Selling Your Art or Craft at Community Markets and Festivals

Pumpkin Painting Event at a Fall Festival

You wouldn't believe how many people I meet who have some type of incredible talent simmering under the surface, hidden from view - maybe they take incredible photos, write heartfelt poetry, or create fantastic pen and ink sketches.  Yet they keep these talents hidden away from the world, thus preventing the rest of us from enjoying their craft.  Why? Usually it is either because they are not "ready" or have doubts about their talent or chance of success.  

If you have a special skill, aren't you meant to use it and share it?  Trust me, there are people who would appreciate it. So how do you begin?

Local community markets are a fabulous way to increase visibility, create awareness and name recognition and build your loyal customer base.

Painted Rocks

Begin by asking yourself the tough questions.  Will people spend money for what you have to sell?  Is it portable?  I'll spare you the story of the time I tried to sell hand-painted stepping stones that weighed a good 15 pounds at a flea market.  How many do you think I sold? Zero.  If someone had wanted to purchase this impractical item, they would have had to haul it 1/4 mile at least to get it to their car.  That being said, I have seen hefty yard art sell like hotcakes.  

How will you price your art?  Consider the time you spent making it and the cost of the materials. Consider whether the price will be reasonable to a potential customer? Ask the opinions of honest friends.  

Next, do a little research.  Most towns have monthly markets and yearly festivals. Make a list and determine application deadlines and cost. 

If possible, attend the events of interest.  Take photos of booth displays and advertising, and find out what types of payment processing systems are being used (and the cost of these).  Look at price points and what seems to be selling by looking at what items are being carried around the market by shoppers.  Do people seem to be there to shop or just to browse?  

Holiday Door Hangers Sold at a Christmas Festival

Determine cost of a display tent I, display materials, supplies to create your craft, and promotional materials. Figure out how much you would have to make to recoup these costs. Make sure the festival has the ability to attract a crowd.  Consider the cost versus the potential income.  Is it worth it?  Will it create a fanbase?

Once you make the decision to forge ahead,  do what you do best -  create, make, bake, craft!  Amass some inventory to sell.  At the same time, be sure to control your spending.  It's easy for me to lose control when I enter an art store, but I understand that if I buy lots of expensive materials to make my art, I'm going to have to sell that much more to realize a profit.

Buy your tent and carefully craft create your display. An inviting space for shoppers makes all of the difference.  Could you offer any small give-aways or a raffle?  Collecting names and emails for a raffle is a great way to build your valuable mailing list - which is crucial for building client relationships.  Create your brand. Write your story.

Holiday Door Hangers Sold at a Christmas Festival

Apply to festivals.  Make your offering unique and appealing.  Many festivals limit the number of similar offerings.  So if you make jewelry and there are 25 other applicants in this category, yours better be unique in some way.  

This is where the story of your product and branding come in handy.  Some events are harder to get into than others. Your booth photo, often a necessary component of the application, is very important - it has to look professional and welcoming. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Not being accepted is not a big deal.  

Don’t forget to market your event to everyone you know on social media in advance.  

After the festival.  Stay in touch. Your new fanbase mailing list may be the biggest benefit. It’s hard to put a true value on the connections and friends made at these events.  

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the downsides - unpredictable weather, wind storms (don’t forget your festival tent weights), ice, the disappointment of a cancelled event, the strenuous labor of set-up and take-down,  storing inventory, and the days when the crowd simply does not appear.  Don’t give up.  Try, try again.  I hope to see you out there!

I was a regular at arts and crafts festivals and markets in and around Cary, NC for years and I learned a lot., Please reach out if you have any questions.  If you enjoyed this post, considering checking out my book, Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.   

Happy creating,

Arianne 

Sociable Art Craft Event at a Christmas Festival

Don’t Give Up - Just Paint Over it!

 

New and Improved Daisy painting - 2019

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn” 

― Orson Welles

At a morning paint class a couple of weeks ago, one of the student artists blurted out, “I can’t do this!” in a tone of self-disgust.  With that, she dropped her paintbrush on the table and sat back in her chair in defeat. 

I see this reaction regularly, especially with children.  At almost every community art event, there is inevitably one perfectionist – a child who has set extremely high expectations for themselves and ends up in tears when the paint goes outside the line. 

In both these instances, the aspiring artist had a vision of how she wanted her painting to evolve, and the reality was not living up to the dream.  This moment that I see repeated often at my events, is a great opportunity to teach one of the greatest lessons about painting and a bit of a life lesson at the same time.  My response is always the same: “If you don’t like it, paint over it.”

More often than not, the dissatisfaction stems from one of two sources. Possibly you are expecting perfection.  There is no perfection in art, so stop. Art is not a science.  It is sometimes messy and freeing.  Let it flow. 

Maybe you are trying to replicate a style that is not your own.  You aren’t letting your own vision influence your interpretation. The solution might be as simple as giving yourself a chance to warm up, let go of expectations, set an intention, and get into the flow.  I find that it is good practice to do a preliminary sketch to limber up your creativity.  If you still find yourself at this moment of discontent, just paint over it and start again with a new approach.  Make it your own.  

Consider this; a painting, like our lives, is constantly in a state of evolution. Striving, reaching and never quite attaining are all part of painting and life.  Once you accept your lack of perfection and perhaps, inaptitude, your art will flow more easily and without struggle.  Try to reach a point, where you can say to yourself, I may not be one of the best artists and not everyone will like my work, but that’s okay.  My work is uniquely my own and valuable because of this distinction.

Did you know that it was and is common practice for painters to paint over their old paintings? Apparently Vincent Van Gogh also had moments when he was dissatisfied with his work and threw down his paintbrush in disgust.  Advances in technology have allowed us to see earlier, less impressive versions of the Mona Lisa underneath the famous masterpiece https://listverse.com/2016/03/06/10-hidden-images-discovered-beneath-famous-classic-paintings/.  

Many of my paintings also have years of layers.  I had a daisy painting that I created four or five years ago.  You can see the original version below.  It was nice, but I was never thrilled with it.  I painted it at a time in my life when all I wanted was simplicity.  I half-heartedly tried to sell it at festivals a couple of times, and then gave up. I changed the background color as new shades went in and out of fashion.  I sometimes hung it on a wall in my home. Other times it was getting dusty in a corner of my studio.  One day, I looked at it long and hard and decided to give it a new life.  I had not liked it, because it had no personality. There was nothing there that showed the character of the artist that painted it – me!

Orignal Daisy Painting - 2015

I repainted the background guided by my heart and soul and finally the painting was a reflection of my unique vision of the world.  

I left the original daisies and added color and elements that had meaning to me.  The painting sold very quickly after I finished. I even ended up having to paint another just like it for another client.  Why?  Because I put my unique personality into the piece. Before it had hung mutely on the wall, lacking significance and power.  After, I repainted it; it “spoke” to people.

So in short, your painting is not finished until it is sold and out of your grasp or until you feel a sense of completion.  Neither perfection, nor satisfaction should be your aim.  Be true to your own personal style and the message you speak with your paint.  

Happy painting,

Arianne

This is a repost of my article which was originally posted in 2019. If you enjoyed this post, considering checking out my book, Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.