Hand crafted art jewelry

Last weekend I did the first major-ish show for 2010 – the Spring Festival at Canterbury Park raceway here in the Twin Cities.

me in my booth at a previous show

It’s a big show, lots of publicity and is part of a series of shows across the US run by this particular promotion company. Well, I thought “looks kinda crafty but I’ll give it a go and see what happens”. It’s a bit of a shot-in-the-dark with shows sometimes.

Friday was great – good sales,  despite many in the crowd wearing cowboy hats and beer or car logo T-shirts. Maybe there were enough people coming through who could appreciate my work and would buy it. Optimistic for the weekend.

Sat and Sun were dreadful. For example, I sat there for 9 hours on Sat. for $65 and Sunday was only slightly better. Turns out that sales for most of the vendors were way down from previous years – no surprise there I guess, given the economic climate of late.

All in all, it was a very crafty show, not really my market, and I won’t do it again. My booth neighbors were friendly, informative and fun but I’ll stick to the ‘fine art’ shows exclusively from now on.

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This time of year is when most of us who do art shows are waiting for the jury results – Rejected or Invited.  It’s hard to get that the Rejected notice but you’ve got to let it all float by. Keep working, learning, creating and improving my skills and try again next year. That’s what I’m telling myself. Convinced?

2010 Poppyesque cuff and ring

Part of the improvements I’m currently facing, apart from the jewelry making itself, is remodeling my booth. In the first year you get by on what you’ve been able to see in other’s booths and what you can afford to build/buy . Like the $100 tent that leaks and is so low that anybody over 5′8″ hits their head on the roof frame. Fabulous liability issue.

With time (and you have lots of that sitting in your booth during the shows) you get better at fantasizing ways to, for instance, keep your earring cards from blowing away in the wind while continuing to keep them on display .

So, my first largish show is April 16 – 18, here in MN and I’ll be spending the next 2 weeks making jewelry, building a new booth table, sewing new cloths, constructing risers and reconfiguring the booth so that it looks more inviting and keeps customers out of the rain when they’re trying to shop. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a great new booth photo too. See below.

Any ideas?

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Well, what a year. As I write, I have a cold and it’s -10 or some such crazy temperature outside. 

New work is in production. I will have photos available within a month of 3 – 4 loose collections. 

Last year I moved again and am now living in a little house I own by myself. So many changes! 

Here’s to much success in many areas coming up

knackered squirrel

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Me in my booth

 The Edina Art Fair was great! Despite it having rained all day Saturday with record cold temps (my tent leaked), Friday and Sunday were fab. 

The good weather days were packed with arty types – 1000’s of people came to the fair. It’s so much fun to talk to people who are genuinely interested in your work and are looking for art rather than the same-old-same-old.

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Edina Art Fair 2009- Lund's parking lot

My booth neighbors - Rebekah Scott Designs

Fun booth neighbors make a huge difference to your enjoyment levels throughout the day. We had a team of 4-6 booths that looked after each other – a cozy art fair mini family. Here are my direct neighbors – check out the link to RSD’s shop as her work is so much fun and excellent value.

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Yes, it’s true!

I accidentally applied for two shows on the same weekend and just found out today that I was accepted to both. Nuts.

So, people! Be careful with your dates.

In any case, I will be at the Edina Art Fair for any of you who’ll be in Minneapolis at that time. It’s a large, very fun fair – well worth coming to.

Check it out – www.edinaartfair.com

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OK – so I’ve finally bought enough tools to build my own rudimentary workshop/jeweler’s bench. It’s kind of basic and a bit wobbly but it’s also a work in progress right? Thankyou’s to the local Goodwill .

Pretty lights...

FrankenBench

The deck lights around the notice board are for me – something cheerful and colorful. Yep, it’s a chick space, but absolutely NO pink tools allowed!

So now I have to get my butt out there working as I have 5 shows upcoming in June and July.

I’ve tried hammering on the chipboard soldering table but it’s not very sturdy so I’m going to rig together a thick, heavy wooden hammering block/bench of some kind. There’s a lot of extra wood here in this garage so I may have enough to do the job without buying more supplies. Always a bonus!

Anybody out there with a spare rolling mill???

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