more committed and it will very likely be my
last.
Hear, hear! O so true.
I no longer do many craft fairs and haven't for some time (many, many
years). They are simply not worth it. I do the annual League of NH
Craftsmen's Fair (oldest continuous one in the country...... 68th year this
year...usually about 35 - 40K people attend each year) and the VERY local
Wilton Art and Film Fest (a couple thousand attend and I do it solely for
the local "community spirit", not the money).
I have a showroom in the studio, a few galleries, occasional exhibitions,
the website, and the above fairs. That's it. Sort of the "Mayor mel
approach" .... draw that X mile circle around your home and sell to it. As
a one person artist craftsman.... I can only make so much stuff a
year...... and that is a significant marketing strategy. Limited supply.
The last thing I would want to do is hire employees to make my designs
. My absolute maximum production is only about 2500-3000 pots a year
with the type of complexity I put into pieces (lots of faceting, carving,
slip inlay, and so on, plus wood firing).
I think you need to think of the economics of a fair this way: As a craft
fair participant....you are a RETAILER, not a potter. Yes... you are a
retailer that happens to know a LOT about pottery . In fact....you do
it as your other job. You also keep in good communication with your
pottery sources , so that they get good feedback from the fairs. But
when you do a fair.... your job is to SELL pots.... not make them.
As a retailer you are "buying" the pots from a potter (who just happens to
be yourself) and typically the mark-up is 100 percent on claywork. So if
you sell $1000 worth of pots in a day retail..... you "bought" them for
$500. So as a retailer, you really only made $500 for the day... the other
part was the direct cost of goods sold.
Hopefully the potter you bought them from (you) has figured his/her
wholesale price correctly so that they are happy and making appropriate
money on that $500 they just got paid for the pots they sold. That's a
subject for another day .
SO...... $500 gross for a long day's work...... minus all your expenses.
Plus factoring in the time packing and unpacking, driving, and so on.
Let's say a two day weekend fair adds a third day to account for all that
stuff. So as a retailer, three long days of work grosses you $1000 (and
the potter you buy from $1000 too ). Now you have to take out all
expenses and taxes to see what you have for a net.
Let's say that the booth fee for this fair was $300.....which is pretty
typical (to low) these days. Let's say that the fair was 60 miles away...
so that is about 120 x .30 mile or $36 for auto expenses. Your booth
setup itself originally cost you $1000 (low) and you expect to use it for
10 years, so booth amortization is $100. Let's say paper bags, packing,
receipt books, and all that kind of stuff add another $10. "Food on the
road" adds another $10 over what you would have spent to eat at home(
you're careful). One night's lodging costs $50. You COULD camp out for
free (ugh!)....but the fair is stressful enough. If you drive back and
forth each day....... up the mileage expense figure and the work hours
and it'll exceed staying over. Now there is the general overhead stuff
too... a bit of your product and premises liability premium, a bit for your
studio office, and so on. Let's use another $20 for all that stuff.
If you have someone "helping" you...even a "free" family member...........
figure their time at LEAST at your state's minimum wage as another real
expense. Preferably....use what the local burger joints are offering as
your "practical" minimum wage figure (around here it is about $8.00 per
hour). You should be paying them.....or at least be ABLE to pay them
without undue strain on your budget. If you can't afford to pay for your
help...... even if it is your 12 year old kid........ you are kidding
yourself about the economic feasibility of the fair.
So, skipping the issue of needing helpers or employees........ after
expenses for goods sold and all other stuff, your pre-tax net for three
days of retailing labor is $474, or $158 a day. I'll use 8 hours a day...
but from experience I know that it probably averages more than that. So
that is about $20 per hour if you look at it as all being your
wages....which many do. However..... you should take a piece of that money
out first though as "profit" on your investment and the risk taken. This
goes in the bank, not to buy the toothpaste .
Oops...... now on to the tax issue! Self employed!!!!! Gotta' deduct the
taxes. When you do all that stuff (generality here) you'll find that this
is probably more like earning $10-11 per hour as an employee (with no
benefits at all).
