And while it wasn’t a perfect day in weather, it was perfect because my art was received so completely by my neighbors. I am so grateful for the opportunities I had yesterday to share my artwork with people. It made it very real and inspiring. It gives me momentum to continue, to grow my business and to get out there again.
Special thanks to my wonderful husband who acted as errand boy, cheerleader, chauffeur, voice of reason, barker and beer-provider.
We got there at 9:30 to a light rain. We were showed where our booth should be set up, and got out our tent. I rented the tent from a local rental company and well, it had holes in it, and was absolutely not rain resistant, even without the holes. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
We got all set up, hanging the paintings from the top of the tent with fishing wire. This was my quick-fix solution to the “presentation” problem I’ve been wondering about for a while. I really wanted it to look like a gallery with some work on tables and some hung up.
It looked pretty good:
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| our initial set-up before the "storm" hit |
We were relaxing in the tent, reading and waiting for the festival to open when a volunteer came by to say that a severe storm was coming our way with hail and strong winds and that we needed to take cover and that we had about 20 minutes. Then someone else came by to say that he was taking his tent down and that the winds were 80mph.
I had a feeling that was sensationalism and panic, but we cut down all the paintings, Ryan went to get the car and we put all the artwork into the car. Then we lowered the tent to its lowest point (about 3 feet tall) so that it wouldn’t blow away. We left the tables and our camping chairs under the tent, thinking everything would be fine and dry. And we went to brunch at Napolean’s, which was in the same shopping center of the festival, to ride out the supposed storm.
The sky got darker, and with the exception of some harder rain, it was nothing like what we had been told was coming our way. The wind was barely noticeable and there was no hail.
We still believed everything was fine in our tent until we went to check everything and perhaps begin putting everything up again (we were done with brunch and the rain had let up a bit). That’s when we saw the puddles collected on our tables and that everything was covered in water. The rain had soaked the canopy of our tent and went right through to drip on everything underneath it. I’m so glad we cut all the paintings down! We had contemplated leaving them all up and just lowering the tent.
So it was decision time. Do we pack up and just go home, because if it rains anymore, everything underneath the tent will get wet, or figure out a fix and stay?
Ryan gave me his opinion, but told me that really it was up to me. I told him that I wanted to stay. We were here, the art was not damaged, let’s figure out a fix to the issue.
The tent rental company had provided us with 4 walls, and we were only using 3, and the 4th was a vinyl, tarp-like material. So, Ryan came up with the idea to use that 4th wall in the top of the tent to keep some of the rain out. While the 4th wall didn’t stretch all the way across the top of the tent, we were able to get a good amount of space protected and when it rained again, we barely felt it.
Even with the fix, we weren’t going to be able to hang the paintings up again, so we used the tables and while it wasn’t ideal, we were able to have most everything out.
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| After the storm, everything on tables and stands |
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| Other side of tent |
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| Me and some of the first customers |
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| Ryan and the tent |
It looks cluttered, and like I said, it wasn't not ideal, but
even displayed that way, things were selling and people were excited about my
art. I got tons of exposure and people were interested in the mailing list and
the drawing for a print, which is exciting, too.
I had a sign-up sheet for a Memorial Day drawing of a free
8.5x11 print of their choice. And I’m hoping to have my etsy.com shop ready to go this week.
I am thrilled and still a little shocked that strangers not only liked my art, but bought it and it is hanging in their homes!
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