I will begin my conversation on weekly art festivals with these photos of me from above. A fellow artist came by and took a bunch of pics. I pretended to be a tiger, to walk down some fake stairs, a serious Lolita face… It was all about laughing and being silly. That’s the cool part of being with a group of artists.
The other part is that it is TOUGH, EXHAUSTING, GRUELING, WORK.
I just never realized how tough it could be.
In a matter of a few hours you have to:
1.Gut your car
2.Load a tent, walls, weights and about ten crates of items to sell.
3. Get to festival site. Unload tent, walls, weights and ten crates of artwork.
4. Set up booth and make it look as beautiful as you possibly can in 40 minutes.
5. Smile, be friendly and talk about yourself and your artwork for 4 hours.
6. Pack up entire booth in pitch darkness.
7. Load tent, walls, weights and ten crates of art materials back into car.
8. Drive home at 9:30pm and Unload tent, wall, weights and ten crates so you can use your car again in the morning to ferry your kids :)
I am telling you selling your wares, in a booth, at a weekly festival, is TOUGH, EXHAUSTING and GRUELING WORK.
What makes it do-able. LAUGHTER! LAUGHTER! LAUGHTER!
I simply crack jokes. Find something – anything – to engage and talk to passers-by.
Being completely silly with the artists to my left and to my right. That’s how I get through the grueling work.
Here were some photos from my booth. mind you it was dusk under a tent, so they aren’t the best, but you can catch a glimpse of some of the things I was selling.
Ask me if I’d do it again?
Today I’d tell you – HECK NO!
Ask me in February and I’ll say “oh yeah, that was really funny…I could do that again…”
It happens every year. Winter amnesia.
If I’m being serious. I have two thoughts about it.
- There has to be a better way to get my art out to people without it having to take such a physical toll on my mind and on my body.
- If I did it again, I’d REALLY have to go through my books, figure out what sold the most and streamline what I bring. I brought too much every week and it almost killed me!
At the moment, I am philosophising on -THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY.
I am going to find it darn it. Just you watch!
Be Creative Mary 
Mary, you will find a better way. You are an amazing artist. You give so much to the world. Keep going girl! I love how you find ideas to make art in so many ways. I love it all. Thanks for sharing!
I know i Know i know .How you feel .You sound just like me.When you find another way let me know l.o.l
Thanks for reaching out and letting me know I’m not alone. My right-brained computer business husband says to me ” it’s better than a desk job right? ” which I kind of interpret as stop complaining snowflake. But there in lies the problem. This is not easy-Peazy work. It is grueling. You spend months and months creating work and then have people stand in front of you and ask if they can pay half. It is physically grueling. If I make it look easy and like I really am a dancing snowflake, then I must be doing a good job. Because it totally is not that! Lol
This is the problem with buying from places like China, India and Vietnam. We want everything cheap, cheap, cheap and don’t want to pay for people’s time and talent. I believe in buying American or Canadian but we have to pay more so that North Americans can make a decent living.
Amen Sista!