So... ten bucks an hour sounds sorta OK at fist glance. But in the context
of a burger flipper getting $8 or more an hour....it really isn't very
good. At a craft fair.... YOU bear the risks of rain, a transit strike, the
stock market dipping last night, a shelf getting knocked over, and so on.
To really look at the reality of craft fair performance.... lump ALL the
fairs you do in a year together and analyze them as above being a
totality...... that will take into account bad choices for fairs, rain
days, heat days, stock market dips, and so on. Give you a better general
picture of the "Craft Fair" as a viable marketing venue.
How do other craftsperple fare in our US society? A hack carpenter gets at
least $25 per hour. A middlin' car mechanic gets about $30-40. We won't
even consider what a plumber gets......... which is slightly higher than a
brain surgeon . These days, ten bucks an hour is pretty low.... here
in NH a minimum "living wage" review recently published in the newspaper
said it is more like $15 per hour, with benefits. That 10 bucks an hour is
particularly low if you are a skilled craftsperson who is moonlighting as a
retailer . If other skilled craftspeople like carpenters, plumbers, and
so on are making at least $25 an hour...... shouldn't a skilled
craftsperson potter be at least in the same ballpark? And the longer you
have been doing this, probably the more you should be making per hour.
Then....... another think........ how much pottery value could you have
produced in the studio in that three days?
You could work 3 days a week at MacDonalds or Taco Bell and flip burgers or
stuff tacos with no financial risks and come pretty close to the above
crafts fair. And if it rains...... you still get your paycheck. And some
bennies.
How else could you have invested three days of work and $490 of your money
(costs of the fair)? For example, that resource could have been used to
call X-teen galleries and send brand new photo postcards ($115 per 500 at
Modern Postcard) and bio's and price sheets (few cents a page). Which
would have had the greatest economic impact on your business for your
efforts?
So....... my two cents worth. Thanks for starting the subject John H. It
is a VERY good one to get out here in CLAYART.
Best,
.............................john
PS: You can see my Sunapee Craft Fair booth layout (don't use it in
Wilton) if you go the the League Fair page on my website. I designed it
(CAD program, then scale models out of foamcore, toothpicks, etc) then had
it built by a local cabinet maker.
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JohnBaymore.com (Note: some website functions like email and ordering are
down..... still some ISP problems)
JBaymore@compuserve.com
John.Baymore@GSD-CO.com
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop August 17-26,
2001"
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
John Baymore on thu 16 aug 01
Sitting up cause I can't sleep......... ......... =
Most potters feel they have had an extremely good day if they sell over
$1000 per day at a high quality, well run, retail fair. I suspect an
honest
daily average for potters is somewhere closer to $5-700. Of course it al=
l
depends on the quality of your work and its appeal to the buyers at a
particular fair--and the weather, and the economy, and your booth set-up,=
and etc. etc. etc.
Great post John H.! =
Yeah........ a grand a day is my "target" yardstick to decide if I should=
even be there. Ain't too many retail craft fairs that happens at anymore=
.
In my opinion, the retail craft fair as a marketing venue for potters is =
a
great idea that came......, happend......., went........., and is pretty
much DEAD now. It may still be good to test public reaction to new piece=
s,
or to gain some PR, but a a serious revenue generation tool......... toug=
h
row to hoe. Maybe if you are a newbie just starting out and trying to
guage the market and the opinions of your work...... or for ANY cashflow =
at
all ......then it's still useful. But if you have been around for a
while............ not the way to go. Too much work, not enough money.
Takes you away from what you do best too...... making clay stuff.
Every town now seems to have at least one handcraft shop .... and many mo=
re
within a few miles drive. The "traveling road show" is no longer a
necessity to find good crafts. Many artists now have small (or large)
showrooms in their studios... and people come to see the artist, his/her
lifestyle and workshop, and to buy. The needs that a craftsfair once met=
for our customers are no longer so relavent.
I forget who coined this phrase.... think it was potter Ken
Russell........ it showed up on the Compuserve Crafts Forum a long time
ago...... but the "Crocheted Pink Poodle Ketchup Bottle Cover" (CPPKBC) i=
s
what many people think of when they hear "Craft Fair" these days. Hence =
we
have invented the "Fine Craft Fair" term to differentiate. Would that be=
as opposed to "Unfine Crafts" ?
