July

I really though July would be a quiet month. 

I don't have any road shows scheduled; the only one I applied for waitlisted me. And in the meantime, I agreed to teach a printmaking workshop that weekend, so Salem is off the table.

I also agreed to teach printmaking the following weekend, to our book arts group. And since I'm not traveling this month, I figured I'd also help out with Club Mud's group booth at Art and the Vineyard.

You see where I'm going, here?

Oh lord, I've been busy. And the month's barely started.

We got back from Roseburg Sunday night. Had a good show, perfect weather, sales up a little from last year. My favorited Russian-American teenager (who'd walked into my booth as a ten-year-old, proclaiming I love this store! This is my favorite store!) was back with her Russian-speaking grandma. All those years ago, she'd talked her бабушка into buying a cat food bowl. This year, they got another, a grey one to match her кошка. (She showed me a pic on her phone.)

But Monday morning I was in the studio throwing pots. Afternoon sorting and resetting the van for Saturday Market. Tuesday much the same, though I was sorting and counting pots for Art and the Vineyard. Wednesday afternoon was AtV setup, Thursday I biked down to do a 2-5 pm sales shift, Friday afternoon I demo'd for a mixed group of adults, security personnel, and fascinated kids, including a Spanish-speaking family (¿Como se dice "bottle" in Español? I asked a little girl, as I made one. Botella, supplies her dad.) and a group of three girls and a boy visiting from Hong Kong, who came back four times, once with their mom/aunt (two pairs of siblings, cousins to each other), who eventually bought them a mug and small pitcher? ( I also sold an eagle mug to a young woman who's taking it back to Korea.)

All the while continuing mornings and evenings in the studio.

Saturday, we did Market, as usual, but after supper I drove back to AtV to pack up my pots, as I couldn't get them 7 am on Sunday.

And on the seventh day, he rested.

I jokes. On the seventh day, I trimmed bowls and colanders, re-inventoried what pots were left from Art and the Vineyard, set up a shelter in the back yard for Denise's summer paper making marathon (mowing the grass first), hauled all my pots from the last week outside to dry, then back in to load a kiln, watered the garden, picked beans and snow peas and raspberries.

Is it any wonder I'm weeks behind here?

Your mileage may vary

One of the hardest questions I get from other artists is, I see you just got back from [show]. Is it a good show?

The short answer is, it is for me. The long answer is... complicated.

You see, implicit in their question is, Should I try to get in [show]? Would I sell well there?

Quite apart from the fact that I have no idea how to sell anything but pottery--specifically my pottery--there are other circumstances to consider.

I do a number of small, regional shows, second- or third-tier art fairs, because when I first started to venture out of Eugene, I was cautious. I did shows with a low booth fee, shows where I could commute from home (or, in the case of my first Seattle shows, stay with family, literally across the street). Shows where the jury competition wasn't so stiff, that I actually could get into. (Later, as my work got better, my jury slides more professional, my confidence greater, I added a few bigger ticket shows--this post isn't about them as much.)

The returns on these small shows weren't huge, but neither was the investment. I stuck with them, though, grew my audience, and now, 15 or 20 years later, they're worth doing. ( A few weren't, of course. I don't go to Bend, anymore, or Coupeville, and I'm definitely never gonna do Best of the Northwest again.)

So I guess my answer is, Try it and see. Give it at least two years, three would be better. If the second isn't better than the first, or the third better than the second--first year numbers can skew high just from novelty. Second and third will show if customers are coming back--go somewhere else. Try to factor in mitigating circumstances, like rain, or 100° heat, but the bottom line is, is your bottom line growing? If so, keep coming back. (Or not; only you can be the judge of your own success.)

There was just a guest on a recent Productivity Alchemy who summed it up nicely. Talking about their experience selling at conventions, they said, I wasn't always where I am now; it takes time. don't expect instant success.