All the Fun of the Art Fair!By Ann Baldwin |
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| Sun shining, music playing, flags flying, crowds filling the booths, and artists busily selling their wares. This is the rosy picture that fills my head when my application for an art festival is accepted. Never mind if the last time I participated it was cold and foggy, the music drowned all conversation, and the crowds were more interested in the beer than the booths. Only optimists need apply.
Last June, after weeks of exhausting preparation, I set up my booth at the Third Marin Art Festival. In previous years I had barely covered my costs ($500) but this year I knew I was going to do well. New ways of attracting buyers would make the difference: some larger unconventional paintings to spark off conversation (probably the most important ingredient in any sale); no low-priced prints (they might prevent people buying the originals); 10% discount for multiple purchases; and a booth position near the entrance. Saturday I sold only one small painting but didn't take it personally (never do that!) since most of the other artists did no better. By 4:00 pm Sunday I'd covered my costs + $300, and that - along with a few more names for my mailing list - was the sum total of my success. Or was it? Last year several visitors to my booth subsequently bought paintings at my November Open Studio. Many others signed up for my classes. I hooked up with someone who organizes workshops in a remote area of Mexico, Merrill Mack of Artventures. She invited me to be the next instructor. (That experience deserves a story in its own right.) I've learned not to measure success in terms of money in the till at the end of the weekend. You see what I mean by optimistic? Over Labor Day weekend I participated for the second year running in the Sausalito Art Festival in Northern California. Recently voted top art festival in the country, this event really gets the adrenalin going. In 1998, despite the hefty $700 both fee, I'd amassed enough profit to feed my art habit for a good six months. The second year would be better still because people were more familiar with my name. Again ,framing, matting, printing signs, mailing out promotional materials took weeks and cost a bundle, but my ever-present optimism was energizing. Energy is a basic necessity for Sausalito. Set-up is hard work because you can't take your vehicle onto the site; times are staggered due to the large number of exhibitors from all over the country. You're on duty for 3 hours at the Gala Preview night (when well-heeled patrons rarely buy), then for 9 hours a day for the next 3 days. And all the time you have to be nice to people - even the ones who complain that if only the paintings were green they'd match the shower curtains. The crowds were huge this year but for the most part well-behaved - and they were out to buy. Even those who were just looking, seemed knowledgeable about art (with the possible exception of the guy who thought I was Rauschenberg! Flattering, I suppose, except for the gender issue.) I found that as long as I showed an interest in visitors' views or their lives, and was prepared to listen to them, they would stay in the booth. Occasionally the conversation made me feel more like a therapist than an artist, but the longer they stayed, the more they noticed the art on the walls. If someone is rude and refers to my work as "pure junk", as one woman did, I ignore the remark. Once when I had a rare moment alone in the booth, a man entered with his hands on his hips and declared: "Can you imagine why anyone would do this stuff?" He hadn't realized that I was the artist! An artist's enthusiasm generates confidence, but you can't afford to let it flag. The worst comment I ever heard from an artist was "This isn't one of my best pieces." Who's going to want to buy that? My collages tends to be conceptually complex, but not everyone cares about the deeper meaning. Most respond on a purely visual level and ask questions later. However, two large expensive pieces which dealt with Marcel Proust's experiences of memory sold because of their literary allusions. Shakespeare buffs were appreciative of paintings based on his plays. A young couple, a poet and a playwright, agonized over "Waiting for Godot". It was their favorite Beckett play, but the price of the collage was rather high. Passion eventually overcame penury. There is no way to describe the satisfaction you feel when someone simply cannot bear to leave without your painting. Those are the people I paint for. Over 3 days I sold 20 paintings, including several major pieces priced from $2,000-$3000. I took one bad credit card ( I didn't find out until later), but the woman who 'bought' the small painting seemed genuinely moved by it, so I can forgive her. My husband was constantly rushing home to find replacements for pieces I had sold. He even carried two large works to the parking lot of the local supermarket because the couple who had bought them couldn't stand to wait another day for a more conventional delivery! My two assistants were invaluable in keeping people interested, giving receipts or wrapping the goods when I was too busy. When the booth was otherwise empty, one of them would peer earnestly at a painting in the manner of a prospective buyer. This was not so much to fool people, as to make them feel that it was safe to enter. Not everyone who attends an art fair is accustomed to looking at original artwork, and many are afraid of being accosted by the artist. I prefer to sit in a high chair just outside the booth, leaving the entrance clear, but obviously available if anyone has a question. An assistant can pave the way to this important moment by pointing out that I'm there if they need me. Somehow that seems to work better than if I say myself "Can I help you?" If you ever do a big art fair, be sure to line up at least two assistants. Sausalito rewards them well with free gourmet food, beer and coffee. It's true I made enough money to buy some high-priced equipment for my studio, but in the end it is the exhilaration of meeting all those art lovers that counts for more. Artists who do art fairs are sometimes criticized for being "too commercial". Occasionally the art does look as if it has been created to appeal to the masses, but all the artists I've met at these events try to remain true to their artistic vision while making enough money to continue to create. I wouldn't want to spend my year traveling across country from one art fair to the next, but I admire those who have that adventurous spirit. Maybe next year I'll try La Quinta, or Cherry Creek, and if I'm lucky I'll be invited to return to Sausalito. |
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 Born in London, England, Ann Baldwin is an accomplished artist and educator, exhibiting both solo and at shows. She is active with the Marin County Watercolor Society, the Marin Society of Artists, the Marin Arts Council and Indian Valley Artists, Inc. Ann is also the founder of ArtMeet, a group of about 16 artists who meet once a month to show their paintings in one another's homes and conduct critiques (as well as eat delicious potluck dinners!).
Visit her site for more information at www.annsartpage.com. Ann is a contributing editor to WetCanvas! and can be reached via email at mailto:abaldwin@marinternet.com. |
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