FOXY Fusions Blog

Sometimes I wonder the impact my crafting lifestyle will have on my young sons, who are now 7 and 10. During the fall and spring, I am gone 3 out of 4 weekends at shows, off solo selling my wares while my kiddos are in school. My husband takes them to all their soccer games on the weekends, and I miss these special moments….although I usually get lots of photos of them playing sent to my Blackberry—Love modern technology!

During the week, I feel like I’m cramming time with my boys…trying to see them as much as possible. But there’s only so much time between after school, homework, soccer practice, and bedtime; and often I have lots of work to do to get ready for the next weekend show as well so I’ll be in the studio late at night.

My older son Garrett told his Nene (my mom) that when he grows up, he’s going to get a job that makes lots of money so he doesn’t have to work as hard as his father and me. Then my mother shot me that look that said: “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” (and really, she totally disapproves of me being gone so much!)

But two weekends ago my son Garrett got to come with me to a show because it was close to home in Georgetown. He loved it! He wandered around, found some arts and crafts he liked and even made a “trade” with an artist (with a little help from mom). He was so proud of his purchase…and liked the idea that he got to own something made by another artist by trading something his mommy made. And he got to hear folks say how much they loved the glass that his mommy made…I think it made him feel special.

Another benefit of my kids witnessing my crafts lifestyle is that it is teaching them that there are all kinds of ways to make a living in this world besides the standard corporate style job. It’s teaching them that you can conceive of something in your own mind, create it, and actually convince other people to buy it from you! How cool is that? Last year I knew Garrett had figured this out when he filled balloons with flour and sold them at school as “stress balls” for $5 each. He made a BUNDLE! I am teaching him to be an entrepreneur.

I’m also teaching my kids that doing what you love is important. I am not happy with corporate work. Sure…it pays the bills. But if I don’t have a way to be creative as a living, I am miserable. Even though I’m gone so much from home, when I *am* home, I’m happy. I think that makes a difference. An energetic happy mommy who’s around half the time is much better than a depressed sad mommy who’s around all the time.

And, lastly, I’m teaching my kids the power of determination. You win some, you lose some, but you never stop trying to live your dreams. Ever. I am trying to set an example for them that I hope will help them create a full, happy life.

It will be fascinating to see how my kids turn out…what lessons they learn…and what they say about me as a mom when they grow up!

Pursuing art as a career can seem luxurious to lots of people, like it’s not really a job at all…it’s fun. And in some ways this is true. I’m blessed that I can earn a living being creative and I enjoy calling myself an “artist” or my new favorite—”artisan”. Before he worked some shows with me, my husband would remark that all I did all weekend was have fun drinking wine and hanging out with my artist friends.

But spend any amount of time behind the scenes with artists and you’ll discover an absolute truth: pursuing art as a career is extremely challenging emotionally, financially, and physically. Sometimes people ask me questions about booth fees or displays, and it’s clear they’re contemplating pursuing a creative career involving arts and crafts. So on the wake of a somewhat frustrating show experience, I’ll offer my most accurate portrayal of what you can experience doing arts and crafts fairs.

First, you can expect absolute unpredictability. All of us artists share news of various show experiences in the hopes of discovering the very best chance of doing well in sales. I say “chance” because finding good sales opportunities hinges on so many factors including:

• Weather–If it’s too hot or too cold, or raining or snowing, you won’t get the turnout you need to be successful. No amount of show promotion can fix that. A previously good show turns sour instantly in bad weather.
• Promotion–Picking a show that has a history of being a decent show is the best you can hope for, and then it’s very competitive to get juried in so you can have the opportunity to try out your merchandise on the market.
• Event competition–Even if the show is excellent, if there are conflicts with other art shows, community events, or even football games that the public wants to attend, your show attendance will suffer.
• Market appeal–Until you try a show, you have no idea whether the market for that show will like what you have to offer. Each show is like a microcosm that your product may, or may not, thrive within. You’ve got to pay to play.
• Economy–Over the last year, the economy has definitely dampened sales and made everyone cautious with spending money. This has hit the artist community hard. Look around your neighborhood–you’ve likely seen many boutiques and art shops close down because they can’t make ends meet.

