Well, my outdoor art show season is over at last. The canopy and weights are in the garage. The artwork put aside in my office, ready for the indoor events over this autumn and winter. Time to relax and enjoy the time off. Who am I kidding?
It’s time to recap the season. To be honest, it was not as good as earlier years. Sales were down at almost every event I did. Talking with other artists about this, most agreed that this year was not a good one for art sales. While the economy was the main culprit to blame, many think it is due to it being an election year. I think it is a combination of both.
I have been doing art shows for only about seven or eight years. I do not have the experience of selling in many election years. I can’t compare this year’s sales to that of other election years with any certainty.
Are you an artist with 10 or more years of doing art shows? I would like to know how you fared compared to other election years. Were your sales better, worse, or about the same this year when stacked up against other election years? This helps other artists who are wondering the same thing about this year.
Getting back to the end of the outdoor season for me, I still have many things to do. Among them are going over all my outdoor equipment to see if anything needs repair or replacement. Then there is the bookkeeping part of it – getting taxes sorted out and ready. Inventory of stock and supplies is important and ongoing. The dark and cold part of winter is a good time to make sure both are up to date.
Then comes the one thing I think many artists look forward to. It is the making of the list for shows to do next year. I am sure some artists do the same ones every year just as others do different shows every year. Myself, and I am sure others, do a combination of same shows and new ones every year. I might not do this for the same reasons others do, but that is okay. I do some of the same shows because I like them and they have been profitable for me. I add some new shows to test the waters so to speak. Like many other artists, I try to expand my market reach. Some may go to shows halfway around the country. I am content with going one or two states away at the most.
One other thing I do over the winter break is to come up with something to improve my booth presentation. Sometimes it is something simple, and other times it is something big. I have not figured out what I will do yet this winter. When I do, I will probably write a blog post about it.
In the meantime, I will keep on shooting to create new work. Keep making art and helping each other out.