Making an art show successful

I do a lot of art shows. Most are successful, some are so-so, a few get bumped from my list. I have often pondered what makes a show successful. Better minds than mine have written volumes on the subject. However, I have a few thoughts.

There are countless factors that have an impact on a shows success or failure. Is it a good area? do the promoters advertise well? is it a good mix of artists? is there good parking? is it easy to find? Weather is always important and unknown at the time the show is set. Even really good weather can decrease attendance, especially if it is right after a spate of bad weather.

One consistent thing that I think has possibly the biggest impact on a show is the artists self-promotion. What? The artists? We are paying to be in the show! Our art is supposed to be the draw! It's the job of the promoters we pay to bring in the crowds, to choose the right mix of artists, etc., etc.

Why artists?

One-on-one and word of mouth beats any form of advertising.

If every artist collected emails, was active on Facebook, promoted the show to their respective crowd (friends, customers, church groups, social groups, civic groups, etc.) via whatever methods make sense to them then we'd have packed shows.

Note the word "every" in that first sentence. Many of us are great at spreading the word. Many of us, maybe more than many, aren't. We never think about it, see it as the job of the organizer, aren't social, don't see the importance and on and on the list of reasons goes...

Think about a show with 100 vendors. If every participant put out flyers, sent out emails, posted on our fan pages, sent out photos via Instagram, mailed post cards, etc., then we could potentially reach thousands...and thousands. Combine that with what the organizers are doing and you have a real crowd of interested buyers.

My neighbor at the last show I did sent out post cards. I was amazed at just how many people mentioned they'd received the post cards. Some bought, some didn't. I noted that some who didn't had art they'd purchased from other artists. I didn't get a chance to talk with him but I'd bet he has lists that are organized by city and simply pops something out to that list.

These days a snail-mail card can have a lot more of an impact than emails! You don't even have to mail them if it's a local show.  Hand them out. Put them on bulletin boards at your gym, etc. Make them on your computer, print them on your home printer to save money.

I've heard some say that they don't want to keep asking their friends to come buy their work, they already have enough. Tell them about the other artists. Yikes, promote someone else? I want them to buy from ME, me, me. But you've already said they're overloaded with your art. But if the artist across from you did the same thing then maybe their friends and customers would buy from you.

I love looking at other artists work. I love it when I hear that one of my customers also bought from someone else. I love it when I hear that a fellow artist recommended my art.

Many have a difficult time patting themselves on the back. It's easy to talk glowingly about another artist. We've often joked at shows that maybe we should all switch tents, sell for each other! I'm not saying to send a jewelry buyer of yours to another jeweler (although sometimes that is good), but you can sure promote a painter or fabric artist.

Our outreach and involvement in selling our art is very important. Simply being a fabulous artist isn't going to move a piece from your studio to a new owner's home or office. We have to be pro-active.

Side note: Choosing the right show for our art also falls on the artists. A show can be great for one artist and horrible for another. We learn from doing shows or doing good research prior to choosing a show. A show that turns out to be bad for us doesn't necessarily mean the show is bad or the promoters didn't do their job. Sometimes we're just not doing our homework...or maybe we did and the stars just didn't align for us.

Thoughts on Organizers / Promoters

It is true that the promoters or organizers should advertise. There are many ways of reaching out and the show organizers I know do an outstanding job of marketing their shows. It is essential that they do as much as they can. But if you really think about how you look at advertisements you'll soon realize how difficult that task might be, especially if you start adding up the cost to advertise. 

Newspapers --- how do you scan the paper, if you read it at all these days? How many ads do you see? News articles are the best, especially if they have photos. We tend to look and read those with pictures.
On-line --- do you look at those Facebook ads along the sidebar or that are in the middle of your news feed? Do you see the ads that are at the top or on the sidebars of the news site you view? If they pop up do you immediately click that little x to make them go away?
Billboards --- do you drive the route where the billboard happens to be? Do you ignore them on your commute? If you happen to see them how often do you manage to read the info? write it down? remember it when you get home? Do you even live anywhere near the route?
Mailers --- these might be one of the better methods if it's a stand-alone postcard. But who should the promoter mail the cards to? the area around the venue? their lists (probably)?
Email --- nice as it goes to those who've signed up, have an interest. But if the list is the same one that received info about the last ten shows how likely is it that they'll buy your art this time if they didn't the last time.
TV --- costly. Not to mention it's almost impossible to figure out which station to advertise on...and when. For many those 3-minute ad breaks are for making a drink, running to the bathroom or switching over to another station to see what we're missing.
Radio --- how many stations are there these days? do you push the button on the radio to another station when an ad comes on? or tune out?

