Monday, July 12, 2010

well that was a bust.

we had "done" that brentwood village summer festival (set up & sold art) a few weeks ago, and sold half a dozen items... which meant i took in double what i'd spent to be there, so even though it was slow, i had fun and it felt "sucessful" to me. i justified the few sales saying that it wasn't really the right venue for my stuff - lots of kids running around, wanting free pony rides and cotton candy; and not much traffic directed towards our booth isolated from the rest of the festival in the "artist" section... so i signed up for the Rose Bowl Flea Market - it said that 20,000 people come through every time they have it, and i was in the "arts and crafts" section, so it was perfect! i'd get lots of traffic, of people coming through looking for art, weird old and hip young people that my art would appeal to... and i had some lookers, but only TWO SALES in the entire 10-hour period i was there. makes me think it is more the product than the venue... maybe all this making art & selling it isn't gonna happen for me... i feel like all my dreams and aspirations have been... crushed. no excuses this time for why people weren't buying (although a lot of the other sellers said it was a super-slow sales day for them, too). a bunch of people who just "loved" the look of my stuff took business cards, promising to look me up on etsy later... so that's good, i guess - get my name out there. i just have felt super-depressed ever since it got over yesterday. i know it is still in my heart to make art - i need to be creative to thrive! but should i try to figure out what's "me" AND will sell? or just make stuff for my own personal use, and give up on trying to make money from it? i know this is not a very uplifting or inspirational post... but it's where i'm at, and i could use some feedback, too...!

something i've been thinking about this past week (and even today, despite my discouragement) is what my "style" is. in my art, home decorating, dress, etc... i've described it to jason before as "boho" (though i only have a rudimentary idea of what that even means)... today on the drive to starbucks i was thinking that i just love the "juxtaposition of the feminine and the industrial" (see pic of what i'm wearing today - super-girly, lacy, ruffle-y pink shirt and one of my recycled hardware STACK pendants - love it! lace and nuts - hey that's a good name for it all ;)


one lousy flea market day (most people seemed like they were there for the tommy bahama shirts and knockoff leather bags anyway) can't stop me! still need to process a bit more whether i'm gonna try to give so much of myself (and jason) to trying to sell it still, or just "play" and make art for my own soul's good... but i feel kind of excited to get my studion back in working order (we used all its furniture for my booth setup, and it has not returned to its place yet) and back to the "work (play)" of making art!! :)