I Survived the Show!

This weekend's incarnation of the booth setup. It worked okay,
but there will be layout changes for the next show. Granted, I was half-asleep
when setting up, so it's a miracle anything is upright and organized!

This weekend was my first art show in many months, and I went into it with equal parts excitement and dread.  Not dreading the show itself, but worried that after several months away from doing shows, I would forget something crucial, like a vital part of my tent.  Or all of my jewelry.  Or my pants.

I'm happy to report that I did remember to wear pants.  Both days.  Win!

We were supposed to set up on Friday evening at 7:30 (they had to let cars clear out of the town's center before letting the artists invade).  At 6:00, it was raining, with predictions of continued rain and gusty winds until after midnight.  Been there, done that, could do without it again.  So sweet husband agreed to help me set up the next morning at 6 a.m. (putting him on the fast track to sainthood).

The next morning was dry and clear. And early.  Drag-your-butt-out-of-bed-at-4:30 a.m.-to-shower-and-dress early. After setting up, sweet husband went home with all good intentions of not going back to bed.  Intentions that went out the window about 30 minutes after he got home.

Most shows involve a story about a neighboring artist. This time is was the stogie-chomping neighbor.  Mercifully, he didn't light up the big ol' cigar he kept clenched between his teeth.  But he did talk. A lot. Bless his heart, he was so eager to share the stories of his work that he'd chat the ears off his customers.  I saw more than one couple flee, heads down, without a backward glance.  On the bright side, if he'd had to step away, I could have told any of his customers all about each piece from having heard the stories so many times!

There were no jingly men or killer cicadas at this show, but there were a couple of toddler meltdowns, including a hysterically funny moment when a boy who looked about 2 or 3 sat down in the middle of the street and said, very emphatically and in a voice that must have been an imitation of what he'd heard his mother say a thousand times to him, "No, no, no and NO!"  Every parent in the vicinity chuckled.

My learning takeaway of the weekend was just how rough I look at the end of the day when I've been up and working hard since 4:30.  It was not pretty.  On the bright side, I slept REALLY well!

The best line of the weekend had to come from a lady who, after looking at some of the beadwoven pieces said, "I appreciate that you price your work according to the Pain In The Butt factor that was involved."  So my new pricing formula may be

materials x 2 x PITB factor = wholesale price...