This past weekend I took part in the Sand County Fine Arts Festival in Portage, WI. It was a lovely day, with temperatures in the 70s for most of the day, though they did climb to mid 80s by late afternoon.
The show was held in downtown Portage across the street from the arts building, with proceeds going towards, you guessed it, the Portage arts programs. I donated a beaded cuff to help them raise money in the silent auction. It was a small show with probably 25-30 vendors, all with pretty nice stuff.
The booth on the one side of us made lawn ornaments out of recycled materials. We ended up buying a little bee from them for the front flower garden. The booth on the other side of us was an ink and watercolor artist. He had some really nice stuff.
I didn't sell a lot at this show, but I talked to a lot of people and gave out a lot of cards and buttons. I'm actually almost out of buttons, I guess it's time to make more. I also had my picture taken by a freelance photographer for the paper. Which would be cool if my stuff made the paper.
The best part of the day was meeting the people kiddy corner from us. This fantastic, fun woman was with her friend who was a glass artist. She stopped by my booth probably 5-6 times. Then she told me she was going to win my bracelet from the raffle. And sure enough she did. Then she came running into my booth to show me that she had won it. She also gave me her card and told me that when ever I have anymore skull stuff, to send her some pictures because she is interested. She was so much fun.
I also met a great young couple that spent probably 20+ minutes talking to me. He really loved the Cheshire cat cuff and just kept picking it up and looking at it. He said he would just use it as a display piece and not as a piece of jewelry. So I let him know that I had a Cheshire cat beaded painting that was available online. Of course the day I don't bring that painting, someone is looking for something like that. But they took three cards, so I'm hoping to hear from them and even maybe working with them in the future.
One of the best parts of the show wasn't even related to the show. While I was there, I got a text from a long time customer about incorporating some of her art into a necklace or two. She sent me some pictures of ideas she had and I'm excited to work on this project with her.
So over all it wasn't a very good money making show, but it was a great networking show. I made some contact with some artists and some potential customers.
What did everyone else do this past weekend? Any art fairs or fun stuff?
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