As I mentioned in my brief post from a few days ago, my entire experience in Port Huron was quite interesting. This review will more than likely be a little lengthy, but trust me when I tell you it will be worth the read. A lot of what I witnessed this past weekend is nothing short of hysterical. So, with that being said, I'm just going to start my story from the beginning...
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| Boat dock close by to the festival |
Anywho, after we checked out the venue, Steve and I visited the area's tiny lighthouse. Anytime we are near water, we have to go and check it out.
We settled back into our hotel room after eating the WORST Mexican meal of my life. If you ever visit this area, do not go to Red Pepper Mexican Restaurant. The food tasted like it came straight from a can. So bland and awful! And their salsa? It came in a plastic ketchup bottle! WTF?!
Day One
I pretended to sleep that night, and at 5:00am my alarm went off. Steve and I dragged ourselves out of bed, threw some clothes on, and went to go set up my booth. The load-in was super easy. I actually didn't mind setting up that early in the morning. It was nice to see the sun come up, and there were very few people there. Most of the other artists started showing up around 7:00am. We briefly met my neighbor, a woman I will call "Kat", and Steve and I agreed she was completely nuts. You know how you can just tell after meeting certain people that they have a few loose screws? Well, Kat fit that bill. I immediately told myself I was going to keep my distance from her.
After we were done perfecting my booth, we went back to the hotel to shower and eat. It was going to be a HOT day, so we mentally prepared ourselves for the upcoming hours of heat.
The show officially opened at 11:00am. Once I got there I managed to take some shots of my booth and the street venue before it got too busy.
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| Front shot |
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| Left side of booth |
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| Right side of booth |
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| Across the street from my booth |
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| Picture of the early morning shoppers |
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| Me in my booth |
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| My view from my seat in my booth |
Steve and I settled in for the long haul-- 10 hours of booth time! The crowds were slow and sluggish during the first part of the day. It was just SO hot. I was able to walk around and visit all the booths there (hell, there were only 43 of us). One fun assignment I worked on was voting for my top ten favorite booths. All of the artists there were able to vote for their favorites, and that was how the "prizes" were distributed to the top booths at this show. I really liked that. I ended up buying a necklace from Kim O'Hara (loved, loved, lurrved her stuff). Plus, now that I've participated in a few art shows, I know how important it is to support artists! Never again will I go to a show and not buy something!
But for the most part, I stayed by my booth and smiled and talked to the few people who came in to gander at my art. There were quite a few fellow artists who visited and complimented my work. That always feels good! Around 3:00ish a light storm was moving in. I was actually happy to see it because it would cool things off for a minute. It wasn't going to be a heavy storm, though. Some artists over-reacted a bit to the light rain, like my neighbor Kat. Now, I won't go into specifics of what her work is, but I will tell you she is a performing artist. Well, once the drizzle settled upon us she closed up her tent and took cover under an awning by a building right behind my booth. I, of course, was watching her the entire time. I couldn't understand why she was being overly dramatic. She was acting like it was a downpour when really it was a mist.
She plopped herself on the sidewalk to sit it out, and I thought I noticed (GOD, how I wish I didn't) a flash of something missing from her attire. Let me just tell you, she was wearing a dress and not being too lady-like about her movements. She kept itching her crotch, and I'm sorry, I know this is gross, but I couldn't help but keep my eye on her. It's like passing by a terrible accident on a freeway... you know you shouldn't, but you just have to look. What happened next is forever burned into my memory. I mean, I will probably have flashbacks of this event when I'm on my death bed. Kat sat for a minute on the sidewalk, but then decided to get up and move to another area to sit. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw her hoist her body up. Kat was not wearing underwear. And I saw EVERYTHING. I was horrified to say the least. Steve noticed my reaction, and I told him what I saw. I swear he almost threw up just listening to my story.
More time passed and I counted the hours and minutes down to 9:00pm. The crowd thickened, but not with buyers. It was a crowd of window shoppers. :(
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| Crowd around 7:00pm on Friday |
When 9:00pm rolled around, the crowds were plentiful. Steve thought I should stay open past the 9:00pm closing time, but everyone around us was packing it in for the evening. Our neighbor from 2 booths down was closing shop and came over to tell us how they overheard a patron who was in their booth quietly saying they would be "coming back to take what they wanted once the artists closed up their booth." Those poor guys had to pack up all of their stuff because they were afraid someone was going to steal their work! Steve and I closed up my booth and zip-tied everything we could to secure my stuff. I was so tired at this point though, I just wanted to go back to the motel and crash. So that is what we did.
Day Two
The second day of the show was a little less grueling, with hours from 11:00am to 8:00pm (one hour less! Woo hoo!).
It was a rough start in the morning because every single artist I spoke with was disgusted. The sales were non-existent, the crowd sparse, and the weather HOT.
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| Steve passing the time playing poker on his Ipad |
When he showed me his pictures, the only thing I could say was, "Holy industry!" Factories everywhere! This is the reason why I would never swim in these waters. It's sad because the area could be really nice, but the wrong people took hold of it and turned the spectacular water views into industrial plant locations.
Time marched on and attitudes began to flare. Our neighbors 2 booths down were so disgusted they started packing up around 2:30. It only took them about an hour and a half to breakdown, and Connie made her way over to confront the artists. I got to witness the whole exchange (love a good argument!) and it wasn't too pretty. Connie was upset to say the least, and so were a few other artists. I really didn't care. I could understand why they wanted to break down early (no sales, horrible heat) and I could also understand why Connie was upset. Needless to say, this started a trend. Other artists slowly began to break down early, too.
I hung in there until the end. The show officially ended an hour early. We got to breakdown at 7:00pm. It took Steve and I exactly one hour to pack my things up and haul ass out of there. The day ended on a good note with Steve and I going out on a dinner and a movie date. :) We saw Horrible Bosses, which was hilarious.
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Now on to my rankings. If you remember from my last review, I listed my important categories and ranked them 1 through 10- 1 being the worst to 10 being the best. Please remember this is simply my opinion and I'm trying to sell high-end paintings. Here goes!
Location: 3
The set-up and breakdown were insanely easy. The town itself isn't exactly the best location for an art fair. It's another area in America that is feeling the pains of economic recession.
Audience: 3
There were some people there buying pieces, but it was few and far between. Basically, I went all the way to Port Huron, Michigan to make $20.
Sales: 1
Every artist I spoke with told me they were having zero luck with sales.
Show Organization: 6
The venue made it somewhat easy to keep things organized. All of the artists were contained on a street. The areas for booth set up were clearly marked. Connie was extremely kind and welcoming. It felt a little chaotic on Friday evening, when the crowds were all over the place, evening when it was close to closing time. It seemed the security there was a little "loose" at that point. I didn't hear of anyone having any of their items taken, which is a good thing.
Overall: 1
I had an artist who has been in the art show trade for 3 years tell me this was her worst show ever. And I had an artist who has been in the art show trade for over 20 years tell me this was her worst show ever. I think it's important enthusiasts keep trying to start up new shows and turn them into something great, keeping the art fair circuit alive. I'm not sure this is the place to do it, though.
So there you have it. I warned you it was going to be a long review. Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps other artists who may consider doing this show sometime in the future.
Peacing out,
Nikki
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