The best part of the show? all of it

I like the first few hours of the first day of an artshow best.  The booth is up, the day has begun and you have a whole weekend of possibilities.  People coming into the display give you hope that it is going to be a good weekend.  You enjoy talking to everyone, there is no expectations, and you believe the weather forecast that you were given.  You aren’t thinking about tearing down, where you will get to park your car or how long it will take to pack up, you have 3 days to think about all of that later.

The day wears on, you talk to a bunch of people and things look good.  Saturday opens well too.  You don’t worry about whether or not you had a great day yesterday because you have a full day ahead of you.  You do start to think about the money you need to make, something you aren’t worried about in those first few hours of the first day.  Fuel costs, room and board, show fees; by the end of the second day you are adding those up and looking at how far away you are (or aren’t) from the black.

Sunday opens up full of tension.  You now know how much you need to make to show a profit.  You are thinking about teardown and the weather and of course, the drive home.  No matter how  good the show was, teardown and getting home are the biggest obstacles in front of you now.

Why do I continue to do this?  I like talking to people.  People who make art, people who buy art, and everyone who loves it.  I like seeing my art up on a wall and looking at what I have done, I enjoy seeing people’s response to it.  I like talking with other vendors and sharing tales about being on the road.  It is a lot of work and there is never any guarantee that you will make money. You are putting yourself out there to have your hard work judged, but I don’t mind.  The fried food, crappy singers, the dogs and children and it all comes together in a tapestry of experience.  I don’t think I will ever get tired of being at a show.  Setting up and tearing down?  I could leave those but doing the show, I enjoy ever minute of it.