I didn't list all the methods organizers use to get the word out. Given the overwhelming numbers of ways to advertise these days you can go broke trying to reach "our" market!

My main purpose in making that list of ways to advertise was to get you thinking about what kind of advertising reaches you. You might scan the newspaper from cover to cover but your neighbor on the left who is an avid art buyer trashes them along with every other piece of advertising that comes in the mail.  Your other art-loving friend only does Facebook and social media but ignores the ads. Some never watch TV. Some only listen to one or two radio stations. You get the idea. Ask ten people what reaches them and you'll get a wide range of answers including "nothing".

That's why I think it's up to us to do our part. We can't sit back in this world where we are bombarded with ads and simply leave it up to the organizer.

Two shows in the near future!

I'm looking forward to 2015. Last year was a great year for the most part...a few little bumps as always but nothing to mar the overall goodness. I think 2015 is going to shine!

This year I'm adding some new shows to my line-up, venturing a bit further out more often. I'll be sharing more about those shows as the times come closer but will let you know that I've already been accepted into two shows in Alabama that I applied to for the first time! Nice.

I have two shows coming up right around the corner. One is new for me, the Callanwolde Arts Festival (http://callanwoldeartsfestival.com/) January 23rd & 25th. There is a ticketed preview party on the 23rd, then the actual show on the 24th & 25th. Sat hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. & Sun hours: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

I went last year to check it out and was impressed. Great music, great art, excellent venue, easy access and parking. It's a very well-run event with top-quality artists. I'm proud to be included in the line up and am looking forward to seeing many of my art friends.

The next event is a local show that I help run through our art group (FAACE - Fine Arts and Crafts Entrepreneurs, http://www.faace.org). It's held the weekend before Valentine's Day every year in Peachtree City, GA.

Art with Heart Fine Arts and Crafts show will be Saturday, February 7th at St. Andrews in the Pines Episcopal Church, 316 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City, GA 30269. Hours will be 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

We have some outstanding artists who will be selling their art just in time for Valentine's Day shopping. It's indoors, too so weather isn't a consideration. Hope you'll come see me and all the other fabulous artists at one or both of these events.

Are you coming to my Open Studio Event?

 Saturday (tomorrow) Dec. 13th I'm having my first annual Open Studio Event. 10 - 5 drop in at my studio. Food, beverages, some clay to play with and plenty of pottery. Three of my art friends will also be joining me: Steve Boykin, painter, Noel Gilliam, painter & mixed media-ite, and Helena Marette, jeweler.

Luckily the weather is supposed to be beautiful! It will be sunny and reach 60 degrees. The studio has heat and the tent we're putting up will also be heated so it'll be toasty in the morning, too.

I have a kiln load I'm waiting to open...I did sneak a peek yesterday and all that I could see looked good. I can't wait to see all my friends and maybe make a few new friends. 

The photos are a kinda-sorta "before" of the inside of my studio. I cleaned it up recently for our annual Southern Hands Artist Studio Tour (SHAST), messed it up a bit (but not much) to make and finish a few pieces, then cleaned it up again for you. It went into shock the first time, now it's in total denial. I'm going to have to have a therapist stop by and talk with the studio. 

If you'd like to see a view of the outside of my cute little studio you can either find me on Facebook (Janet McGregor Dunn Hummingbird - friend OR Janet McGregor Dunn LLC - fan). or you can come by tomorrow.

I've run out of things to write to fill up the space. I could ramble some more but it would be meaningless drivel and I know you are already pumped about coming to see me tomorrow so there's no point in dragging this on any longer.

Let me know you read this tomorrow (only) and I'll give you 10% off your purchase of my art.

Details:
Janet McGregor Dunn Studio
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
614 Lester Road
Fayetteville, GA 30215
(Open by appointment only on other days)

Thank you to a whole bunch of people!

We just finished up our 4th Annual Art with Heart Fine Arts & Crafts Show. It is entirely run by volunteers from top to bottom, members and friends of our art group, Fine Arts and Crafts Entrepreneurs (FAACE).

We had members who didn't have a space volunteer at the front desk both days of the show. We had members who did have art doing all kinds of extra things... laying out the booths, clearing the room of tables & chairs (then putting them back out after the event), handling refreshments, getting sign permits, playing beautiful music, taking care of all the details of the fund raiser for The Children's Village, bringing food for the reception, dealing with the money we raised... the list is LONG.

