How Incredibly Disappointing

Today was (and yesterday and tomorrow) was Utica Days. I was invited to be in the art tent, which was flattering because they did have a bit of "quality control." But, did it ever suck.

First, the art tent was supposed to be on a main street where all the action was. However, that meant closing off the highway, which meant getting permission from the state first. But, someone apparently forgot to apply for the permission, which meant not being able to close off the highway, which meant that we were a couple of blocks out of the way. Most people didn't even know that we existed.

Second, they expected to have 20,000 people attending. Where they got that number I'll never know. There weren't very many people out our way, and some artists who had gone up to the main area said that it wasn't overly populated either. Let me put it this way: I went away for lunch, and when I came back I pulled right into a parking spot. Utica's pretty small. It was a very low turnout.

On the bright side, they did refund the fees that we paid to set up. So the only cost was time and getting there. Since I've only sold 2 mugs so far, that pretty much still puts me in the hole. If I'm in the area next year, there is no way I will pay $50 for two days (which is an outrageous price anyway). I might consider $10/day, but certainly not any higher.

Two good things happened.

One, I met another portrait artist. He's better than I am, and he gave me some suggestions on pricing. That really helped. I told him about deviantArt. He really should get on there and get prints set to sell.

And two, I've been invited to participate in the art show for the Ottawa River Fest on 29-30 July. It sounds like that will be a better situation.

I guess that means that the day wasn't a total wash.