Fur In The Paint

In Part 1 of Art Fair Tents I discussed the two main types of tents. In Part 2 we’ll talk a bit about weight and stakes.

Art Fair Canopys are really just big hang gliders. The slightest wind and they will take off untethered.We actually use tractor weights which are big flat slabs of metal that weigh about 90# each. One per corner. If things seem really bad we may put one in the center of the tent and cross tie it. Barring the fact that you may not have a few tractor weights laying around the PVC things works well if done carefully. Also an artist friend of mine created Happi Feet weights for tents. Exact same premise as our tractor weights, the weight is on the ground on each leg.

The main thing to know about EZ-Ups is to NOT hang weight on them. I don’t care if you bought some super cool mesh walls that claim they work with EZ-Ups. Don’t do it. The tent can hold weight on a windless day, but if you get a stiff breeze the weight that normally hangs straight down begins to sway and pull. If you have enough weight or it’s windy enough this pulling will cause the corner brackets to break and occasionally the metal will tear where it’s bolted through. Once this happens it will collapse like the heap of pixie sticks that it is.

The same can be said of hanging weights from the tent to hold it earthbound. If you are going to hang weights (many people fill pvc pipe with concrete to make their own weights) you should strap it to the pole leg with velcro or something to keep the pulling thing from happening.

And Lastly a few random thoughts
Get 4-6 dog stakes (the cork screw king) straight stakes aren’t usually all that effective. The only time we use straight stakes is if it’s really windy and we already have all 6 dog stakes in.

Use Cambuckles instead of rope Rope stretches when wet. And this is probably one of those things that goes without saying (and yet I feel the need too because I’ve seen them used) never use bungee straps.

Use real weights. DON”T use water jugs, buckets filled with sand (or water), barbells or your artwork.

It may seem odd that since I’m surrounded by mountains of snow to start talking about art fair tents but the season is fast approaching (as evidenced by the myriad of applications going out.) So here’s a brief post discussing the two main types of tent used for fair and festivals and the benefits and drawbacks of each.

But first I want to say that you should get only a white tent. It allows in the most light and shows your work to it’s best advantage. Colored tent cast a glow onto the work and at dusk turn your booth into a cave. Many an artists says “Yeah, but my purple (red, blue, black) tent stands out. People can spot in a sea of white tents. If you want to be noticed. Hang flags, create color full banners don’t go with a colored tent.

Most art fair canopies come in two main types.
1. EZ-Up type (pointy top) Other brands are KD Canopy, First Up and Caravan.
2. Craft Hut type (Dome or Hoop top.) Trimline and Lightdome

I am going to use the brand name of the big dogs of each type to identify the style of tent I’m talking about. (It seemed easier than #1 or #2)

EZ Up is the most common of it’s type because of availability and cost.
These tents tend to be:
* very light weight
* not all that sturdy
* and in a heavy downpour they not water proof. (You can buy a water proof spray coat and take care of that yourself.)

On the other hand they are
* lightweight this is both a plus and a drawback.
* quick to set up, though still much easier with two people despite what the box says
* cheap if they do get trashed they are easy and cheap to replace. it is available at Sam’s Club for around $200.

The Craft Hut
* Very sturdy and water proof
* More difficult and time consuming to assemble
* Cost between $800-1500 depending on brand, model and features. If they get damaged your replacement parts cost will be high as would be buying a whole new tent.

I have said previously EZ-Up tents work just fine if you know how to use them. But since their main market is for newbies they often end in disaster. Many artists think that these type of tents are the mark of a non professional. But I also know allot of artists (myself included) who have been doing event forever. Many have had the more expensive then reverted back to the cheap and easy because replacement costs were much easier to deal with. I also know several artists who use the Craft Hut type for multi day show and EZ Ups for one day shows.

So I guess my point is they both serve the same function just differently and if you have the knowledge how to use them to their advantage either tent will work exceptionally well.

Upcoming Posts:
Additional art fairs post covering weighting and staking your tents as well as items that you should pack when doing events.
Also a new Ask The Budda

So the event went pretty well. The first couple of hours things sold fast and furious. Had it maintained that pace it would have been excellent. But alas, no. It was still considerably better than Waterloo though.

