Monday, December 6, 2010

Crafty show

Here is a commission I just finished for a fellow artist for her baby Oliver's nursery. The egg inside the door was raku fired and can be taken out to make room for other treasures. The tree limb with bird is also removable in case something else is found later on. It is mounted on an old slab board and I love this thing! I will definitely be making more as soon as I find a source for some boards. This one came out of the wood pile from the wood firing I did a few weeks ago.
Now here is a little tale I have to tell you: The show I did Saturday was a bunch of fun and I shared a space with my friends Amy, Kristen and Charlotte. It's nice to share a space, makes a long day go so much faster and we were such an efficient team. Our sales were ok, not stellar but we made some money. Now here is the really irritating part. There was a little girl in the space next to us selling.... wait for it....
felt flower headbands. She sat there with her paper pattern and her glue gun and made them to order. And...... people were f'ing lining up to get them!!!!! This kid, maybe 6th or 7th grade made more money than I did that day and I worked my ass off for months on the work I had there. So, how in the WORLD can I have an attitude about the crap on Etsy when I was sitting next to the felt girl at a JURIED holiday show!?!?! Don't get me wrong, the child was precious and her head bands were adorable, but, are you kidding me!?!?!?!?! I really enjoyed the conversations a couple of weeks ago about Etsy and this show really made me think about my attitude about the crappy stuff you see on Etsy. There is really no difference in sitting next to felt headbands at a show and selling on a website with felt headband makers is there? At least on Etsy there are also fantastic atrtists selling quality and originality and I think as more good artists find Etsy to work for them the better it will get. I am leaning more and more towards opening a shop, I just have to get organized in the photo taking department. Meanwhile, I'm wondering how many felt headbands I can make before Christmas :) just kidding!!!

12 comments:

Linda Starr said...

I've seen some really arty things made from felt, and it's real popular right now, but geez, headbands in a juried show. Hum

Tracey Broome said...

Oh yeah, Linda there was a lady there making felted ornaments that were beautiful, but these head bands were just a kid's craft project basically.
And yes, a "juried" show. I had to submit photos and waited a month to hear if we got in....

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

This post cracked me up. I could just imagine the scenario. Been in similar ones myself... Hey, the house with egg and branch/bird is AWESOME!

Michèle Hastings said...

i am shocked that a juried show let her in!
and now for my etsy comment... i have had a shop for about a year and have had one sale. i admit i did nothing with it other than put up new work occasionally. so ten days or so ago i listened to all the advice in blog world. i have had lots more hits but still no sales. there are some really nice thing on etsy that sell well and there is a lot of crap that sells like crazy.
yes it is an inexpensive way to sell but taking good pictures is very time consuming - along with all the other 'marketing your shop" stuff.
... beautiful barn... perfect for a child's room!

Tracey Broome said...

Thanks Patricia and Michelle, I really love this piece I made for my friend. Lots to think about with Etsy, so many pros and cons, and "juried" is apparently a relative term!

cookingwithgas said...

been there Tracey- we have all been there next to someone selling something like hotcakes and you are thinking.... hummm I should be selling hot dogs I would make more $$$- in fact we made more $$ when we sold ice cream for a living.
Anyway--- love the barn- just love it!
But could you glue a tiny little hat band on the bird?

Judy Shreve said...

The house with the egg & bird is amazing!

I am also really bothered by the child's felt head bands being in a juried show -- doesn't matter if she & her product were cute. There has to be a difference in a 'craft/church bazaar' show and a juried art show or all craft art is lowered to the head band status.

Lori Buff said...

I've done some shows that have a judged and non-judged application. Is it possible that the little girl was a non-judged applicant? Maybe she was the daughter of one of the jurors?

Love the bird house, you might be able to find more wood from old barn take downs.

cindy shake said...

LOVE your commission piece!! I'm sure the customer will adore it as well :o) Hmmmm, first of all a kid in a "juried" show...? I love kids but not selling next to me. Second, the holiday shows, if they are going to host kid stuff (for the sentimentality) they usually have a "children's village" and clearly separate them from the professionals. Sorry, but that would have been a kick in the gut -I don't care how much either of you were selling. I think I'd write a letter to the organizers or at least put in a call.

Phil said...

I'm sorry, Tracey, that must have been really discouraging.
I think anyone that does shows will run into this situation after a while, you just have to be aware that it IS coming.
Two years ago we entered a "juried" show and wound up next to a guy that made spray painted "space art", of planets and galaxies and such. The "paintings" were kind of cheap looking, and templates are used to make them, requiring little real talent. But that wasn't the worst of it, he also had, prominently displayed... wait for it...
toilet seats. He had spray painted toilet seats, and most of them featured copyright violations, as he had sports team logos, band logos, cartoon characters, etc. I was angry as hell, but what can you do? We (and several other real artists) complained to the organizer, and guess what their solution was? the following year, we were moved to a different spot, unable to see "toilet seat guy." He was back at the show, with the same junk. Sorry, I meant crap. (Haha!)
The first year, though, I had a little revenge, because I saw a real young couple, about twenty or so, walking past our booth and looking at the toilet seats. Both these kids were wearing black clothes, biker wallets, a few tattoos, and they looked like the kind of people that Pantera toilet seats might appeal to. As they walked by, I heard the guy say to his girlfriend(?) "I didn't come to an art show to see Pantera toilet seats."
I loved it.

Tracey Broome said...

Great comments you guys! I have to say, if I was next to a hot dog vendor or a toilet seat painter, I would have packed up! At least this little girl was professional, dressed really well, and was absolutely charming, it was most annoying because she made way more money than me!!!!

ang design said...

oh it can be so disheartening trace, whenever i have those moments i just have to refocus... love the egg trace the whole shebang really great concept :))