Summer Jobs for Artists - Taking the Show on the Road

In our area most of us show in the spring and fall; but we do few shows during our hot months of June, July or August.  No one wants to shop outdoors during the heat of a summer in Mississippi and indoor shows are few and far between.
Packaging

 

A lot of people think this is vacation time for us, but most of us are diligently working toward our fall shows and the Christmas season. We maintain our displays and our tent, order packaging, order business cards and materials and create new designs along with making more pieces in our existing lines.

This year our packaging is more vibrant and upscale to go along with our new work.  We have some larger pieces now, so we have larger bags. display

We have changed the display a little to go with the new work so had to cut down some of our usual display pieces and fit the skirts to them.

Fortunately our Abstracta display system is very flexible and this was not a difficult job. We have 10 x 10 ft. at most shows and our displays have to optimize the space and make sure that people who visit our booth do not feel crowded or uncomfortable.  

Most of us work on our booths in some way each year and continually find things that they feel need to be done. We were in the marine canvas business for quite some time, so fortunately repairing the tent really was not too difficult.  It was not actually a repair, just something the manufacturer missed.

When you see us at shows you will notice a variety of tent styles. The best ones cost more than you might expect, but they last for many years.  We have two - one is for longer shows, but we do have a very quick set up tent for one day shows or short setup times.  

We also carry weights and tie them to the corners of the tents in case if a storm.  This spring has been unusually difficult for many who travel to do shows because the storms have damaged so many tents and ruined years of work for some of the artists.  Even if you have a great tent with adequate weight you can be damaged by having a neighbor's displays and work blowing into your own set up. helping

Deuce - The Copper Cat - manages every phase of our operation from the first sketches through the creation of finished work and photographing that work.  He is our shop steward, QC inspector, safety engineer and principal entertainment.  He works cheap and doesn't take too many naps.  We think we will keep him.

Usually we procrastinate these maintenance tasks til the last week.  This year we have done everything except ordering our business cards and that should be done pretty quickly.  Show season will be here before we know it!


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