The event had around 100 artists this year. And we painters had a good showing which was nice to see. The event doesn’t offer up what everybody does so I can’t really give you a breakdown on how many painters or potters or jewelers there were. If I were to guess I’d say there was about 20 2D wall artists of various mediums.

Also I did have two other painters within 3 booth of mine. Both selling reasonably priced original work. One hadn’t sold anything as of mid afternoon Sunday a few hours before close of show. (Note: she usually does a high volume of sales. So this is extremely rare.) The other did well as I seen a couple of her originals go.

I mostly sold notecards and $25 open edition mini prints. But I sold enough of them to be contented.

Not much new in regards to information about the event. You can check last years post on the Thieves Market for the art fair breakdown.

Thanks to everybody who came out and said “hi.” My rehabilitation is almost complete. I have almost no “weirded out” sensations at all, when I meet someone who says they read my blog. Almost.

Coming Up
While at the event I created my Christmas Card image for this year and will post it next. I’ll also talk a little about some new art materials I tried out. And lastly I’m going to begin a new horse portrait (as it is for Xmas gift) so I must set Big Al aside for a couple weeks.

Note: The reason the booth looks a little wonky at the back is because it was open in the center so people could walk through to the back side where I was sitting. My location allowed for thi which it usually doesn’t. For the most part when viewed from straight on it looked like a solid booth wall.

We leave today for the Holiday Thieves Market held at the Iowa Memorial Union at the U of I campus in Iowa City. (and yes it’s Iowa City, Iowa) The above link should tell you the hours. If I weren’t so lazy, in such hurry to get moving I’d go check it out and post them. But alas . . .

This is our last event for the year. After this we are free and clear until May. (Sweet) Of course it always looks good on this side of things to be footloose and fancy free for 5 months. But after a few months roll by, I get kinda anxious to be out on the circuit again. Maybe it’s just cabin fever since it always happens in the winter.

We got just enough snow to make it feel a little more like Christmas. So hopefully the shoppers will be out en masse. See you all on Tuesday. Unless I came back with a caffeine high (like I did last) time and blogged on my return day. Or better yet, those of you who can, stop by at the event and say hello.

My Booth at the Waterloo Holiday Art Festival

So here’s the scoop. As I said it was a mediocre event sales-wise for me. It appears (as so many are) to be turning into a jewelry/pottery show. Yes they had other artworks (like glass) but it was heavy in those things.

I believe the crowds were also down this year. The Patron Party was amazingly small. (mostly artists) They do have quite a good Patron system and many came on Sunday, just not for the party.

They had a Carribean theme going with the food and music. They had a wine bar (with glasses for purchase.) And a free buffet was chips with various dips, Jerked chicken, shrimp and fruit kabobs. The food was far less exotic than before but still pretty good. (Though with my hick-a-billy heritage if it’s anything more than pizza rolls or cheese whiz on a cracker I’m impressed.)

So here’s the up-side and down-low as I see it for this event.

First the good stuff

Though with my hick-a-billy heritage if it’s anything more than pizza rolls or cheese whiz on a cracker, I’m impressed.

The Down-Low

The artist/work distribution
They had around 55-58 artists. (some didn’t show)
15 jewelers
13 potters
6 glass artists
6 wood (this is anything from pens to tables)
5 metal
5 fiber (scarves, clothing etc)
4 Painters (2 watercolorists, an oil painter and myself)

As I mentioned in the last post I probably won’t do this event again. We made enough money to make it worth our while. And if I had nothing else going on, I probably would do it again and hope for better sales. But the gallery is busy and while gone I got web orders and email orders. At this point I need to factor in if closing the gallery is worth it. For this event, it was not. Perhaps when the economy really picks up I may try it again. You never know.

Today we leave for Waterloo to do their Holiday Festival. Tonight they have a patron party that we can sell at. This is the first time they have allowed sales at the patron party. (Umm . . . yeah, I know right.) Plus they do a fancy wine & food spread that is almost too beautiful to eat. (almost) Or at least they have in the past.

And tomorrow the event is open to all 9-4. It is held at the Waterloo Center For The Arts in Waterloo, Iowa (where else) So anyone in the area should come over and check it out.

