Wet Paint

I have no scheduled art fairs for this winter. The news from the fairs is not very bullish. I've been on the job for a year now and am just catching financially up with last winters desasters. I'm just clearing the easel and getting ready for painting again. I think I'll paint some boats.

It's Halloween and I finally have all my paintings back. I've sold a few and traded a few for other artists works. I've got a couple of new smaller paintings that I haven't photographed yet. They're boat paintings. I've been working at a corporate graphic designer job and will probably continue to do so.

The fair business has been even spottier than last year according to my contacts.

I've been thinking a lot about reproductions lately. They have been a necessary crutch in the past and I think they have a negative effect both on the perception on the value of the original and on the reproduction. The reproductions that I make today are of a better quality than anything I could have made even just a few years ago. But that goes the same for anybody who has access to good giclee output. Giclee, high end Ink-jet ink and printers, used to be hard to come by. Today they're cheap and commonplace adding to the myth that the giclee prints are cheap and of poor quality. The truth is that paper, inks and printer quality are exception. The effect of these quality prints is that somehow they diminish the value of the original.

More on this latter.

I finally received the lost shipment of paintings and prints. All accounts are squared away. Many thanks to Jim Higgins for manning the booth and all the help. And to the show committee for allowing me to have a surrogate artist.
My furnace has still not been repaired. 1 month now. We lost all the food in the fridge and freezer. I recovered most of the canned goods. We won't see the final cost to all this until it warms. Right now the wind chills in Beach lake are around 20 below. Ouch!. It's something like -5 here in NYC.

I lost something like 10k last year on show related expenses. Travel, meals, booth fees, slide and product. And a similar amount on outfitting my studio and producing paintings, scan etc.. My gross income was somewhere around $3,000 for 8 shows. Not good. The biggest percent of show expenses were the booth fees and applications. Not gas or food.

I'll take the rest of this year off from shows, I've started a job, and I'll keep my ear to the ground. I'll probably stay at the job.

I couldn't get to the show. One third of the art that I shipped didn't get there either. My buddy Higgins sat in my booth for me and tried his best to sell a few pieces. It seems we sold a few prints amtted and framed. I sat most of the weekend maning the credit card terminal. The few things sold sold with checks. But I did get the award of distinction for painting. It was a small check but Hey I think it's kind of cool.

Heres a picture of Higgins with Ben Prestage a teriffic Florida Blues artist.

Labels: Art Fairs

At least don't ship UPS. I shipped 3 large boxes for 2nd day air. 2 arrived early. One is still in New Jersey. It was re-scheduled to Monday. Why did they ask for my email address if thety weren't planning to tell me they were screwing me.

1/3 of a half size display is missing. I am having a hard time getting UPS to reroute the pack back to me. Completely a waste of time and money.

Forget shipping to put art into a dark rental tent. You just end up broke and looking like a rank amateur.

Labels: Art Fairs

I can't make it to Deerfield Beach for the show. It's simple I could go but I couldn't come back. Not that I could get a plain ticket either. Just too much going on. The furnace the frozen plumbing the coldest day in years coming up tomorrow my wife being really pissed off that I would leave her with all the mess. I shipped about 15 bigger pieces to my friend there he will man my booth. The thing I didn't think about is that I shipped all that stuff and most of it will have to comeback. More expense. Oy.

Every thing was going okay. I could see break-even and the Dolphin died. In all the reference material, the research and conversations the importance of really reliable didn't seem important. Wow. It's the whole deal. Especially for a painter like me. Some shows I do well some badly. But the trick is you have to do enough show to average out. I spend a lot of energy working out my display and a lot of money building it. I haven't been able to deliver the show. I haven't felt confident bringing only the minimum.

I'm looking at this as an opportunity to change my work. While I'm figuring out the transportation thing I'm gonna mount a new show. Small canvases. Simplified. And Real digital. It sounds like spin and may well be. But if I didn't try to find something good I'd go nuts.

Labels: Art Fairs

Today I started shipping my work to Florida to be in this weekends show. I'm a bit frazzled and anxious. I'm still waiting on the plumber. I start a new job next week. the show is allowing me to leave early Sunday my friends will man or woman the booth for me.

This will be another show without an optimum presentation. I'm going to stop doing the long distant shows. they cost alot and break even is almost impossible.

Labels: Art Fairs