All of the artists donated a piece of their art to help raise money for The Children's Village, too. We raised $1,000! Everyone pitched in to help clean up.

Very special thanks also to St. Andrews in the Pines Episcopal Church. They graciously allow us to use the space each year for the event. We know it disrupts their normal activities and that it is a huge gift they are giving to support not just FAACE, but The Children's Village (which benefits abused and abandoned children). The members are extremely supportive.

Artists and their spouses, significant others, friends, are such wonderful, giving people. At least all the ones I know fit into that category... I'm grateful to be part of such a super community of people.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who supported the show from the volunteers to church to the visitors who came to buy and donate.

Art Studio Tour 2013

A group of ten artists in my county have teamed up for an "Art Studio Tour". We're going to open the doors of our respective studios and let the public come in.

The Tour will be held on Saturday, Nov. 16th, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. We'll have food, beverages, plenty of art and we'll be on hand to answer questions. Some of the artists are going to do demonstrations.

There is more info and a list of the artists, locations, at www.design29.com/tour2013

We're hoping it will become an annual event and that we'll add more artists. We're dreaming big! 

When my friend Andrea Boswell first proposed it I jumped on board enthusiastically. I'm still enthusiastic. However, it's a bit daunting at the moment!

I walked outside today and tried to see my yard, the outside and the inside of my studio with "new" eyes. Yikes! I have a LOT of work to do before the 16th. 

I just finished up my last outdoor show of the year and everything is still stacked in the garage. I broke some bones in my foot. My shop-vac broke (of course).

I have this long list of things I want to do before weekend after this one comes around. I want to put up some signs, organize, clean up the yard, trim some trees, set up my tent, figure out which pottery I want to put on sale, advertise the event... that's just a broad overview. I'm figuring I'll get maybe a tenth of the list done.

Oh, yep, there's some pieces I want to finish up, too.

And I'm taking a painting class so I want to set up a corner for my paints.

I thought I'd show you some "before" pictures today. 

Truthfully, those pictures were taken after I'd done a bit of cleaning. They aren't current. You can see the now-broken shop-vac in some of the pictures...

The studio needs to be pressure washed.

I keep adding to the list.

I won't bore you with all the things that have popped into my mind.

Come see my cleaned up, spruced up, prettified, studio on Nov. 16th. I will even wear my non-clay-stained clothes for you. 

Birth of the Blues

Birth of the Blues has been sung by greats such as Nellie Lutcher, Louis Armstrong, Keely Smith, Shirley Bassey, & my favorite: the trio of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr & Dean Martin.

If you haven’t listened to the Rat Pack with Johnny Carson (subbing for Joey Bishop at the time) go search it out on YouTube.

This trio of pieces shouted out the name they wanted! The Rat Pack was larger than life and the blues speak of the ups and downs of life. Hopefully my three pieces pay worthy tribute to both.

Multiple blues, hints of green and some tan tones on the patchwork of majolica clay. The tallest piece is roughly 10 in. high.

I hope you'll come see them in person at one of my upcoming shows or studio tours. - Janet

Oh, they say some people long ago
Were searching for a different tune
One that they could croon
As only they can
They only had the rhythm
So they started swaying to and fro
They didn’t know just what to use
That is how the blues really began
They heard the breeze in the trees
Singing weird melodies
And they made that the start of the blues
.
And from a jail came the wail
Of a down-hearted frail
And they played that
As part of the blues
From a whippoorwill
Out on a hill
They took a new note
Pushed it through a horn
Til it was worn
Into a blue note
And then they nursed it, rehearsed it
And gave out the news
That the southland gave birth to the blues!

Clay Dreaming

I wonder if I'm the only one who wakes up in the midst of building a pot? Some good ideas have come during the night as I slept... Sometimes I simply complete a piece I've been working on during a dream. Once in a while I come up with a color scheme for glazing a piece that's been sitting on a shelf awaiting inspiration.

This morning I woke up in the process of puzzling on building a coil pot. A HUGE coil pot. I stayed with it in that quasi-half-awake state for a bit, thinking about it. Then went "eh, not gonna happen" and moved on to thinking about my day. I think that may be the first time I ever remember deciding against what my subconscious mind tossed out at me during the night or waking moments.