I am hoping to see some artist friends. Most of those who I asked this summer if they were doing the event said “No way.” Sales last year weren’t good. (I was doing the Two Rivers event last year.) But then again if they’re anything like me they decided to do it at the last minute, because it’s not a terribly expensive event to do and you never know.

With that in mind, I leave optimistic and hopeful. May the artfair juju be with me.

Note: I did not create the above logo. I just uploaded the image before realizing I left my copyright on it. I’m sure it is copyrighted by the center or something. Just not by me.

Art Fair Insider has once again honored me by re-posting one of my Art Fair related posts on their blog. (thank you) It’s an interesting site with loads of features. Anyone working the circuit or thinking about it, should give the site a looky-see.

Speaking of Art Fairs
So the past 7 weeks have blown by and I am knee deep in inventory and packing for an event this weekend in Waterloo, Iowa. You know from the other side, 7 weeks seems like an eternity to do inventory and replenish stock. And so I wait to do it. And do something more fun like . . . start a new painting. But now I’m on this side of those 7 weeks and kicking myself. (sigh)

As per my usual after a long break, I am looking forward to the money but not so much to all of the hauling and toting involved. But I’m sure, as is also my usual, once there I will be having a great time.

Plus, since we are going to a larger city (by real world standards it is probably considered a really small city, but when you live in a town of 700 . . . .) I should be able to find an art shop to restock some WC Pencils and find some frisket film. Hobby Lobby came up bupkiss. I came home with some re-positionable book covering material but is so low tack it’s pretty well useless.

Once again the gallery has been busy (Yay!) but this also means not much new work has been done on Spanish Gold- Andalusian Stallion. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be far enough along to be worthy of posting a WIP.

The sales
The Octagon Art Festival is put on by the Octagon Arts Center in Ames, Iowa. It’s held outdoors on their rather scenic and historic main street. For the low-down on the perks and problems of this event, check out last years post on the Octagon Art Fair.

Firstly, the sales (for me) were really good. But several of my painter friends were not as happy. Ames is kinda made for me (though I have had an occasional bad show there) with the USDA Veterinary Labs located there as well as a Equine Veterinary College (Ummmm hummmm) Sales-wise it was a good way to end the outdoor season.

And then there was the weather
Since this event is so late in the year the weather is almost always questionable. Aaaannnddd despite their being 0% chance for rain and temps in the low 80’s (sounds a little like paradise doesn’t it) we once again wound up feeling grateful that this was our last outdoor event of the season.

Actually the day started off lovely. Calm, warm and sunny. But about 2pm that began to change. (cue ominous music- theme from jaws should work.)

Also a big thanks to everybody who stopped by and said “hi” and helped me with my Weirding-Out-Because-Someone-Who-Reads-My-Blog-Is-Standing-In-Front-Of-Me recovery. (or did I decide it was therapy?)

Holy Crap-oly!
The winds whipped up to 35 mph and by dusk were blowing harder still.

Remember when I said rain was not the enemy . . . wind is. It really is. All my grumbling about packing up wet and carting out product in a downpour is nothing compared to the anxiety I feel watching my tent sway in gale force winds. I imagine Omaha has not helped me with this phobia, But still, when you hear crashing noises (followed by a group gasp) coming from down the street you begin to feel a little nervous. All the artists get anxious and frankly then the crowds get anxious. Then they stop buying and pretty much leave.

Several tents did come down in ruins. Mostly EZ-Up styles I think. I do plan on doing a post on tents sometime here because honestly EZ-Up types work fine except in the hands of novices, who of course are usually the ones using them.

We did manage to make it until close (5pm) and get packed up with no damage which required some skill on our part and a lot luck. One of my friends was not so lucky. His neighbor untied the weights from his (the neighbor’s) tent and apparently wasn’t holding on to it (idiot) because it flipped up and onto Carroll’s tent, causing it to topple.

My neighbor had his family come to help him with tear down. He had one person clinging to each leg of the tent as he was running among them bringing the tent to the ground. As he was doing this he said “And kids, this is why you need to stay in school and study hard. So you don’t ever have to do this for a living.”

Art fairs are a huge amount of fun and profit can be made but they are also risky. My best suggestion is to have insurance. Not that having it will alleviate any tension you feel during bad weather situations, but at least your covered if the worst happens.

