Monday, August 15, 2011

"Been there, done that, now let's move on."

Well folks it's bound to happen. Every artist in our business will sooner or later hit a complete klunker. That show where you wonder why the heck you're there and what planet did you accidently land on. We had such a show. Most of the time it's not the shows fault nor is one's artwork terrible. I chalk it up to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Actually to be more honest with ourselves it's being in the wrong place no matter what time it is. I always blame myself for not doing enough homework, always wondering how I let this show slip in because I (Victoria) am the one that does all the show research and books them all.
"Hi. My name is Victoria Terra and I booked a klunker!"
Michael was not feeling well and so (to break the norm) I took our studio assistant, Laura, and went to the show without him. It was a good thing. Poor guy would have been really frustrated all weekend. I can't tell you how many times over the weekend that someone walked into our booth and asked me if Michael's work was made out of 'taters'. I kid you not. 
I was floored. 
Jaw drop to the ground. 
FLOORED. 
I am reluctant to put the name of the show in writing. But then again it's really not the show's fault. It was us just not being in the right place to sell Michael's work. The show was 'Arts & Crafts At Iroquois'. It's an art show that is part of 'Kentucky Music Weekend'. I thought it had all the right components that would make good selling for us; folk music that draws an intellectual thoughtful crowd, a music festival that's been going on for 35 years, and at an amphitheater in the city of Louisville. I was wrong. "Go me!"
For those of you that know me and/or follow this blog you will know that we're not ones to let a bad situation get us down. So I want to share with you some of the fun things that came out of our bizarre weekend. 
Believe it our not, this was the first time that I set up the booth without Michael. I was a little concerned about a few of the technical things about stabilizing our panels. But with Laura's help we did it. We got the booth set up, stocked, and the office all ready to go about 40 minutes before the show started. All in all it took us the same amount of time that it takes Michael & I. Laura and I were proud of ourselves:

 This is a picture of the exquisite frozen grapes that were a gift from the food vendor across from us. Why I never thought of freezing grapes for a treat I'll never know. Those grapes rocked my day!

This is a picture of an antique Ford that Rick Thum took two years to restore all by himself. He is a very talented Dulcimer maker and a really nice human. I fell in love with his truck.

There was lots of great music that we listened to all weekend. There was a storyteller from Oregon that told the absolute best stories about Woody Guthrie. There was a dulcimer competition and the winner won a handmade dulcimer (score!). There was a terrific neighbor named Paula who is a very talented self-taught nature photographer.
This is a picture of Laura working while sitting in the booth. Yeah, it was that slow....


And this is the 'Best of Show' award that Michael won. Go figure. Life is ironic...


So that was our klunker of a show. I feel like we can now say, "Been there, done that, now let's move on."


1 comment:

  1. I feel your pain. Love those negative income shows where people walk in the booth, tell you that you have the best stuff in the whole show and then walk out. Forget Louisville. Bad energy there.

    ReplyDelete