I was able to participate in the Westport NY Winter Market on March 14, 2020. This a winter farmers market held in the Heritage House. I had been planning on this market to be my first of the year, well before the craziness of the Coronavirus started. I build stands for paintings that were made to clamp to a table. I had to bring my own small folding table, along with a couple of other tables, and using my bins with a top to hold a rack of my paintings. I had a 8′ by 6′ space to display my art, I pre-staged the layout in my home based on the limits. I was pleased with my small space, it came together quite well.
My wife had invited a few of her quilting and master gardener friends and many of them came, despite so many other events being canceled. Some of her friends had seen my work at my home. I recognize the need to build a mailing list and contacts, this will be a challenge for the future.
I was able to sell a couple of paintings and I made contact with a few people that requested other paintings. I didn’t want to start with commissions for their requests, so I will make them on speculation. All the new requests were derivatives of projects I am already working on. Once I complete items, I will let the people know and if they want them then we can close the deal. I was able to sell some note cards that I had made to test the market for such items. I was surprised that they were a good seller and had request to extend the cards available. These will be an item for every show.
Of course my first show coincided with the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. several events had already been canceled and as of writing this almost everything is being put on hold.
With the Winter Market complete , I am hoping that the one in April will go off as planned.
Coronavirus
With the first instance of the virus being reported in the area, the shelter in place recommendation I think it will be an interesting spring. I will take this time to make more art and work on projects around home. My wife and I are not “High Risk” but I am glad that I know that I now work for myself and had planned on taking a year to get everything in place. I will admit that my retirement investments have taken a large hit, but I am sure it will all come back eventually. I’m not one to panic and my wife and I both flexible so I don’t worry about the future. I am going to enjoy my time working for myself and building my art business.
I have ordered a few supplies and I will make a lot of art to build up an inventory of products, and take time to explore more areas of interest.
I have already worked on several new paintings in the last couple of days, with one new one that I have great hopes for almost completed. It mixes a couple of materials an I like it so far, so this is a teaser for a post later in the week.