Note: Holy Crap-oly is my new favorite “public friendly” curse word. I used it many (many) times on Sunday. I try very hard not to swear in public, (not even the public friendly kind) but in times of duress I fall back to my roots. And since I was raised by parents who swore like drunken pirates, Holy Crap-oly is downright wholesome.

Updated: Hey Olga, I wanted to get down to you. How did it go? Did you manage to get out okay? Feel free to email if you don’t want to go public.

That’s a big whoohoo!
Well I made it through a month of back to back events coupled with a full gallery load. Just one more to go and it is a one day event. So far the weather is supposed to be sunny and mid 70’s (perfect) I have done this event in a winter coat and wrapped in a blanket in years past.

Stop by and say hi, as I am almost over being weired-out about meeting the people who actually read my blog. So by stopping in, you can aid me with my recovery.

Once again I am leaving a little early so I can visit the local Zoo. This time I am going to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines. The Niabi Zoo last weekend turned out to be excellent (will post pics later.) I think from my Niabi visit, I have garnered at least a couple of painting potentials. So with any luck, Blank Park too, will be worth the time.

Anyone in the Ames and Des Moines region should come to the Octagon Art Festival. It is located downtown Ames, Iowa and is a good sized show (around 130 artists) with lots of great art.

Is it therapy or recovery? Either way . . .
My booth number is 92 and is located pretty much dead center. Stop by and say hi, as I am almost over being weirded-out about meeting the people who actually read my blog. So by stopping in, you can aid me with my recovery.

I’ll be back on Tuesday with the low down.

So we are back from Davenport Iowa. Riverssance Art Festival is located along the gorgeous Mississippi River. (you can see just a little in the photo) Anyone wanting to see the Perks and Problems with this event should read last years post on Riverrssance.

It has taken me a little longer than usual to get back to the blog. After an event I usually have a slew of emails that need addressing. The gallery also is still receiving far more visitors (both planned and unplanned) than I’m used too. Plus, as we are into our 4th week of non-stop events, I think I’m slowing down some.

. . . and nothing is more kick-in-the-butt-fun than carting out 1500 pounds of product . . . about a half block . . . on sodden grass . . . in a downpour.

The sales were quite good on Saturday. Almost like the old days, when people were excited about buying and often had to stand in line to do so. While no one stood in line last weekend the sales were steady. After a great Saturday I had high hopes for Sunday, as it wasn’t supposed to rain until late night.

Yeah, you guessed it. It was cold and rained off and on all day until around 3 when it rained in earnest. Just the threat of rain kept most folks away because this event has a gate fee so no one really wanted to spend the money in case all those ominous clouds opened up. So when it did really rain, we all ran for our vehicles and packed up early. This event won’t allow cars into the park if the rain is too heavy and nothing is more kick-in-the-butt-fun than carting out 1500 pounds of product . . . about a half block . . . on sodden grass . . . in a downpour.

Oh, the sense of humor part. Well quite literally when everyone was almost done. . . the clouds parted and the sun came out (insert angelic chorus here) and everything was all warm and glowy. (sigh.)

Artists are a superstitious bunch.
Weather is always a topic of interest at art fairs. There is nothing that gets a group of artists more panicky than to tell them bad weather is about to happen. It’s no fun packing up wet.

That’s right Bob, I blame you for the downpour due to your hubris at going canopy-less this weekend!

Even within my closest neighbors, there was much talk about bad weather juju because of something they did or did not do. My neighbor behind said when she took down her tent sides (you know because it was guaranteed not to rain that day) that if it did rain it was because she was tempting the fates but removing her side tarps.

My neighbor to my right said he brought his umbrella so now “it definitely wasn’t going to rain.”

And my neighbor to my left . . . well he was a potter who cared so little about the weather, he didn’t even have a canopy. Plus he swore the radar showed nothing. That’s right Bob, I blame you for the downpour due to your hubris at going canopy-less this weekend! So my other neighbors can rest easy because I am pretty sure it was all Bobs fault!

Updated
You know now that I think about it, there was some talk (up the row) of doing a rain dance. C’mon people! A rain dance is for making it rain! What were you thinking!

So . . . um . . . sorry Bob. But the good news is your totally off the hook for it. So . . . Um . . . your welcome.