Excellent Showing

We'd be hard pressed to find much to complain about at the DeLand Festival of the Arts. Sure, you can't get your car right next to your booth to unload, but pretty close anyway. Which, by the way, is easy for me to say because Bruce does most of the carrying. Furthermore, the organizers have thought about everything; serving the artists both breakfast and lunch in a comfortable setting, booth sitters, great security, terrific advertising, lots of prize money, and lots of patrons. Of course I didn't win any of that prize money, but that's beside the point. If I ever get good enough, I might.

Which is to say that I did win a patron award. Can you believe this ribbon?

 

A very nice woman who purchased from me last year came along, spending nearly $200 and a ribbon besides! It looked pretty impressive in the booth. Although patron money is not free money like prize money is, I'm pleased as punch that a patron of the show thinks enough of my work to purchase it, not just say that it is good.

I am, however, getting ahead of myself.  After packing the Element at 5:15 Saturday morning, Bruce took off first, hoping to get a space close enough to unload without breaking his back. Many, if not most, shows allow Friday set up, however this is not one of them because it takes up the main downtown street. Shortly, well not too shortly, thereafter I drove the Beemer. This makes me nervous. Very nervous. Thinking about it after the fact, I realized this is the furthest I've probably ever driven the BMW since he's owned one. That's not to say that it doesn't drive like butter, on the contrary, it's just I want to take care of one of Bruce's prized possessions!

I haven't really told you this yet, but last week I took a bad credit card again. This time for $170. Plus, she "bought" one of my favorite new canvases! Knowing me as you do, you've probably guessed I had no contact info. You guessed right. Taking matters into his own hands, Bruce tried to find said woman without success. Making sure I didn't do THAT again, he wrote this gentle reminder on my sales table:

I was good friends, getting each and every number per the project manager's orders. Of course, I didn't need any of them as all sales went through just fine. And there were quite a few. Must have been MORE than I recorded because my bank deposit didn't match my log. So much nicer to err on that side, don't you think? Special thanks to Bruce foremost for all his hard work making it happen. His business trip began EARLY this morning. How early you ask? I don't know because he's such a dear he does his utmost not to awaken me.

As well, Denise, Gayle, Sarah, Christy, Sheila, Andrea, Margaret, Lisa, Donna, Pamela, Cathleen, Jean, Brian, Lois, Desiree, Nancy, Michael and Jack deserve my thanks. Wow--so many women! I'd not realized that until typing the names. The buyers at this show are also very good about having cash because many artists don't take credit cards due to the fees involved. I actually had more cash purchases than credit which is highly unusual. The crowds were steady most of the weekend until the gathering clouds made it look like rain was imminent. Fortunately, it never materialized!

 

My booth is about seven down, taken in the waning hours of the show. If you've never been there,  DeLand is a nice little town. A few booths to my left a husband/wife team had some really neat painted gourds. After purchasing this one, I moved it around the living room before deciding on the mantle. You might note that I'm sticking by the decorating rule of odd number of objects. What's extra cool to me is that the seeds are still rattling around inside under the glossy black paint with ribbons of both gold and silver.

So that was the show--some driving, lots of selling, and some fatigue. In other words, an excellent showing.

That bad credit card I mentioned earlier? Well, this morning I received a message from a market friend regarding a credit card scam last Sunday. Turns out I was one of three folks she duped, one for $500! My friend Gabby even asked for a phone number which turned out to be false. Remind me NEVER to trust a pink haired woman in her 40's again will you? I should have known better--pink hair on a woman of that age is just plain wrong.