Here I am! Or more accurately, here is my table at the inaugural St. Louis Park Art Fair. As you can see, it was a beautiful day. The venue is very nice – I regret not getting a picture of the entire show from the bleachers. The Recreation Outdoor Center (ROC) is a facility about a year old, with a nice high white permanent canopy, with lights. There are built-in bleachers on one side. This floor is ice in the winter, turf in the spring, and then concrete until it’s cold enough for ice. Minnesota is skating and hockey country, and we love our sheets of ice!

There were 78 vendors, a community art project (I think it was acrylic pours), the local pizza place, and amazing Thai food from a local church. I saw robed Buddhist monks carrying large stainless steel containers. I loved the curry puffs, and they were beautiful. The organizers said they stopped counting at 1,000 people, which is a really good gate count for a first time show.

I have been making things for the show since I knew of my acceptance in April. This was a really good thing for me, as it’s the most consistently productive that I’ve been since, well, ever? On the creative side, this alone was worth it to me. I worked in series, which I haven’t done since I sold kits a long time ago. I used the opportunity to explore color and repetition and design, and I have several designs I didn’t have time to try.

I did actually make more than my costs! As a first time show artist, I had to purchase the booth needs, from display through packaging. I bought lovely new Moo mini business cards. I used beads and yarn on hand, but I needed to buy findings. In advance of the show, I sent a series of three emails to a small mailing list of local people I knew would be interested in my story of creating and planning my first show, and I invited a few more via Facebook. I did well solely through the support of friends and coworkers, for which I’m humbly grateful. Thank you.

What would I do differently? I would make more of the less expensive items. Earrings and lavender sachets were the most popular, and I could make more of those. I would display the sachets better; they were in the basket with two scarves, and I think a white ceramic plate or shallow bowl would be better. I could do better and more marketing on Instagram. I could continue to improve the display. I think I’ll do this again!