ART SHOWS, ART SALES....REVIEW OF MADISON AUDUBON SHOW...FIRST SHOW OF THE SEASON

View of the Community Center Lobby

This Saturday I exhibited in my first art show of the season, at the 33rd Annual Audubon Society Art Fair in Madison, Wisconsin. This was the first year the fair was being held in its new location at the Warner Park Community Center.

I was up at 3:30 a.m. to be sure I had time to get our lunch packed (my sister goes with me to all my shows), and the rest of the things packed in the van. My sister arrived at 5:30 a.m. and off we went! Since this was a new location for the show, we weren't quite sure where it was, but felt confident that we would have no problem finding it as my sister brought along her new GPS system. We programed in our destination address and away we went! Well, all went well until we were just about into Madison, when a bunch of construction barrels threw me off and I went "right" instead of going straight. That was when the GPS really came in handy, ( I especially liked how it talked to us) and it kept "reevaluating" our directions. After a lot of laughing and "reevaluating of directions", we finally arrived at our destination.

Before the show opened.

My booth was on the left side, with the black gridwall

Our booth ended up being in the gym, and the grey plastic they had covered the gym floor with didn't make for a very appealing atmosphere, but we could understand that they didn't want the floor scratched or ruined from all the different booth setups.

There were about 60 indoor booths and about the same amount of outdoor booths.

My sister, Dianne, my display artist!

She is really good at finding just the right spot for each creation!

Jungle Spirit in her display!

Were the sales good.....NO! This is probably the worst show for sales I've had in over 5 years! I just barely broke even with the show fees and gas. YES, the bad economy is truly affecting artist's sales at shows. It was a far cry from shows where I have sold as many as 30 creations. At yesterday's show I only sold a total of 7 pins and two fairies!!

While there are always a few exceptions, the general mood from artists at the show was that sales, if any, were way down!! There was a lot of grumbling going on behind the scenes.

A very talented artist across from us, who designed the most exquisite glass mosaic pieces sold a very expensive piece of art and several lesser priced pieces, but a jewelry artist friend of mine who always has done well at whatever show she was in, said she also just barely made the show fees and expenses.

The picture above doesn't reflect the gorgeous work of this artist. The designs of flower, birds, and more were fantastic. My sister purchased one of her smaller pieces...a beautiful robin scene ($195.00).

If you'd like to see more of the beautiful mosaic art of Laura Harris, pay a visit to her web site below:

MELONHEAD GALLERY

Both Laura and her husband, Jack, were delightful neighbors to have at this show. Both my sister and I enjoyed being able to look at such beautiful art all day! Very inspiring.

These delightful, colorful creations are the designs of Mary L. Hager, a 3-D Mixed media artist. Mary's work is some of the most colorful, whimsical, work you could ever hope to see! I will be doing a "feature" on Mary in the coming weeks, with more photos of her enchanting figures, from seahorses, to flying frogs and more. In the meantime, if you'd like to see more of Mary's art, visit her website below:

MLOUHAGER

While it was a disappointing show for "sales", we still had a fun time talking to people, meeting some of our old customers, and artist friends.

I'm still smiling, and looking forward to seeing what the next show brings! One never knows....it could be a good one!

ONE OF MY FAVORITE ART SHOWS -WINTER ART FESTIVAL - MADISON, WI

This past weekend, I was an exhibitor at the "WINTER ART FESTIVAL" Madison, Wisconsin. This was not only my last art show of the season, but another of my very favorite shows.

The show is put on by The Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Craftspeople, Inc. (WAAC). I feel that this show is one of the top quality shows in my area. It not only is well run by a group of wonderful people, who are artists themselves, but also has the highest quality and variety of art that I have seen in this area. The mediums range from Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Graphics, Jewelry, Mixed 2-D, Mixed 3-D, Painting, Photography, Sculpture and Wood.

