Category: art fairs

Creativity Can Be Exhausting

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Another Art and Craft Fair in the books, and a good time was had by all.

I popped up my craft booth (after a hefty entrance fee) two blocks from one of the biggest food and music fests in Wisconsin, and sold my wares while chatting the day away.

It’s a big step from putting together crafts in your basement/library/work room to showing them off in a 10 x 10 booth in front of thousands of wanderers.

You can’t help but be filled with apprehension, self-doubt, fear, terror, and everything in between. People will love your art; people will hate your art. People will see every flaw and  crooked stone or bent edge or stray brush stroke. Your asking price is too high. Your asking price is too low.

You may believe in everything you created, but the world may not.

What then?

Outlay for a possible craft show is quite surprising up front. Materials, labor, advertising, transportation, tables, stands, all chip away at your pocketbook without one thing being sold. Can you afford the upfront costs? What will you do if your inventory outpaces your sales? Will you take orders? Make a variety of items or just one or two styles? Do you charge sales tax? Do you have business cards? Price tags? 

What if a customer wants what you don’t have?

What if a customer doesn’t want what you have?

That’s the excitement and unpredictability of Creativity. To make or not to make. To give away or sell. If you love what you’re doing you’ll always have too much of it sooner or later. I mean, how many knitted scarves or coffee mugs can you hold onto? How many Angel Tears Suncatchers can I hang on my back and front deck before I blind the neighbors?

I find you have to have an easy-going personality to take the highs and lows of salesmanship, along with a belief in your own work and worth. Making something special to share with others is a challenging foray into the Creative World. It’s planning, a bit of accounting, checking out current art and craft trends, and hoping the booth next to you isn’t selling the same thing.

It’s also the thrill of talking to people who stop by and look at your wares. The fun of listening to their stories and sharing yours. It’s the experience of someone saying how beautiful your work is, even if they don’t buy anything. It’s taking this year’s wares and adding new styles and accessories to the pot. It’s dreaming about making a few dollars on something that gave you such joy to make.

If you’ve thought about showing your wares, do it. If you don’t want to go that far, that’s okay too. Make your creative time mean something. To you, to others.

And don’t worry if it takes you a few days to recuperate.

I’ll be happy if I’m back in shape by November…..

 

 

 

 

Have You Started Being Creative Yet This Year?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 23 Comments

Here it is, only January 6th in this grand new year of 2022, and I’m already bugging you, asking if you’ve started on your “art” projects for the year.

Here in the Midwest it’s supposed to be only 9°F by the weekend. I’m busy thinking about keeping warm, let alone artsy crafty things.

But yet this is the time of year most of us start planning and preparing for the coming year. The coming spring and summer. Art fairs, garden projects, painted signs and landscapes and new numbers on our mailboxes.

Now, I don’t imagine many of us know today what we will want to display in June, but there is always some sort of creativity dancing around our auras, teasing and tempting us with new ideas and directions.

I don’t have much energy to dance with my aura at the moment.

But I do have some ideas already.

I have a little granddaughter I adore, one who loves unicorns and My Little Ponies. I’m thinking of making her — AND me — a fairy garden this spring. I’m still in the dreaming stage — I don’t know if I want a big saucer-like creation, or a little corner of the yard, or even a tiered fiasco. I admit I try not to wander Pinterest and the Internet in general for ideas, for each one brings ten more ideas into focus.

I also think about making some Buddhist stacking stone monuments around my property (they are gestures of asking or wishing for good fortune to be bestowed on the stacker and his/her family), but I need to find some stones first. Not in this weather, though.

Every day I try and go down to my library/craft room and make some Angel Tears. They may not have much sparkle in the cloudy winter, but before you know it the breezes will be blowing and the art fairs will be calling and I’ll be in need of stock.

But that’s just me.

What about you? Any creative muses knocking at your door these days? I know for some of you it is summertime. What are ya doin’? What new projects are you entertaining?

Maybe it’s just me having too much wandering mind time. I tend not to wander far from my blanket, music, computer, or hot chocolate this time of year.

