Sunday, May 18, 2014

Spring Art Festival

Success. It had been over two years since I last exhibited in a weekend art festival and this was my first outdoor exhibition in many years. Remembering the process to accept credit card purchases (by using Square One, a small device that plugs into my cell phone), was probably the biggest challenge of the weekend!

It's definitely a crap shot, deciding which festivals to apply to, hoping the weather cooperates, and hoping people come to see the work (when I lived in MA I only participated indoor after hurricane force winds ruined my tent one Labor Day weekend many years ago). From what I gathered, many of the participants in this weekends Riverside Art Festival were disappointed. Lots of people came, not so many were interested in buying big items, fortunately I had a wide range of price points. I am going to be exhibiting in two more weekend festivals, the next is in June, then August. I will need that much time to rest up and energize between shows.

My booth setup:

Pre- show opening, early Saturday morning:


I am really looking forward to resting tomorrow, organizing, and if I am lucky I will be able to get back into painting new work. I exhibited watercolor paintings this past weekend, but I admit that my focus has been more on mixed media encaustic paintings. My next two shows will only be featuring new mixed media encaustic work.

Art in the Village
Lakeshore Arts Festival

8 comments:

  1. Goodness! I didn't realize there was a festival this past weekend. I would have enjoyed that!! I didn't realize you had so many large scale pieces, Robin. They look amazing!

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    1. Sherry, there are now art festivals almost every weekend through summer into fall, all commutable in the Chicago area. I bet there is one in your neck of the woods.

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  2. Your booth looks gorgeous with so many lovely works next to each other, a feast to enjoy to those that visited I am sure!

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    1. Its all about the color! seeing my paintings take over a 10 x 10 booth makes such a strong impact and tells the story, thanks.

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  3. A great booth; didn't take long for you to get into the swing of things. I like the neutral background in your booth.

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    1. My panels are a light grey, keeping them clean will become more challenging with the outdoor show schedule. I am glad I have a month between exhibiting, time to do some new work!

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  4. I'm so glad it went well! As you say, these shows are a total crap shoot. Your booth looks great and seems like you had good weather. My show was good too... let's hope that the trend continues for the rest of our outdoor shows!

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    1. I have to admit, I felt like this first festival was a warmup with the next 2 shows. But as you know, Deborah, it's no guarantee the work sells (even though the paintings in my next two shows are my newest and favorites).

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