Salem, day 0
Jul. 16th, 2015 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrIt's days like today that I really appreciate how much Denise does for me.
Today is set up day for the Salem Art Fair. It's a new show for us, supposedly the biggest art fair in Oregon, and it's close enough that we can commute and sleep at home. But Denise has a long-term client who she always meets Thursdays, and since we're commuting, Denise can stay home and work with her while I set up alone.
Alone.
It starts out okay. The line is very short for registration, and I can park almost right in front of my booth, give or take half a car-length of the car-and-trailer down the row. But everything just takes longer. I'm used to Denise doing stuff while I do other stuff. I unload the booth and she hangs the sidewalls; she pulls out shelving ladders while I haul out boxes; she sets out stands while I move the van. Some jobs we do together; it's just easier to set up shelves, shim and level and stake down the display with more than one person.
It takes me a bit over an hour just to unload the van, with time to raise the roof so I've got somewhere to put the pots. There's a pronounced drop from back of booth to front, nearly four inches over eight feet, so it takes another hour and change to set up and stabilize the bench and shelves. By the time I get all of the display hardware, bowl stands and pitcher blocks and grid panel out and sorted, it's nearly 5 o'clock.
Fortunately, the fair provides a dinner/supper voucher on set up day, so I take a break for a salmon burger and chips before I risk handling pottery.
Once I start setting out pots, everything goes much faster. We've got a system for packing up pots that means we don't have to stop and think about what goes where; everything comes out of the box in the order it's shelved. On a typical Saturday Market morning, it'd take us about 30 minutes to set out pots. By myself--you guessed it--another hour. All told, it's four hours between the time I check in and the time I hit the road. Not too bad.
I'm liking what I see of the show so far. The layout seems simple and well thought out. I'm not far off the main path, not far from the portapots, far enough away from the stage, uphill, that I sound shouldn't be a problem. Too early to tell what the food is like, but the salmon burger wasn't half bad. My neighbors all seem nice, though I wonder how I'll feel about Jendala's bells by Sunday.
The park is nicely wooded, with a big oak tree shading our booth. Just one thing though? What is up with this sign?
Today is set up day for the Salem Art Fair. It's a new show for us, supposedly the biggest art fair in Oregon, and it's close enough that we can commute and sleep at home. But Denise has a long-term client who she always meets Thursdays, and since we're commuting, Denise can stay home and work with her while I set up alone.
Alone.
It starts out okay. The line is very short for registration, and I can park almost right in front of my booth, give or take half a car-length of the car-and-trailer down the row. But everything just takes longer. I'm used to Denise doing stuff while I do other stuff. I unload the booth and she hangs the sidewalls; she pulls out shelving ladders while I haul out boxes; she sets out stands while I move the van. Some jobs we do together; it's just easier to set up shelves, shim and level and stake down the display with more than one person.
It takes me a bit over an hour just to unload the van, with time to raise the roof so I've got somewhere to put the pots. There's a pronounced drop from back of booth to front, nearly four inches over eight feet, so it takes another hour and change to set up and stabilize the bench and shelves. By the time I get all of the display hardware, bowl stands and pitcher blocks and grid panel out and sorted, it's nearly 5 o'clock.
Fortunately, the fair provides a dinner/supper voucher on set up day, so I take a break for a salmon burger and chips before I risk handling pottery.
Once I start setting out pots, everything goes much faster. We've got a system for packing up pots that means we don't have to stop and think about what goes where; everything comes out of the box in the order it's shelved. On a typical Saturday Market morning, it'd take us about 30 minutes to set out pots. By myself--you guessed it--another hour. All told, it's four hours between the time I check in and the time I hit the road. Not too bad.
I'm liking what I see of the show so far. The layout seems simple and well thought out. I'm not far off the main path, not far from the portapots, far enough away from the stage, uphill, that I sound shouldn't be a problem. Too early to tell what the food is like, but the salmon burger wasn't half bad. My neighbors all seem nice, though I wonder how I'll feel about Jendala's bells by Sunday.
The park is nicely wooded, with a big oak tree shading our booth. Just one thing though? What is up with this sign?