Any other opinions on this? I think it is a useful topic for this forum
because it will help newer potters to set realistic expectations about th=
e
craft fair world. My own experience is that I don't do well enough to
justify continuing doing fairs. When I figure the true cost of booth fee=
s,
lost production time, travel expenses, etc., my return is just not
satisfactory. I have one more committed and it will very likely be my
last.
Hear, hear! O so true.
I no longer do many craft fairs and haven't for some time (many, many
years). They are simply not worth it. I do the annual League of NH
Craftsmen's Fair (oldest continuous one in the country...... 68th year th=
is
year...usually about 35 - 40K people attend each year) and the VERY local=
Wilton Art and Film Fest (a couple thousand attend and I do it solely for=
the local "community spirit", not the money).
I have a showroom in the studio, a few galleries, occasional exhibitions,=
the website, and the above fairs. That's it. Sort of the "Mayor mel
approach" .... draw that X mile circle around your home and sell to it. =
As
a one person artist craftsman.... I can only make so much stuff a
year...... and that is a significant marketing strategy. Limited supply.=
=
The last thing I would want to do is hire employees to make my designs =
. My absolute maximum production is only about 2500-3000 pots a year=
with the type of complexity I put into pieces (lots of faceting, carving,=
slip inlay, and so on, plus wood firing).
=
I think you need to think of the economics of a fair this way: As a craf=
t
fair participant....you are a RETAILER, not a potter. Yes... you are a
retailer that happens to know a LOT about pottery . In fact....you do=
it as your other job. You also keep in good communication with your
pottery sources , so that they get good feedback from the fairs. But
when you do a fair.... your job is to SELL pots.... not make them.
As a retailer you are "buying" the pots from a potter (who just happens t=
o
be yourself) and typically the mark-up is 100 percent on claywork. So if=
you sell $1000 worth of pots in a day retail..... you "bought" them for
$500. So as a retailer, you really only made $500 for the day... the oth=
er
part was the direct cost of goods sold. =
Hopefully the potter you bought them from (you) has figured his/her
wholesale price correctly so that they are happy and making appropriate
money on that $500 they just got paid for the pots they sold. That's a
subject for another day . =
SO...... $500 gross for a long day's work...... minus all your expenses. =
Plus factoring in the time packing and unpacking, driving, and so on. =
Let's say a two day weekend fair adds a third day to account for all that=
stuff. So as a retailer, three long days of work grosses you $1000 (and
the potter you buy from $1000 too ). Now you have to take out all
expenses and taxes to see what you have for a net.
Let's say that the booth fee for this fair was $300.....which is pretty
typical (to low) these days. Let's say that the fair was 60 miles away..=
.
so that is about 120 x .30 mile or $36 for auto expenses. Your booth
setup itself originally cost you $1000 (low) and you expect to use it for=
10 years, so booth amortization is $100. Let's say paper bags, packing,
receipt books, and all that kind of stuff add another $10. "Food on the
road" adds another $10 over what you would have spent to eat at home(
you're careful). One night's lodging costs $50. You COULD camp out for
free (ugh!)....but the fair is stressful enough. If you drive back and
forth each day....... up the mileage expense figure and the work hours=
and it'll exceed staying over. Now there is the general overhead stuff
too... a bit of your product and premises liability premium, a bit for yo=
ur
studio office, and so on. Let's use another $20 for all that stuff.
If you have someone "helping" you...even a "free" family member..........=
.
figure their time at LEAST at your state's minimum wage as another real
expense. Preferably....use what the local burger joints are offering as
your "practical" minimum wage figure (around here it is about $8.00 per
hour). You should be paying them.....or at least be ABLE to pay them
without undue strain on your budget. If you can't afford to pay for your=
help...... even if it is your 12 year old kid........ you are kidding
yourself about the economic feasibility of the fair.
