Outdoor Art Show Success! (Mostly)

Well, it was a fun and interesting weekend in Gilford, New Hampshire, where I distributed my wares at the Gunstock Weekend Craft Village. There were about 25 vendors there, along with Segway-ers, hikers and tourists of varying levels of zaniness throwing themselves up and down mountains via slides and suspended cables.

If you were outside at all, you know that the weather was not the best. But it also wasn't the worst. Moisture was limited to a minor inconvenience, and there weren't any strong winds which might ruin peoples' tents and wares. I met some nice folks: customers, of course, but also vendors who had a few too many quiet minutes available due to the spare attendance. Many of them were very disappointed with the crowds. Perhaps I'll look back after a few shows and realize how lackluster it was, but…

My goal was to make my money back, plus a bit more, to justify the time and effort it takes to do such a show. Mission accomplished. Though I didn't get rich, I at least put a good chunk of change in my pocket, and moved some metal prints, which I had trouble with last time.

Lessons learned from my first outdoor show:

• Without doubt, the outdoor summer crowd is different from the indoor spring/fall crowd. Pretty is pretty, so I didn't move a completely different set of images, but I did move different media. The Summer people spent more on average, and were less interested in the very lowest-priced items.

• The tent worked perfectly, especially since I had practiced putting it up and taking it down a couple of times. I had a set of weight bags in place, but need to have my second weight set ready for more blustery days.

• Big magnets sell! I was pleasantly surprised that my new addition was well-received.

• Vacationers like to buy images of places they've recently been. It's not exactly my forte, but it certainly would pay off to have, in addition to my Hidden NH images, photos of spots that the customers had just hiked and visited.

• Metal prints get a lot more attention when they are set off the wall and people can see how thin they are. I did well by adding a 1 inch backer to my metals, though they were a bit wobbly in a breeze. I need to order all future metals with a backer already affixed.

• I need a bigger car or a cargo carrier. It's nice to have a sibling whose house serves as a base of operations for the Lakes region, but I need more universal solution so I can say "yes" to any nearby fair.

I feel great about meeting more people, learning more lessons, and doing better than breaking even. Let's see if I can get into a couple late-season/autumn shows in 2015. I hope to see you all there!