I believe that idea may have come from some stellar coil pieces I posted a few days ago by 童建銘 on Facebook. I guess they've been rattling in my mind. They are fabulous. I'd post them on here but I need to check on copyright issues before sharing photos of someone's work. If you click on the link in the first sentence it should take you to a photo on Facebook but you may need to be signed in.

Here's his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003955542787.

I'm going to zap him a message and get permission to post --- you must see some of his pieces.

Well, first cup of tea is complete, time to move on to the list of things-to-do that I made after deciding not to do the dream pot.

My new pottery trees

In my last post I was tossing around ideas on how to show off my new series of hanging pieces. I've pretty much stayed with pieces that would sit on a shelf or table in the past although off and on have made wall pieces. Since I only had a few I usually just used a wooden plate stand to show them off or hung them on the ends of my shelf. With so many now I had to come up with a more "dignified" way to show them off.

I painted the shutters I mentioned, and the frames but it just didn't work for all the little pieces.

"Tree" is to the left, you can see the smaller one off to the right.

Cathy Spitz, who is teaching me how to do stained glass, found a couple of very cool "trees" at a local place that she uses to display her stained glass hangers at shows. It's made of welded metal, some rebar and other added metal, is slightly rusted and a creamy off-white paint. I loved her trees!

I finally took my butt over to the store a few weeks ago and... of course, they were closed. They're only open Thursday through Sunday. Long trip for nothing.

What made the trip that much more frustrating is that I got almost there, realized I needed gas, pulled into the gas station only to discover that I'd left my credit card and drivers license in my work out back-pack. I had to drive all the way back home, then drive all the way back over to learn they were closed. Ha. And yes, if I had known the name of the store I would have called before the trek. Possibly. It really never crossed my mind that a store would be closed during business hours.

I did go back the following week and found two perfect pieces to hold my hanging "dangles" (my term for the small ceramic pieces). I bought one large one and a small one. I would have gotten two big ones but didn't like any of the others.

Top of the large tree. Stands maybe 6 feet?

Turns out it's a good thing I didn't get two large ones --- they don't break down and the one I bought barely fit inside my vehicle once I've packed my shelves and pottery! Because they're metal I have to wrap the entire thing, too. Ah well, I think they look good. Usually my hubby is able to help with set up but he's been having some rough times so I had to do it alone on the way up. My son helped on the way home.

I seem to always take pictures as an afterthought and only when the lighting is bad, but I've included a few shots of my new trees. I took them while setting up for a show in Cumming, Georgia. I wish I had paid for electricity as the lighting was pretty bad. I talked with them about the lighting -- they were upset and apologetic. Someone had set the lights wrong and there wasn't a darned thing they could do about it. My pieces need light.

I put a piece of rebar between two of my shelf sets to hang some of the larger pieces. It was a happy accident that I found the bar, plan to buy another so I can do this again.

Little tree and one of the sheers I mentioned. Two shutters, too.

I backed the rebar hanging area with a stone colored sheer (straightened it out before the show started!). I backed the smaller shelf with a similar sheer to give me definition from the booth next to me. Not sure how I feel about the sheers. I like that they don't take up much space and they let light through. Not so sure that they look very professional. We'll see. Most shows I do are outdoors so they won't be needed.

I plan to paint my shelves to make them lighter as I mentioned in my last blog. I've been searching the stores for just the right color and texture...bringing home paint samples.

Anyone still reading? I was thinking as I typed that this may be the most boring series of blog posts ever! How many people are interested in the trials of getting a booth "just right"? 

Changing my display...

Well, it struck me that now that I'm doing more hanging pieces I am going to hafta figure out how to nicely display them.

In my booth it's fairly easy, however, in an indoor show I'll need free-standing "hangers" to display the pieces.  Given they're all different sizes it's going to be an interesting challenge. For me. Maybe not for some of you!

I have been wandering through websites, booth displays, and how-to articles for ideas. I have also been looking at what I have on hand. I want a tasteful display that is lightweight, flexible (as in, fold-able, easy to transport) and a good fit for my shelving and overall "look"...

I spent the morning sorting through the things I have stashed in the garage and out in the studio. I have a number of tall and short shutters that can be connected or painted. The big ones are not exactly lightweight but they are flat. They might look good painted, standing up at the back of the booth. The short ones would work on top of a table but you can't see through them so I'm wondering if they would block too much. On the plus sides, I can use both sides, they fold flat and I could paint them any color.