So, skipping the issue of needing helpers or employees........ after
expenses for goods sold and all other stuff, your pre-tax net for three
days of retailing labor is $474, or $158 a day. I'll use 8 hours a day..=
.
but from experience I know that it probably averages more than that. So
that is about $20 per hour if you look at it as all being your
wages....which many do. However..... you should take a piece of that mon=
ey
out first though as "profit" on your investment and the risk taken. This=
goes in the bank, not to buy the toothpaste .
Oops...... now on to the tax issue! Self employed!!!!! Gotta' deduct th=
e
taxes. When you do all that stuff (generality here) you'll find that thi=
s
is probably more like earning $10-11 per hour as an employee (with no
benefits at all). =
So... ten bucks an hour sounds sorta OK at fist glance. But in the conte=
xt
of a burger flipper getting $8 or more an hour....it really isn't very
good. At a craft fair.... YOU bear the risks of rain, a transit strike, t=
he
stock market dipping last night, a shelf getting knocked over, and so on=
=
To really look at the reality of craft fair performance.... lump ALL the
fairs you do in a year together and analyze them as above being a
totality...... that will take into account bad choices for fairs, rain
days, heat days, stock market dips, and so on. Give you a better general=
picture of the "Craft Fair" as a viable marketing venue.
How do other craftsperple fare in our US society? A hack carpenter gets =
at
least $25 per hour. A middlin' car mechanic gets about $30-40. We won't=
even consider what a plumber gets......... which is slightly higher than=
a
brain surgeon . These days, ten bucks an hour is pretty low.... he=
re
in NH a minimum "living wage" review recently published in the newspaper
said it is more like $15 per hour, with benefits. That 10 bucks an hour =
is
particularly low if you are a skilled craftsperson who is moonlighting as=
a
retailer . If other skilled craftspeople like carpenters, plumbers, a=
nd
so on are making at least $25 an hour...... shouldn't a skilled
craftsperson potter be at least in the same ballpark? And the longer you=
have been doing this, probably the more you should be making per hour.
Then....... another think........ how much pottery value could you have
produced in the studio in that three days?
You could work 3 days a week at MacDonalds or Taco Bell and flip burgers =
or
stuff tacos with no financial risks and come pretty close to the above
crafts fair. And if it rains...... you still get your paycheck. And som=
e
bennies.
How else could you have invested three days of work and $490 of your mone=
y
(costs of the fair)? For example, that resource could have been used to
call X-teen galleries and send brand new photo postcards ($115 per 500 at=
Modern Postcard) and bio's and price sheets (few cents a page). Which
would have had the greatest economic impact on your business for your
efforts? =
So....... my two cents worth. Thanks for starting the subject John H. I=
t
is a VERY good one to get out here in CLAYART.
Best,
.............................john
PS: You can see my Sunapee Craft Fair booth layout (don't use it in
Wilton) if you go the the League Fair page on my website. I designed it
(CAD program, then scale models out of foamcore, toothpicks, etc) then ha=
d
it built by a local cabinet maker.
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JohnBaymore.com (Note: some website functions like email and ordering ar=
e
down..... still some ISP problems)
JBaymore@compuserve.com
John.Baymore@GSD-CO.com
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop August 17-26,
2001"
Jennifer F Boyer on fri 17 aug 01
John's post really hit home for me(potter 30 year, used to do
lots of shows, now do 2) Cheryl, but you NEED to do shows if
you're just starting out. You need to watch people handle your
pots, and listen to what they say about them. It's invaluable.
You can do them for the education, rather than for the money.
And there is still money to be made, just not as much as in the
past. So GO for it!
Jennifer
Cheryl Hoffman wrote:
>
> John,
> No offense, but that was really uplifting for a newbie planning for
> her first craft fair! Think I'll go eat worms.
> Cher Hoffman
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jennifer Boyer mailto:jboyer@adelphia.net
Thistle Hill Pottery
95 Powder Horn Glen Rd
Montpelier, VT 05602 USA
802-223-8926
http://www.thistlehillpottery.com/
Never pass on an email warning without checking out this site
for web hoaxes and junk:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/cs/nethoaxes/index.htm
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Patrick Logue on fri 17 aug 01
I've been keeping an eye on the craft fair market for
about 12 yrs.(working for other studios and buying one
piece of equipment at a time). I can see that there
has definitely been a slowdown in attendance and
sales.
