Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Art Fair Failure? Not so Fast!


Sometimes you can't see the bigger picture until a few days later. I attended an art fair last weekend and the sales were dismal. After traveling an hour one way and all the time spent setting up and taking down (which included my hubby's time!) I left wondering if art fairs were even worth the effort. But as I reflected on the day there were a few bright spots. First, you always meet wonderful people. Fellow artists are always so friendly and willing to assist in anyway, but I also met some folks who made the trip worthwhile. First was an adorable young lad, I'm guessing was about 10 years old who purchased one of my "Itty Bitty" paintings. These are tiny 2"x2" canvas' that include the mini easel for $5.00. I sold out of these the first day and all to children, but my favorite was the young boy. He gave me his five dollars and I placed his painting in a small plastic bag. As he turned to leave my booth he made a point of turning back to me and stating, "Keep up the good work." I just had to laugh at his wise old advice. "Yes Sir! I will!"

My second memorable encounter was from a lady I'd guess to be late 20's, early 30's. On a whim, at the last minute I had grabbed all my "junk" paintings, samples, test sheets and threw them into a print rack and marked it "Bargain Bin." As it turned out, the bargain bin was the only reason I made a profit this weekend. Anyway, this young lady spent probably 10 minutes looking through my bin. Back and forth through the papers and scratched up frames and finally made her selection. When she brought it to me with cash in hand, she asked me to sign it, which I happily did and she proceeded to tell me how thrilled she was to be able to afford an "original" piece of art. Her obvious joy just melted my heart and reminded me how easy it is to bring others pleasure with our creations and that I was that same person a few years ago-dreaming of the luxury of affording an original art piece.  I hope she treasures it forever.

Besides the meetings of some wonderful folks the art fair was not a complete bust, because to date, I have been invited to a Gallery and two more art fairs. I guess you just never know where opportunities will knock. Happy Painting! Terri

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