I have dowels --- thinking about adding some cup hooks to the back of my shelving, hanging a dowel and using it. I would need to also hang a back onto the shelves to avoid having the hanging pieces clash with the pieces sitting on the shelf. That would also only work when I have room on the back side of the shelve for people to walk. Maybe I'll save that one for an outdoor show. I rather like that people can see my art from both sides so not sure if I really want to go that route.

I also have a number of old window frames without glass. I am toying with making a free standing contraption. Not sure if I can convey the picture in my mind but I'll try. It would have a center pole with frames branching out, hinged somehow so they'd fold together. When standing they would form a Y (well, close enough, more like an X minus one leg ;-) with the pole being at the middle. I think that's an idea I might carry up to my Dad's for some ideas and help!

I like the idea of using the frames and shutters as it kind of fits with my basic design. You can see how I've used them in the booth shots I included, but they hang from the tent frame, something I won't be able to do in an indoor show.

I have three different size shutters, that's the medium tall thin one in the bottom picture. The smaller ones are hinged and can stand alone on a table. The larger shutters are about the same height as the tent walls.

I have a maybe five or six pieces of free-standing driftwood sculptures that I've used for smaller hanging pieces. They look good but you can't hang much and they can break --- plus I've found a lot of people ignore what's hanging on them and want to buy the driftwood!

I also have some stands that my Dad made for me --- you can see one in the bottom picture next to the window frame.

I'm thinking about changing the color of my shelves, too. Right now they're black. I like them black, but black absorbs light and my pottery does best with a lot of light given the way I mix colors, add glass, etc. They used to be natural wood but they looked a bit unfinished. I wish I'd stained them, but the idea of black worked for me back when I did it.

So, I guess I'll be outside playing with displays if they rain will hold off. I'm a notorious last-minute person. My next indoor show is next weekend so for a change I'm kinda-sorta ahead of the game...

Experimenting with glass

I've been incorporating glass in some of my ceramic pieces for a while. I add various types of glass to the glaze or place atop the glaze prior to firing. Most of the time I've been pleased with the way they turned out. Each time I've learned a bit more about the process.

Pieces in the kiln, glazed but not fired.

I've always loved stained glass. A friend of mine does stained glass and offered to teach me. I jumped at the opportunity (albeit slowly, it took me about six months to set aside the time!). I made a couple of small pieces and was OK with them, but not thrilled. She said I'm a natural, picked things up quickly, and all that good stuff. It wasn't the process I wasn't thrilled with, it was the design of the pieces I made that didn't excite me.

My intention was and is to do a line of ceramic pieces that have spaces or voids I can fill with stained glass.

The new "glass corner" in the studio. Picked up the glass holder under
the table at a thrift store for only $10... it was meant to be mine!

I decided to go for it in my usual manner... I bought all the stuff to do stained glass, cleared out a corner of my studio and got started making ceramic pieces to marry up with stained glass.

After being fired, waiting for glass to be added

I wrote a bit about the difference in the processes recently --- stained glass is almost instant gratification, ceramic art takes weeks. I mentioned that to my stained glass friend, Cathy, and she showed me a piece that she had already spent roughly 30 hours on and it wasn't soldered yet... However long the time, she still doesn't need to stare at wet pieces and wait for them to dry not knowing the outcome!

Anywaze, back to my travels in stained glass and clay.

The piece I took to Cathy's for a refresher. Note the larger soldering
lines where the glass meets the clay.

I made a bunch of pieces and they're sitting on a table awaiting the glass. I got nervous about the process for some reason. I kept starting, then finding a reason to go back to what I knew and was comfortable with --- my clay.

The piece I made on my own when I got home. Much happier.

Finally I kicked myself in the rear, talked with Cathy, grabbed a few pieces and went for a refresher. We both experimented as she had not tried marrying up a ceramic piece to glass either. I learned what I will be doing in the future and what I probably won't be doing. I didn't like the big soldering lines where the clay met up with the glass. Nice little lines between the glass pieces, chunky lines where the glass meets the clay. 

I brought the piece home and played a bit more with it. I decided to make another small piece of stained glass to add (the pink triangle on the left in the photo above) and to add some aqua beads to pick up the aqua on the right side. I haven't attached the aqua beads yet, still playing with the layout. I also made a small clear glass triangle to use in the cord or chain that will go through the hole at the top so it will dangle.

The piece to the right is one I made on my own in the studio. I'm much happier with it! I am now ready to tackle all the rest of those pieces laying on the table! In a few days I'll be making a trek to the not-so-local glass store (45 minute drive, one way) to pick up some more glass. I'm hooked.