There are a few out there that refuse to die however.
I'm just gearing up for my first full year of shows,
but i'm seriously considering taking all the fees
expenses etc... renting some galley space and
advertising.
Can anybody speak from experience on this course of
action?
sincerely
Pat Logue
--- John Baymore wrote:
> Sitting up cause I can't sleep.........
> .........
>
>
> Most potters feel they have had an extremely good
> day if they sell over
> $1000 per day at a high quality, well run, retail
> fair. I suspect an
> honest
> daily average for potters is somewhere closer to
> $5-700. Of course it all
> depends on the quality of your work and its appeal
> to the buyers at a
> particular fair--and the weather, and the economy,
> and your booth set-up,
> and etc. etc. etc.
>
>
> Great post John H.!
>
> Yeah........ a grand a day is my "target" yardstick
> to decide if I should
> even be there. Ain't too many retail craft fairs
> that happens at anymore
> .
>
> In my opinion, the retail craft fair as a marketing
> venue for potters is a
> great idea that came......, happend.......,
> went........., and is pretty
> much DEAD now. It may still be good to test public
> reaction to new pieces,
> or to gain some PR, but a a serious revenue
> generation tool......... tough
> row to hoe. Maybe if you are a newbie just starting
> out and trying to
> guage the market and the opinions of your work......
> or for ANY cashflow at
> all ......then it's still useful. But if you
> have been around for a
> while............ not the way to go. Too much work,
> not enough money.
>
> Takes you away from what you do best too......
> making clay stuff.
>
> Every town now seems to have at least one handcraft
> shop .... and many more
> within a few miles drive. The "traveling road show"
> is no longer a
> necessity to find good crafts. Many artists now
> have small (or large)
> showrooms in their studios... and people come to see
> the artist, his/her
> lifestyle and workshop, and to buy. The needs that
> a craftsfair once met
> for our customers are no longer so relavent.
>
> I forget who coined this phrase.... think it was
> potter Ken
> Russell........ it showed up on the Compuserve
> Crafts Forum a long time
> ago...... but the "Crocheted Pink Poodle Ketchup
> Bottle Cover" (CPPKBC) is
> what many people think of when they hear "Craft
> Fair" these days. Hence we
> have invented the "Fine Craft Fair" term to
> differentiate. Would that be
> as opposed to "Unfine Crafts" ?
>
>
>
> Any other opinions on this? I think it is a useful
> topic for this forum
> because it will help newer potters to set realistic
> expectations about the
> craft fair world. My own experience is that I don't
> do well enough to
> justify continuing doing fairs. When I figure the
> true cost of booth fees,
> lost production time, travel expenses, etc., my
> return is just not
> satisfactory. I have one more committed and it will
> very likely be my
> last.
>
>
> Hear, hear! O so true.
>
> I no longer do many craft fairs and haven't for some
> time (many, many
> years). They are simply not worth it. I do the
> annual League of NH
> Craftsmen's Fair (oldest continuous one in the
> country...... 68th year this
> year...usually about 35 - 40K people attend each
> year) and the VERY local
> Wilton Art and Film Fest (a couple thousand attend
> and I do it solely for
> the local "community spirit", not the money).
>
> I have a showroom in the studio, a few galleries,
> occasional exhibitions,
> the website, and the above fairs. That's it. Sort
> of the "Mayor mel
> approach" .... draw that X mile circle around your
> home and sell to it. As
> a one person artist craftsman.... I can only make so
> much stuff a
> year...... and that is a significant marketing
> strategy. Limited supply.
> The last thing I would want to do is hire employees
> to make my designs
> . My absolute maximum production is only about
> 2500-3000 pots a year
> with the type of complexity I put into pieces (lots
> of faceting, carving,
> slip inlay, and so on, plus wood firing).
>
> I think you need to think of the economics of a fair
> this way: As a craft
> fair participant....you are a RETAILER, not a
> potter. Yes... you are a
> retailer that happens to know a LOT about pottery
> . In fact....you do
> it as your other job. You also keep in good
> communication with your
> pottery sources , so that they get good feedback
> from the fairs. But
> when you do a fair.... your job is to SELL pots....
