Thanks for an amazing weekend Baltimore! I was given lots of warnings before Artscape: that it's packed, incredibly hot, incredibly crazy, and full of "interesting" characters. It turned out to be all of those things, and a really great show. I hit my sales goal (and then doubled it), and got to do the best people-watching I've ever done.
I had a booth in the DIY section, so I was surrounded by a ton of other great artists. While I was applying, I had the option of choosing a few different booth locations, but after being there I realized it really didn't matter where your booth was, because the entire area was packed. I didn't leave the booth except for bathroom and food breaks, but every time I walked out, it was like going into a sea of people.
I seem to have captured a flying squirrel in the above picture...it must have been jumping off the roof as I clicked the shutter.
These pictures were taken Friday morning before the show opened, when the booth was nice and full of products. As the weekend went on, I had to keep taking away racks and tables as I sold out (no complaints here). For the last half hour on Sunday night, I made all cards buy one get one free, and I had a huge final rush of people in the booth. It was a great way to end the show, and I will definitely consider doing it again in the future.
My friend Rachel was my booth assistant on Saturday (thanks Rachel!), and to process all of the crazy people we saw passing the booth, we decided to write haikus about the people who really stood out from the crowd (and that was not an easy crowd to stand out from). An excerpt:
Some of the highlights included a naked gladiator casually shopping for jewelry, a graffiti artist who invited us to his condo to listen to the Grateful Dead, more ironic tattoos than I could count, and a lot of really amazing fashion that could never be pulled off outside of Baltimore.
I've never done a show that went so late at night before, but I really enjoyed it. Once the sun went down, it turned into a party and the alcohol really encouraged people to shop.
I brought some beers to the show so I could join in the party, but it was so hot that we would take one sip and want to go back to water. I was averaging about twelve water bottles per day.
My next door neighbors were Sea Grape Soap, a company selling all-natural soaps that smelled amazing. The whole tent smelled really good and kept drawing customers in, which worked for me! People kept picking up the cards to smell them, suggesting I branch into scented stationery. We did a trade so I got to come home with a bar of Mint Green Tea soap, a really refreshing soap that will be great to combat the DC heat.
Overall, it was an amazing weekend. It was so fun to spend some time in Baltimore and get to know the city a little. It's only an hour from DC but they couldn't be more different. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth this weekend, and I'll see you next year!
I had a booth in the DIY section, so I was surrounded by a ton of other great artists. While I was applying, I had the option of choosing a few different booth locations, but after being there I realized it really didn't matter where your booth was, because the entire area was packed. I didn't leave the booth except for bathroom and food breaks, but every time I walked out, it was like going into a sea of people.
I seem to have captured a flying squirrel in the above picture...it must have been jumping off the roof as I clicked the shutter.
These pictures were taken Friday morning before the show opened, when the booth was nice and full of products. As the weekend went on, I had to keep taking away racks and tables as I sold out (no complaints here). For the last half hour on Sunday night, I made all cards buy one get one free, and I had a huge final rush of people in the booth. It was a great way to end the show, and I will definitely consider doing it again in the future.
My friend Rachel was my booth assistant on Saturday (thanks Rachel!), and to process all of the crazy people we saw passing the booth, we decided to write haikus about the people who really stood out from the crowd (and that was not an easy crowd to stand out from). An excerpt:
The Grandma's romper:
Fit for a twenty year old
But she's rocking it.
Some of the highlights included a naked gladiator casually shopping for jewelry, a graffiti artist who invited us to his condo to listen to the Grateful Dead, more ironic tattoos than I could count, and a lot of really amazing fashion that could never be pulled off outside of Baltimore.
I've never done a show that went so late at night before, but I really enjoyed it. Once the sun went down, it turned into a party and the alcohol really encouraged people to shop.
I brought some beers to the show so I could join in the party, but it was so hot that we would take one sip and want to go back to water. I was averaging about twelve water bottles per day.
My next door neighbors were Sea Grape Soap, a company selling all-natural soaps that smelled amazing. The whole tent smelled really good and kept drawing customers in, which worked for me! People kept picking up the cards to smell them, suggesting I branch into scented stationery. We did a trade so I got to come home with a bar of Mint Green Tea soap, a really refreshing soap that will be great to combat the DC heat.
Overall, it was an amazing weekend. It was so fun to spend some time in Baltimore and get to know the city a little. It's only an hour from DC but they couldn't be more different. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth this weekend, and I'll see you next year!