Second, in response to the unpredictability, you can expect to need coping mechanisms. If you’re having great sales at a show, you don’t need to do anything except soak up the glory. But you definitely will experience shows where you do not make sales–these shows shake your foundation and make even the most confident artists wonder whether they should be pursuing this line of work.

Third, you can expect to get sweaty, dirty, and wet setting up and breaking down your booth. It takes time to develop the perfect booth display for your merchandise, and to get everything you need to keep it looking nice, dry in wet weather, and stable in windy conditions.  That learning curve can be frustrating, but once you’ve got it worked out, you’ll get great exercise lifting, bending, stretching, and hustling to arrange your booth before a show.

Lastly, you can expect to make life-long friends. Doing arts and crafts shows can be traumatic, and like any traumatic experience, the art show circuit produces strong bonds and friendships between artists. Artists are living on the edge, not knowing one minute to the next whether things are going to be great or awful. It’s the true test to whether you see the glass half empty or half full. Whether you can turn lemons into lemonade.

I’ve learned so much from participating in arts and crafts shows over the years. I’ve learned about myself mostly. I’m a lemonade-maker. I can make lemonade from even the most tart lemons.

Every year at the Austin City Limits festival I find new music to groove to in the studio! Music is an essential part of my creativity and design inspiration. I need music like I need air.

2009 ACL favorites included:

• Mute Math–New Orleans’ electro-rock quartet draws upon new wave and electronic to ambient pop and alt-rock to deliver FRIGGIN’ AWESOME JAMS!!! I loved them. I even got signed by the lead singer…a doppelganger for my husband! I bought the newest album–Armistice–and the original album–Mute Math.
• Ghostland Observatory–They rocked it hard on Saturday night…arguably the best performance of the weekend! They even brought the entire UT Marching Band out on stage! Ghostland Observatory serves up guitars, sequencers and programmed beats into a white-hot mix of punk rock, digitized funk and techno. Taking cues from disparate influences ranging from Daft Punk to Jerry Lee Lewis to Queen, Ghostland Observatory delivers with sweat and screams.
• Thievery Corporation–Exhilarating and eclectic blend of electronica, dub, rock and all manner of ethnic music, I’ve loved Thievery Corporation since I first heard a song of theirs on the movie soundtrack for The Truth About Charlie. They rock it!
• Phoenix–Loved this French band for their upbeat and danceable tunes! And the lead singer fathered Sofia Coppola’s child…an interesting celebrity tidbit.
• The Knux–For a hip-hop twist, check out The Knux. I love their creative use of instrumentation and electronics, and savvy use of slinky ’70s-sounding guitar lines. Fun!
• Citizen Cope–Born in Memphis, Cope delivers a folk-pop/blues/hip-hop/reggae/soul sound that is distinctive and hypnotic. He sang my favorite song on Saturday–Sideways. Awesome.
• STS9–Once again, Waterloo Records was sold out of STS9 records yesterday when I went for my yearly music feast. This band is awesome and has very groovable tunes for studio time!
• Cotton Jones–I had never heard this band before, but really enjoyed their trippy dreamy sounds that weave elements of folk, jazz, and country into a woozily melodic quilt of Americana with psychedelic sensibilities.
• Ben Harper and Relentless7–Gotta love Ben Harper anyway, but his new band is truly jamming awesome tunes!
• Passion Pit–Very playful eclectic electronica tunes that are fun to groove around to as I’m working in the studio.
• Arctic Monkeys–A favorite of mine since I saw them two years ago at ACL, I added their new album to my collection happily!
• B52s–I took a walk down memory lane and remembered dancing in college to these awesome tunes! This band is STILL rocking it! Unbelievable! (Although, they did give themselves a bit of a glamour shot for their band pic…)

AND….we also got to catch The Gourds at an after show at Threadgills. These guys JAM it HARD…and rewarded us with a rare rendition of ‘Gin and Juice’ which they adapted from…you guessed it…Snoop Dogg.

I can’t believe I have to wait another whole year for the next ACL Festival! Drats!