What kind of a dumb question is that. In a few minutes I will clue you in. As you all know by now I am involved in the art festival circuit. Some of the questions I have been asked are ..... I don't know how to explain them. They just are. So here we go.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD
Someone looks at your pictures. I carry four sizes, MiNI/s (5 x 7) Small ( 8 x 10) Medium (11 x 14) and Large (16 x 20). The difference in sizes is very very noticeable. I was asked - this weekend - "why is the price for this picture (holding an 11 x 14 matted) so much less than that one hanging (16 x 20 framed) than that one?", pointing to the framed larger print. How do you keep a straight face when answering?
Someone coming in and spending an hour looking at every single picture. Then said someone informs me that they have pictures just as good and they are going to start selling them. Would I be interested in buying some to sell?
Someone, after looking at my work, including the 16 x 20's, asks me "What magazine do you cut your pictures out of?" Have you ever seen a magazine 16 inches x 20 inches. It would be bigger than my coffee table.
Someone, after going through my inventory asks if I have any pictures of real unicorns. I'll just run home to the farm and round up the herd of unicorns grazing on the hillside and photograph them. Or maybe I'll just fashion one out of packing paper and duct tape and tape it to my dog's head and call him a unicorn.
Someone telling me about their $1000.00 state of art camera, and asking me why their pictures don't turn out like mine. (I have never even spent $1000.00 on any camera I have ever had).
Someone with a group of someones coming into my booth, looking at me and saying at the top of her voice - "LOOK, LOOK, HERE IS THE OUTHOUSE LADY", for everyone in the building to hear. (I do photograph outhouses, a lot of folks decorate their bathrooms with the outhouse theme, but to announce it to all the world..........)
Someone saying "I recognize you - you are the lady I bought pictures from at the blank blank festival in blank blank city a couple of weeks ago". I had never even heard of that festival, let along ever being in that city. What did they have to drink, either when buying their pictures, or thinking they bought them from me?
I could go on and on and on. This is why I never get bored. But the one that really really floored me was -- I have a sign in my both saying PHOTOGRAPHY, as with a camera. This very well dress person looked and looked, then finally asked me "Do you have any pictures of real angels?" How do you answer a question like that? Darned if I know.
Now back to the real world. It was a very good weekend. Sales were good, crowds were .. crowded.. you could hardly push your way through to go to the little girls room. As I mentioned I sell framed 16 x 20 pictures. At the present time I am selling photographs of some of the Chihuly Glass displays I have seen in several cities. These displays are all of hand-blown glass, some very very awesome beautiful colorful glass.
I am going to share these with you. These two of part of a solid wall of hand-blown glass, fused together. You would have to see it to believe it. Anyhoo I had these two prints framed and hanging side by side on my display panels 16 x 20.
I could go on and on and on. This is why I never get bored. But the one that really really floored me was -- I have a sign in my both saying PHOTOGRAPHY, as with a camera. This very well dress person looked and looked, then finally asked me "Do you have any pictures of real angels?" How do you answer a question like that? Darned if I know.
Now back to the real world. It was a very good weekend. Sales were good, crowds were .. crowded.. you could hardly push your way through to go to the little girls room. As I mentioned I sell framed 16 x 20 pictures. At the present time I am selling photographs of some of the Chihuly Glass displays I have seen in several cities. These displays are all of hand-blown glass, some very very awesome beautiful colorful glass.
I am going to share these with you. These two of part of a solid wall of hand-blown glass, fused together. You would have to see it to believe it. Anyhoo I had these two prints framed and hanging side by side on my display panels 16 x 20.
A very nice lady was there on Saturday, looked at all my Chihuly prints, both framed and just matted. There were two she really liked, decided on the above picture 16 x 20 framed to hang over her sofa. She was so tickled. So was I.
First thing on Sunday morning, right after opening this same woman came into my booth telling me "I want that other one also". She paid the admission to the festival the second time so that she could buy one of my pictures. This is what makes doing what I do so rewarding and exciting. To know that folks really love what you do.
So this is me. I have about a dozen different categories that I sell, mills, barns, covered bridges, outhouses, flowers, trees, landscapes, I could go on and on, but you get the drift.
This is a very happy part of my life, doing what I love to - the traveling, the meeting of great folks, the goofy questions, the vendor family that you only see occasionally, getting together, telling of their adventures, laughing until we cry.
If everyone of you out there had the vendor family, real family, friends, acquaintances, that I have, the enjoyment I get out of every single day, no matter what, you have been truly blessed. Knowing that someone, like the lady this weekend, is getting so much enjoyment out of what you do, what on earth more could you ask for?
So never look back, just look ahead and be thankful for just being alive. God Bless.
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