Yesterday was the Mothers Day Art Market at the Strand Center for the Arts. It was a very good market and almost felt like a pre-Covid event. There were 45 vendors with a wide variety of booths.
I had a very good market and sold several paintings, and a bunch of note cards. I really need to get the card sets on the site. After the last market I sold 2 commission pieces. I had many other inquiries again this market, mainly for pet portraits. As you see below I have been busy in the studio.
This is the new fishing series that I developed for this market. One is already sold.
March 20 was the Spring Market at the Strand in Plattsburgh. I successful market for me with good sales and many new contacts. Interest in my paintings was very good but the majority of my sales was in the small paintings and cards.
It was a sunny day but didn’t warm up as much as expected due to a cold wind. It just reached 44F and with the wind it didn’t feel above freezing. When the wind died down the sun was glorious and a harbinger of warmer days ahead. I used the stand alone displays and didn’t use the canopy setup, I wanted the sun to shine on my art.
Looking forward to the next market in on May 9, warmer days ahead.
On March 20 I will be participating in the second Strand Center for the Arts – Art Market, it runs from 10am to 2pm. It looks like this market will have great weather, temps around 45f and sunny. I am worried that the grounds will be a little soft and muddy but that is all part of the season we are headed for.
I plan on using my new “sunshine” setup, where I don’t use my shelter canopy, instead I set up my monolith display racks so they are easy to walk around and I can display my paintings. Not being below freezing I can go back to use my zip ties to assemble the racks, last time it was so cold the zip ties would just break when they were flexed. I will have a second table this time and add my vertical displays.
Monolith Display Rack
My display racks are made from three pieces of 6′ wire closet shelving, zip-tied in a triangle. I place a board across the bottom wires and add a weight on the board to help balance the display. I put in the board and weight before I close the last side, it doesn’t work dropping in the weights after assembly, things break! I put zip-ties loosely on two sides bundling all three together to make them easier to load on the truck and assemble. I use recycled plastic jars with sand and stone for my ballast.
I pre-wire my paintings using paper clips to make hanging go much faster. a turn or two around the hanging point and then leaving a hook to go on the displays makes quick work of setup.
Rack Hanger
This will be an interesting show and I am going more prepared with more cards including a boxed set option (6 for $10). The plan is to show more of the bunny paintings on one of the displays to see how having a theme (Easter) rack works.
Sunny Bunny
I haven’t been painting much over the last few weeks pushing to complete the master bathroom remodel. On the home stretch with the vanity going in soon then finish up with molding. All other parts are finished and I do like the heated tile floor…
I have several subjects pushing to get to paper and I can already see the results in my mind. I think an eagle in is my near future, I sat in the hot tub after a day tiling the bath and watched a bled eagle fly over then perch in a tree near by.
Late last week I got a surprise! The Strand Center for the Arts is going to hold a series of 9 outdoor markets for 2021.
Now this will be an experience, since it is an outdoor market and the temperature is supposed to be a high of 7f (-14c). I will have to dress warm and I plan to keep the setup as simple as possible. It will be a table with small sculptures and my cards and 2 of the wire walls to hang some of my Driftwood frame paintings. I will also have a center table with a bin of my smaller works. This will keep the setup and tear down simple and avoid manipulating the EZ-up in the cold.
Squirrel Peek
I did finish off a couple of paintings and frames just for this event.
Date/Times: • February 13th 10am-2pm • March 20th 10am-2pm • May 8th 9am-2pm • July 3rd 9am-2pm • July 10th 9am-2pm • September 11th 10am-2pm • October 30th 10am-2pm • November 27th 10am-2pm • December 18th 10am-2pm Location: The Artisan Market will take place at the Strand Center for the Arts, 23 Brinkerhoff St, Plattsburgh. It will be on the front lawn of the Art Center. All vendor spaces are 6 feet apart, adhering to Market Safety Guidelines.
