julie milazzo on thu 15 may 03
Hey all!
I had an interesting experience the first weekend in May. I had applied to a big, juried art festival, and waited on pins and needles until I found out I got in. It was to be my first big, real art festival. No more T-shirt vendors, and wooden lawn butts. It was juried. It was real!
So, I packed up and drove seven hours, and as we began setting up (I'll leave all of my judgement errors and mistakes out of this little letter...), I noticed that the woman to my right had as her "art" silk flowers, in glass fishbowls, with stones in the bottom, and resin poured in to look like water. Across from me was a T-shirt vendor. Since when is a sea turtle, painted on a Hanes considered "fiber arts"?
Anyway, at the opening party Friday night, the flower lady easily made a thousand dollars. I sold a mug. I was hating life. Saturday morning I watched her sell several thousand dollars more in flowers, as I stood there, fake smile, watching as people walked by, saying, "Look at these pretty pots...OOOOOHHHH LOOK AT THEM FLOWERS! THEY LOOK ALMOST REAL!!!" Invariably, they would walk poff, having paid a hundred and twenty five dollars for something that I could have done for ten bucks at Walmart.
Then, and thank God, things started happening for me. I got several people in a row who recognized the uniqueness and quality of my work. I sold several hundred dollars worth in the next hour, before it quieted down again. Woohoo! I was especially pleased, because after perusing the other pottery booths, and realizing that no one else had mugs for over seven dollars, and no one had mugs that weren't blue, I figured mine would be a hard sell. They start at twenty two dollars, and they are not blue, but they're trimmed on the bottoms, with hand pulled handles, and they take awhile to throw, stamp, trim, handle, slip the inside, etc. They're worth more.
Okay, so I made some sales. Then, on my first pee brake (around three), my boyfriend came running up to the portapotties, and yelled for me to come out, and that I had just won first place in the pottery division. I thought he was joking, and was miffed that my break was being ruined, but it turned out to be true! I won three hundred fifty dollars and a big fat ribbon! Woo hoo!
The next day, my sales were even better, and a lot of people said they missed this kind of craftsmanship in shows. They're a little sick of pots slapped together, with ill-fitting lids and sloppy blue glaze. Nothing against blue, but it really was EVERYWHERE. People are sick of it; at least the people who bought my pots are.
So anyway, I made some sales, which i might not have made at a high-end show where wvwryone else is really good. I most likely would not have won a prize, and I did it without any gimmicks. Lots of nice bowls, a few jars, some mugs, all pieces that I really liked. I plan to do this show again next year, and am looking to do others, while slowly working up my confidence and experience to run with the big dogs.
The one thing I will do differently for next year, is make more mugs and low end items. I didn't sell any of my twenty inch diameter bowls, which were three hundred fifty dollars. It seemed that the mugs went the fastest, and everything else under two hundred bucks was fair game, but no one would pay more than that for anything. Good to know. This probably would not hold true for higher end shows, but it'll be a good guide for next year... Jules
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Pamela Watkins on thu 15 may 03
What an inspiring read Jules as I, too am in the position of doing my first crappy art show, juried as well, this weekend and asserting my position as an artist!!! Pins and needles abound as my Grolleg porcelain platter of 15 in diam. with a brilliant slip design just exploded in my bisq. start..........refer to my earlier post for help that has been inadverdently ignored or not yet seen by an potter with advice.
Any way I've got plenty other vases,vessels,bowls,and plates of quality along with my high dollar Raku items, and two smaller groovy plates to finish tonite. No fret, but I'm anxious to see what the buyers are like. And anxious to get up in the crowd with the big dogs as well.....
Just thought I'd throw in my congrats as our stories paralleled. I'm hoping my first will go as well as yours at least. (Freak ! I hope the lady with silk flowers is not next to me Saturday, don't know if I could handle it 'grin').
Peace~
Pamela aka Jaq
julie milazzo wrote:
Hey all!
I had an interesting experience the first weekend in May. I had applied to a big, juried art festival, and waited on pins and needles until I found out I got in. It was to be my first big, real art festival. No more T-shirt vendors, and wooden lawn butts. It was juried. It was real!
So, I packed up and drove seven hours, and as we began setting up (I'll leave all of my judgement errors and mistakes out of this little letter...), I noticed that the woman to my right had as her "art" silk flowers, in glass fishbowls, with stones in the bottom, and resin poured in to look like water. Across from me was a T-shirt vendor. Since when is a sea turtle, painted on a Hanes considered "fiber arts"?
Anyway, at the opening party Friday night, the flower lady easily made a thousand dollars. I sold a mug. I was hating life. Saturday morning I watched her sell several thousand dollars more in flowers, as I stood there, fake smile, watching as people walked by, saying, "Look at these pretty pots...OOOOOHHHH LOOK AT THEM FLOWERS! THEY LOOK ALMOST REAL!!!" Invariably, they would walk poff, having paid a hundred and twenty five dollars for something that I could have done for ten bucks at Walmart.
Then, and thank God, things started happening for me. I got several people in a row who recognized the uniqueness and quality of my work. I sold several hundred dollars worth in the next hour, before it quieted down again. Woohoo! I was especially pleased, because after perusing the other pottery booths, and realizing that no one else had mugs for over seven dollars, and no one had mugs that weren't blue, I figured mine would be a hard sell. They start at twenty two dollars, and they are not blue, but they're trimmed on the bottoms, with hand pulled handles, and they take awhile to throw, stamp, trim, handle, slip the inside, etc. They're worth more.
Okay, so I made some sales. Then, on my first pee brake (around three), my boyfriend came running up to the portapotties, and yelled for me to come out, and that I had just won first place in the pottery division. I thought he was joking, and was miffed that my break was being ruined, but it turned out to be true! I won three hundred fifty dollars and a big fat ribbon! Woo hoo!
The next day, my sales were even better, and a lot of people said they missed this kind of craftsmanship in shows. They're a little sick of pots slapped together, with ill-fitting lids and sloppy blue glaze. Nothing against blue, but it really was EVERYWHERE. People are sick of it; at least the people who bought my pots are.
So anyway, I made some sales, which i might not have made at a high-end show where wvwryone else is really good. I most likely would not have won a prize, and I did it without any gimmicks. Lots of nice bowls, a few jars, some mugs, all pieces that I really liked. I plan to do this show again next year, and am looking to do others, while slowly working up my confidence and experience to run with the big dogs.
The one thing I will do differently for next year, is make more mugs and low end items. I didn't sell any of my twenty inch diameter bowls, which were three hundred fifty dollars. It seemed that the mugs went the fastest, and everything else under two hundred bucks was fair game, but no one would pay more than that for anything. Good to know. This probably would not hold true for higher end shows, but it'll be a good guide for next year... Jules
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