Starving Artists

[sooZen]

The road to San Antonio is punctuated with mesquite and an abundance of desert primroses due to the break in the recent drought. When you leave the environs of Phar Lepht and the traffic and head out on Interstate 10, you are sure to notice the good verses bad drivers on the highway. Those that know how to behave on long stretches opposed to those that think the highway belongs solely to themselves. I, of course, think I am one of the former and not the latter but only another can tell.

A nine hour drive brings you to the brink of the city and more traffic and a loop that seems to take forever when your arms ache and your eyes are bleary. Fortunately, I didn't have to set up my tent at the crafts show until the next day and could enjoy the company of friends and a good dinner that evening.

Friday, the day we set up was windy and unkind especially when your tent is made of the same material they use for kites and hot air balloons. I held it down while my partner Jan scrambled from leg to leg of the tent to set the 50 lb. weights but even with the weights, the tent slid four or five feet after a big gust. We sat down to watch and consider the options and finally decided to just set up the tables in the corners with heavy tubs on top and continue the set up the next day when the winds were supposed to subside. They did...

Saturday was beautiful and there were beaucoup artists this year but unfortunately a plethora (I use that word where I can) of jewelry artists and nonartists. My real bane is the fact that in these so called juried shows, a few always get in that don't belong there and don't make what they sell and they are always jewelry booths. So you end up competing with cheap ass jewelry that is bought and resold and the people that run the shows never seem to notice even if you tell them year to year.

I barely made expenses even though the weather cooperated and the crowds were plentiful. It was discouraging and frustrating. I have to reconsider doing this show again next year if the situation remains the same and there is no telling until one gets there. A nine hour drive both ways for just a pittance doesn't seem worth it.

To top it off, the ride home after an exhausting weekend was a typical desert wind event. The dust storm and wind blew my little truck all over the road and I had to fight the wheel all the way home. By the time I arrived Monday evening, my arms, wrists and shoulders were aching.

I am glad this one is behind me...my luck is bound to change, at least that is my hope. It seems I am just moving from one trying situation to the next and keeping my chin up is becoming more of an effort.

Peace,
SooZen

[stilltrucking]

twenty four hours of bliss, San Antonio to LA. For a kid from a grity black and white city back east, it was as good as it gets. Technicolor.

Ebay stores, ten bucks a month, the only hassle is if you want to shut it down. In ten years dealing with ebay I have never talked to a human being. If i ever did it again I would set up a debit card with a seperate account. That way you can just cancel it. It is so much cheaper then auctions. But you do an auction once in a while to bring traffic to the store. Thinking about those soggy treasures and a collage Cecil emailed me once. I hope it survived.

Close encounters on I-10

It was great going west, but coming back could be a bleary eyed bitch. From LA a little side trip up to Seattle and then back to Sanato. Buggle gum and no doze wearing off. Around Ozona. I am watching these lights off in the distance. Something wrong about them. Then I realize it is a west bound four wheeler in the east bound lanes. I slow down, they keep coming, I slow down, they keep coming. Finally I am completely stopped the car stops. We sit there nose to nose on the interstate. I get out and walk up to the car. A very very old woman is driving. I try to speak to her but she won't roll down the window. Finally she roles it down a couple of inches and says, "I am old." I say lady I would like to get old myself, we need to get you turned around before ....

If you need any info on the stores let me know.

[Zlatko Waterman]

Dear SooZen:


I stopped exhibiting in 1988.

At that time, I had a gallery, shows, champagne, wine-drinkers and cheese nibblers asking me about my work while I stood and smiled.

I even sold some pieces now and then.

But the horror, as you realize and stated forcefully, if a bit laconically ( because of your Zen nature, something I admire) is that many folks who come to shows ( of yours or anyone else's) can't tell shit from shinola.

They would rather buy Thomas Kinkade prints and patronize the Kenny G. of art ( if he could even lay claim to that-- the worst possible subhuman, he is, a Christian businessman) than buy one of your drawings or watercolors, or a piece of your jewelry art.


Or even listen to you play "Melancholy Baby" on the guitar and then drop something more than a dollar bill in your tip jar.

I've been there, too. And LR can testify about that color of humiliation. 35 years of practicing and, as Dylan says, ". . .they put you on the day shift . . ."


Can you hear my sympathy?


I hope you can, you lovely Person, you.


Zlatko

[sooZen]

(Sorry...I missed these replies)

Zlat...thanks buddy, I can hear the sympathy and it is appreciated. Thank you for replying and some perspective. Perspective and distance (from the event) always helps me.

By the time the show rolls around again next year, I will have a new enthusiasm and perhaps, have forgotten the sticky bits or at least enough to try again.

Cecil likes doing shows about as much as you..."What does that mean?", "What IS THAT???" and "empty mind, I have one of those" are some of the more candid comments he endures. Besides, he doesn't like people all that well, only individuals.

I love what I do and without the people that come into my tent, I couldn't do it. I could create my pieces and pile them up, I guess but that wouldn't do and I doubt I could go back to writing grants, volunteer coordinating or project directing for a non-profit. (talk about stressful!)

The shows will continue for me for that is my passion until I can no longer hammer a tent stake...which may be sooner than I think. I love the people who come into my tent, who feel the energy of what I create (they tell me they can) and comment on my display, my work even if they do not buy anything...most never leave without smiling.

It's the folks that run the shows that drive me nuts... They say one thing (on paper) and then do another in fact. The majority have never done a show themselves as artists. They take our money and fill spaces.

Ah well, it is still an issue and will continue to be. It helps to write it down and helps even more when someone understands.

Thanks,
SooZen

Jack...have dabbled in ebay as Cecil plays with it. Not really my cup of tea although that may change.

As much as I have bitched, the reality is that I will continue to do the tent shows as that is what I love to do. Just wish it was easier to make a living doing it but 'easy' was never the road I was on.

Gracias,
SooZen