But, as the wise Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

 

 

What I Learned From My Craft Fair

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 13 Comments

It was a partly sunny, partly windy Sunday afternoon at my first craft fair for Angel Tears. The crowd ebbed and flowed up and down the walk around my booth. I got a lot of compliments about the beauty of the crystals and colored stones, which I gratefully acknowledged. I perhaps made back 1/5 to 1/4  of my total first-year investment in sales, which surprised me for a first time outing.

It was a great day. A tiring day. A learning experience. Here’s some things I learned:

  • Give yourself more time than you think you need to set up. For me, two hours wasn’t nearly enough time. I know. What is there to setting up?
  • Be willing to change your layout on a whim. This spot enabled people to walk up and down both sides of the booth, and I had planned for only one side. Had to adjust so both sides could see the sparkle.
  • Some customers are chatty, some come up and say “I want this one.” Some just walk by and say “pretty.” Be friendly to all.
  • Know that setting up and taking down at a fair is a lot of work. I never underestimated the work that went into selling your wares, but I never experienced it, either. There’s a lot more to it than what you see.
  • Learn how to use your credit card reader (if you have one). My helper and I stumbled a few times in getting the darn thing to work. Embarassing.
  • Don’t take yourself so seriously. Know the day is important and stay focused, but don’t be a Debbie Downer (sorry Debbie) about everything wrong that happens. Product will blow over. Fall over. You won’t have the color or the shape or scene your customer is looking for. Oh well. It happens. 
  • Related to the above, offer to make a custom order. The customer loves a certain color or scene? If there is a real chance for a sale there, offer to make their request, unless it’s an intricate piece of work. Then it’s what’s there is there.
  • Bring everything you think you need your first time out, then trim down your supply bucket. In my case, no one wanted a receipt (except electronically), didn’t need extra  crystals or pens or, surprisingly a guest book. In my case, it was a snatch and buy business.
  • Hang your price sign high enough for people to see it. Setting it on a bucket that was holding down water jugs that held down the canopy was not an ideal site.
  • Have a helper. I can’t tell you how many times the moment’s rush almost got away from me. Maybe it’s just that I’m not a good multi-tasker. I can’t wrap and answer new questions and chat about where to hang Tears and replacing stock and trying to get the reader to work all at the same time. I’m a simpleton in that world.
  • Don’t sit all the time, nor don’t stand all the time. The small of your back and your hips will take the brunt of the abuse, and there’s nothing more embarrassing than standing up after a long time and moaning in pain.
  • And finally, have fun with your day. Observe and learn and listen. Learn where people want to put your piece, the colors they like, and which food vendor was the best. An art/craft fair is a wonderful people watching place. Don’t be afraid to make eye contact and say hello to those looking at your wares as they pass by. You never know who will come back and purchase something.

I was a nervous wreck all week, and all day before the fair started. The adrenalin kept me alert and adaptive. But when all was said and done, it was just another day.

A good day.

Be happy and thankful you were a part of it.

 

 

 

Art Can Be Found Anywhere

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

Vilas County, Wisconsin, is a small community of citizens in the almost-northern part of the state. Established in 1893, the county boasts a population of a little over 22,000 people. It’s a rural community, a farm community, and a tourist destination for fishing, hiking, and snowmobiling.

It also is the home of the Vilas County Fair.

The fair itself is small, held together by the carnival that moves in for three days and tradition of having your cows, jams, and art work judged by professionals.

The hearts and minds of artists dwell within this small community fair, too.

A competition that barely fills one pole barn, the artists of tomorrow are showing off their creativity, their inspirations, and their talent. Walking through an art show on this small of a scale can fill you with awe and pride and enchantment just as much as walking through the Milwaukee Art Museum.

No matter how big, no matter how small, you can feel the heartbeat of creativity in everything you see.

Take time to visit small art fairs, county fairs, and school art shows. You’ll love what you find.

 

Vilas County Schools Art

(for safety I did not take or record names)