Well ya’ll (gulp)…I will be in my first ever juried show July 10 & 11.
It is actually my first show of ANY kind ever. I am feeling very
grateful for having been accepted, and although I am very proud of my
work, I am a bit nervous about how it will be received.
If anyone is in the neighborhood, please come by! 26th Annual
Festival of the Arts, Art and Craft Showcases, Booth #12, on the campus of
Brevard College, Brevard North Carolina.
Any words of wisdom and/or encouragement will be greatly appreciated!
Mollie Arnette in wonderful western North Carolina
Hello Mollie, Being accepted in a juried show is certainly recognition of
the nicest kind. I hope you sell out[ recognition of another kind]. All
the best, Tom Arnold
Congratulations Mollie, The best thing you can do is to be yourself and
have fun.The next thing to do is to sell yourself, hand out a TON of
business cards and tell the people how you make your jewelry and anything
else about the stones you use, People love that. Michael
You GOT into your very first juried show (is this the very first one that
you’ve ever applied?) I’m impressed!!! CONGRADS!
Regarding "how your work will be received . . . that’s very difficult to
say. My first show was a bust, but since then, I’ve done quite well. The
first show made me very humble . . . ; )
Mollie:
Put on your best smile, be gracious to the gushers and critics alike.
Enjoy the praise, think about the criticism, accept what is constructive
and discard the rest quickly. Don’t get dehydrated or starve yourself,
both usually make you snappish. If possible, make friends with the people
on both sides of you. Get a friend to sit with you. If your friend has
good people skills, let her/him do the selling. You can answer the
technical questions. After you make your booth fee, relax a bit.
A friend of mine and I do several shows together. (Our work is quite
different and we are from different parts of the state.) She does a great
job of promoting her own work and so do I. In fact I can wax lyrical
about her work but am somewhat more reticent about my own(until two years
ago, I mostly did exhibition and gallery pieces and no shows.) She does a
better job of selling my work than I do so we share the jobs and have a
good time visiting during the lulls(may they be infrequent). Good Luck!
Linda in now verdant, sunny upstate NY.
If it is outdoors, be prepared for any weather, especially wind. My
survival kit includes inexpensive rain ponchos, sunscrean, stomach remedy
( just in case), several layers of clothing, glass cleaner, paper towels,
and some sort of premoistened towelette like Wet Ones. Also don’t forget
a few simple tools and whatever you need to remove sticky finger prints
from your work since everyone will be wanting to try it on. Good Luck -
Deb
Any words of wisdom and/or encouragement will be greatly appreciated!
Mollie Arnette in wonderful western North Carolina
It takes 2 to staff a booth. Someone has to be there for bathroom breakes
and to be a gofer When we do shows, Barbara does the selling (she can gush
better than I can) and i am the gofer. Works out great
++Why can’t women learn to put the toilet seat up?++
Gollee…I usually do fairs all alone, it is nicer to have 2 people but a
rare event for me. I just lock all my cases, run fast (bathroom break) -
bring my lunch and eat in the booth. One can do it, its just harder.
Jan