We recently found a box of old photographs and as we sorted through them, mostly looking at pictures of our grown children as toddlers, we came across pictures of our first house in Chandler AZ. It's funny since recently we have talked about going back to that house since we still own it and the mortgage is very low. In the batch of pictures was this photograph, our first garage transformed into Steve's first "studio". Up until then he had always been working as a commercial screen-printer, never daring to think he could make his own artwork. Looking at this picture reminds me of those days when we both worked regular jobs, juggled two very small children and this part of our lives was only a hobby. How very far we have come in 23 years.... The business of doing art shows is a fickle one. You can't help but take it all personally. What you are selling is made with your own two hands. You drive long distances, stay in less than the finest hotels, eat at random hours and then stand out in the public and wait to see if someone not only likes what you do but likes it better than the person next to you who is also selling something they made with their own two hands.
When it is good, it is very good as it was for us in a little gem of a show in St. George, Utah. We won Best in Show, had two Purchase Awards and sold A LOT of art. People loved what we had to share with them. The booth looked great and the people came out to see what we had to offer. We left the show feeling like regular fat cats. A few days later we drove to the Midwest to do our very first show there in Kansas City. Same artwork, same booth but very different response. There were lots of people and they said they liked the work but they definitely found something they liked better somewhere else. No matter what we did we just never could engage. We were a long way from home and felt like fish out of water. We love what we do and we know that every show is different. We don't take anything for granted and we don't question the decisions anyone makes when they walk into or out of our booth. When it is right for them, it is right for us. That is just the way it goes. We are finally home after two great shows in sunny Arizona. There is nothing like soaking up that vitamin D. The venues were both great and the show is Scottsdale was especially beautiful. I especially enjoyed a new twist on show food with the show offering gourmet food trucks this time. I think they were a little overwhelmed by the crowds but it was still great fun and a wonderful change of pace. Now it is back to the studio to finish some more new pieces and to anxiously await the results of our applications for the shows we have applied to this year!
We have finally returned home from our first show of the 2011 year in Tubac Arizona. It was wonderful to travel down to the sunshine and to stop and see friends along the way. Tubac is a small artist community located only 15 miles from the border with Mexico and is very popular in the winter with those fortunate enough to be able to live far from the cold weather. Now we are back and working hard to prepare for our next shows back in Arizona in March.
We found out yesterday that we got accepted into the Brookside, a show in Kansas City with a great reputation. We are very excited to be a part of this show and to try moving into the Midwest. Now it becomes a matter of logistics and how to get from Texas to Utah to Missouri . Now if the other shows come in we could really have to be creative.
We are going in about 45 directions these days making sure things get framed, deciding what goes to Arizona and what stays home. We have been home for months so the first show it is always hard to get back into the groove of remembering everything. I looked over at Steve while we were going over the new website and there he was looking like a kewpie doll. It seemed like I would never get this site completed but after we upgraded our computer it was just something that had to be done. Now I can concentrate on getting things ready for the first show of the Spring season as we get ready to leave next week for Tubac. I think we are both just ready to finally get back on the road.
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AuthorBonnie Harmston works side by side with her husband Steve and travels the art show circuit with him. Archives
December 2017
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