> not make them.
>
> As a retailer you are "buying" the pots from a
> potter (who just happens to
> be yourself) and typically the mark-up is 100
> percent on claywork. So if
> you sell $1000 worth of pots in a day retail.....
> you "bought" them for
> $500. So as a retailer, you really only made $500
> for the day... the other
> part was the direct cost of goods sold.
>
>
>
>
>
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Rowdy Dragon Pottery on sun 19 aug 01
Jennifer Boyer wrote:
>John's post really hit home for me(potter 30 year, used to do
>lots of shows, now do 2) Cheryl, but you NEED to do shows if
>you're just starting out. You need to watch people handle your
>pots, and listen to what they say about them. It's invaluable.
>You can do them for the education, rather than for the money.
>And there is still money to be made, just not as much as in the
>past. So GO for it!
I just got home from my first real marketing, my first fair, a 20 booth
(one other potter) event in a small suburban community. It was an
incredible experience, primarily for the reason Jennifer mentions: the
opportunity to observe people interact with my pots. I showed mostly
serving bowls, platters, bottles, planters, and vases. About two thirds
were high fire reduction stoneware, the remaining third soda fired. The
palette for the reduction included yellows, browns, oranges (peach shino,
for instance), and blacks with green highlights. Only one blue to be
seen. The soda was mainly bare clay with slip accents (flashing slip or a
black breaking blue). I was thrilled to see people drawn to the soda on
dark stoneware and to other pieces that I would have thought would appeal
only to other potters. In general they liked the work for the right
reasons. So for now I know that the direction I want to go with my work is
one that these customers can appreciate.
For Cheryl (the original poster) and others considering a first foray into
fairs, I echo Jennifer's "Go for it!" Imagine the affirmation and warmth
I felt when I opened the first two bungees on my booth this morning and
found a beautiful flower arrangement from one of yesterday's customers ("to
accent your beautiful orange bowls"). And what can be more encouraging
than having the customer who came back today with his family for a third
piece ask how he could see the rest of my work, knowing that I was thirty
miles away.
Money wasn't my object. I wanted feedback, both given and observed, and I
wanted to develop a customer/prospect list of 15 people with serious
interest in my work. That I paid for my booth fee and for my booth and
other display fixtures was wonderful. But it is nowhere as valuable as
having had the opportunity to see people and pots connect--and to see how
they did so.
I hope to be putting some booth shots up on my website soon (will send a
post when ready) and would love any feedback folks could give.
Neil Berkowitz
In sunny Seattle, floating on the experience of the weekend.
Paul Gerhold on mon 20 aug 01
To John and all,
I have been making my full time living for thirteen years doing outdoor shows
and have the following comments for what they are worth:
1. Nobody I know who does shows seriously thinks a thousand dollars a day is
a good show. Probably double or triple that as a minimum. I have done zero
shows and I have had 20K shows but I would guess an average day is around
$2500. That is not including this year which pretty much stinks.
2. Yes the cost of doing shows is expensive but then so is a gallery taking
50% never mind the top galleries in the food chain are almost all consignment.
3. Doing shows as opposed to galleries allows the artist a lot more creative
freedom. Just look at all the once innovative potters and artists that get
locked into a rut because that type of work is the only thing the galleries
will buy.
4. The other wonderful benefit to doing shows at least for me is that all the
traveling allows me with proper scheduling to visit all the museums and
galleries that I would probably never see otherwise
5. Most of the artists who do the shows are incredibly wonderful people. I
would also add that most of the customers are a pleasure to deal with. You
also meet a lot of students at shows and can hopefully give them some
inspiration and a feeling that there is an embracing community out there if
they want to persue an art career.
6. On the downside of doing shows are bad weather, car problems, occasional
inconsiderate neighbors , too long hours etc.
Will I continue to do shows-you bet. Galleries will always be there as a part
time option which will probably be a larger source of income as I get older.
But right now the road beckons . I'm off to Sausalito followed by two weeks
in Yosemite and then Plaza on the way home. It's a great life!
Paul
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