This was my 6th year of participating in this show, and it is always a pleasure! While, the economy has certainly taken its toll on the sales figures of artists, I still find it to be one of the best shows around....not only for sales, but also for the quality of the art on exhibit. As soon as you walk into the show, you can't help but pick up the "good vibes" that this show generates.

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of creations, which I sold this weekend, so you can see me smiling below!!

I couldn't do a show without my sister, Dianne (above photo), who is not only my sister, but my very best friend and display artist! She loves to set up the display and "play with the creations" as she calls it. I'm thankful for that because I don't have the patience or the technique she does for knowing how they will look their very best. Many times throughout the day, she will move them to new spots, and lo and behold...they happen to catch someone's eye, where before they didn't get the attention. She did that with a fairy on Saturday, where a lady had said she was going to take a walk through the show and come back and buy her. Well, in the meantime, my sister had rearranged several of the fairies including that particular fairy, and another lady came into the booth and went straight to the fairy and bought her. The other lady did come back about an hour later, and she thought we were teasing her when we said it was sold. She told us next time she wouldn't wait!

YOUNG AT HEART is my business name, and an artist's statement is required to be on display at this show.

Below you will see photos of some of the isles of art at the show, taken before and after the show was open. I tried to get photos when the isles weren't very crowded. There was a good crowd both Saturday and Sunday, but one didn't see a whole lot of purchases walking by!

This talented pottery artist had a wonderful display of his colorful pottery bowls, dishes, mugs, and vases across the isle from us. If you'd like to learn more about this artist, visit his web page below:

MATTHIAS JAMES POTTERY STUDIO & GALLERY

The delightful creatures shown below are created by 3D-Mixed Media artist, Mary Lou Hager of Milwaukee, WI. Mary and I have been in quite a few of the same shows for several years now, and her work is nothing short of "AMAZING"! The details and colors are exquisite in each of her creations. She has a fantastic collection of turtles, frogs, lizards, fish, butterflies, and much more. Visit Mary's website by clicking on the link below. Mary also does several art shows in Florida, so if you live in Florida...check her art show schedule to see if she might just happen to be in your area.

MARY LOU HAGER

All in all is was a delightful weekend! I now will have to get started on making new creations for my jury slides, and getting things organized for next year's show. The application deadlines come up rather quickly...beginning already in the first few months of 2009.

WAAC'S "WINTER ART FESTIVAL" - MADISON, WISCONSIN

Come meet these delightful fairies in person at

the Winter Art Festival, Madison, WI

The "Winter Art Festival" held at the beautiful Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin is coming up sooner than I expected!! This is one of my favorite shows, and will be my last art show of the 2008 season! Where did the summer and fall go! If you live in the area, you won't want to miss this wonderful show. It is one of the best art shows around, and has a wide array of wonderful art being shown by about 140 artists. I am always honored to be a part of this top quality show. There is a Young Collector's Corner, where kids age 12 and under may purchase artwork at kid-sized prices.....$3.00, $5.00, or $7.00.

MY BOOTH is #42 this year!

SHOW DATE: November 15 & 16

HOURS: Saturday Nov. 15th 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday Nov. 16th 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

ADMISSION: $3.00 Under 12 yrs. -FREE

Anyone interested in receiving the show's postcard good for $1.00 off admission, please email me at dzfairies@msn.com

This great show is sponsored by The Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Craftspeople, Inc. For more information on this organization you can click on this link: WAAC

I've been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY creating new creations for this upcoming show. Below is a glimpse of some of my creations that will be coming to the Madison show on November 15th & 16th! They are also currently available in my DZFANTASY shop on Etsy. (See link below)

Above are several of my "sitting style" fairies

Below are some of my collection of "fall" fairies!

My newest MERMAID

The above creations only represent a very few of my new creations. Many more will be at the show!! Of course, if you don't live in the area, you can always find all of my available creations at my DZFANTASY shop on Etsy.

If you have any questions regarding the show, and how to get there, please feel free to contact me. There is plenty of indoor parking right in the Monona Terrace Convention Center building on beautiful Lake Monona. The show is held in the lower level of this building.