I've always loved Waxhaw. The streets are lined with wonderful shops (many chock full of antiques), historic buildings & homes, charming restaurants and a railroad track that runs right through the middle of it all. As the banner attests, Waxhaw is a welcoming town. The sky behind the street lamp wasn't as hospitable. Rain was in the forecast for both days. Nonetheless, John & I set up our displays and hoped for the best.
John always brings Clayworks brochures to these sales in case passersby are interested in taking pottery classes. He posts them prominently on his table which - this weekend - fairly groaned under the weight of his many pieces. (That's weight as in numbers of pieces, not weight as in heavy pieces) John not only throws really well, he can throw pretty big. And he had a huge selection to choose from. My birds, on the other hand, are pretty small. I'm not sure they present so well because of their size. Display suggestions are welcome.
I take a select few parietal pieces with me, though perhaps I shouldn't since the style is so very different from the simplicity of the flock. I definitely need to work up a better method for displaying the cave art, including labeling that identifies each of the images. It hasn't been an issue yet as I have a small inventory of parietal pieces. But it's something I'm pondering. I'm not entirely sure it's a good idea to mix the birds with the beasts.
Being a vendor at a street festival is new to me. From our folding chairs, John & I were treated to so many colourful things to see, so many delicious scents to savour (we were close to the food vendors) and strains of music from the main stage. Particularly enjoyable was the people-watching. You don't see a Confederate soldier on the streets of Waxhaw everyday.
But you do at Springest following the first ever Battle Of Wilson's Store Reenactment. Held on the grounds of the Museum of the Waxhaws on Saturday, the original battle was held March 1, 1865 as Sherman marched from Columbia, SC to NC.
This "battle" took place just a few booths beyond us. It was colourful and it was l-o-u-d. I realized this Saturday just how "jumpy" I really am.
Along with people-watching, pooch-watching was an amusing way to pass the time. A woman in one of the booths across from ours sold colourful net tutus. I'd figured they were crafted for young girls. But it turned out she has a broader clientele.
We met a lot of nice people, visited with friends and family too. Thanks to Susan and Amy from Clayworks for dropping by on Saturday. And on Sunday, Sis & Mottie came up from Columbia to spend some time.
We braved a short shower on Saturday, which it turned was merely a practice drill for mid-afternoon on Sunday when the wind kicked up and the heavens opened, causing the event officials to close the festival two hours early. The rain didn't dampen John's enthusiasm for "blue" ice cream. (He was less than enthusiastic about the whimsical umbrella I loaned him to go get said "blue" ice cream.)
While we didn't bring home a boatload of greenbacks, we did cover the space rental plus some...made some valuable contacts for future work...and just generally had a good time. John took some incredibly fun pix which I'm sure will be on his blog. (A big thanks, John, for inviting me to share the space and for loading and unloading everything into your car!)
Another show is coming up at University Place in mid-June. At least four Clayworks artists - Elaine, Amy, Cindy and myself - will be there. More on that as the event draws closer.
7 comments:
Wow! Other than a few different pictures I have nothing to add to your comprehensive post. Thanks for sharing a booth with me (second weekend in a row!) and putting up with my strange fetishes (blue food). I hope we can be booth mates again.
Those are some great photo's. I think my twins own a set of those tu-tu's!
Hi Becky, what a great festival that looks to be. I really love how you have your parietal pieces displayed, they look wonderful against the black background. As far as dislays go, I have found having items on different levels (up on shelves or pedastals) helps draw the eye of passerbys. I also have an 8 x 11 printed photo collage type brochure which shows the process of how I make a particular item I am selling. For example how I make a slab built platter from rolling the clay to applying slip to firing it and then glazing it etc. this stimulates conversation which really helps - explaining how/why about barrel firings or how you make your parietal pieces, people are really interested in the process of how to make art from clay. For your birds what about putting a few in a nest or having a wood bird house as a prop or having some positioned as if they are eating bird seed - humor also gets folks to ask questions. Believe it or not I have had folks ask me what they could use a vase for - even though to me it looked like a vase? Sometimes illustrating how an item can be used helps.
The civil war battle enactment is so realistic looking.
John - You are too kind. Your pix are sooo much better than mine. Can't wait to see 'em! Am]nd any time you need a booth mate I'll throw my hat in the ring.
Jen - I bet they look great in them! Hope to meet them one day soon! :)
Linda, thank you for your suggestions! I like the idea of birdseed. And, in the past, I've put some of the birds in "nests" of spanish moss. I do have a printed piece that explains the barrel firing process. Funny, manny folks think the birds are carved from stone or metal --- both are results from barrel firing. When I say they are from clay they find it hard to believe.
I rather like that.
Becky, to follow up on Linda's comments what if you had a step one-clay, step two-unfinished but shaped, step three-ready for fire in its wrapped finest, step four-photo of the barrel fire in full flame...the process is interesting enough to get them to be engaged in the art form.
My advice is worth what you paid for it!
fun to visit you. glad the birds are flying away. see you soon!
Post a Comment