True Confessions of Hannah Faith

Craft Show #4

Posted on November 29th, 2004 by hanfaith.
Categories: Art, General.

Well, I ‘m finally back after a weekend of shows. It was exhausting! The show was two days in Augusta - about 2 hours away from us. Phil stayed home with the kids, so I made the trip alone and impressed even myself by being able to handle setting up the whole display by myself. Speaking of the display, here are some pictures:

I got up at 4:30 Saturday morning to make it to the show in time to set up. Thankfully, the weather wasn’t too bad. The roads were pretty clear, exept for hunters (it was the last day of deer season, after all). I got there, only to find that the show promoter had no idea who I was and didn’t have a space for me. ???? I had signed up online, payed, and even emailed her a couple of weeks ago just to make sure that everything was ok. I guess she lost my name somewhere in the process. Anyway, she managed to slide a couple of booths over and squeeze me in - so it didn’t work out too bad. I’m not sure I’ll want to go with this promoter again. She was very confusing to work with. She changed the times of the show about three times- and some of the crafters didn’t get the word and showed up late. I originally heard the show was 10-4, then I checked the (very confusing website) to see in one place it was listed 10-4, and another 9-4. But when I got there, it was really 9-5. Oh well… it just made for a very long day The promoter also didn’t stop mediums. So while this was overall a very high quality show (not very much cheap, kitschy stuff) some crafters were pretty upset. The lady next to me did jewelry - as did about 10+ other booths. By the time people got to her booth, they were complaining about it being another jewelry booth. Thankfully mosaics are pretty scarce in Maine, so I was the sole seller.

I got some great responses on Saturday. It was wonderful to be able to talk about my art with people who really understand mosaics and the process that goes into them. They can truly appreciate how much work a piece takes (and the price that goes with it). There’s nothing worse than a person walking by a mosaic stand saying, “oh, i made those in kindergarten”. I had one lady stop by who loved, loved, loved my work - to the point of tears. She was so excited. She said she hadn’t seen anything in the show to interest her until she saw my work. It was so unique and different that she was just over the moon trying to pick out pieces. She was very interested in one of my larger pieces (and I was hoping!!), but she ended up taking three of my smaller pieces. Her friend that was with her came back later and bought another piece.

I also got my website out there. So far, it looks like I’ve gotten a lot of website hits from the weekend already. People are already inquiring about mosaics through it. There was a radio announcer at the show and he described different booths on the air including yours truly. He even threw in my website for those who couldn’t make it to the show. Free advertising!

I was a little worried when I set up my booth because the people on either side of me had much cheaper things for sale. However, that didn’t seem to hurt my sales. I did walk around a little and see that I wasn’t expensive at all compared to the other art sellers. There were only three other artists there. The response to my prices was fine. People seemed to fall in love with the work and then look at the prices. They would have bought if my prices were low or high. Thankfully, I think I’ve finally hit appropriate prices. The artsy people who looked at my pieces thought they were very reasonable.

I’m finally able to pinpoint my target audience. I could pick out in a whole crowd of people moving toward my booth who would stop and look. It attracted 20-30 year olds, married, no kids, artsy, well-dressed and 50+ artsy, and well-dressed. By well-dressed, I mean not wearing snowman sweatshirts. Those people with a tailored look seemed more attracted to my work.

Many people asked me if I taught classes. I guess that would be fun to do someday after I feel like I really have a grasp of my medium. There’s so much to learn and know about the art of mosaics, that sometimes I feel like I’ll never understand it all!

Sunday I didn’t do as well as Saturday, but that was to be expected. Non one did particularly well that day (unless you count the girl next to me with jewelry - she brought a friend who bought 250+ dollars of inventory for Christmas presents - that’ll up your days profit really quick!).

Many people also asked if I was happy in craft sales or if I would do art shows. They seemed to feel (and I completly agree with them) that my work would be better seen in that type of setting. Right now, I’m concentrating on networking, getting my name out there, and improving my artwork. My goal is to try to get into a Boston art show next fall. I’m trying to sell/give away more of my little pieces, so I can concentrate on my larger art pieces.

I ended up the day making some trades for Christmas presents. All in all, it was a great show. I learned a lot, got some great exposure, and made a profit. The fair season is over now, so it’s back to work, building up my stock and working on improving my technique.

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