AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL SHOW 2009

I have had a bunch of work to do but I thought I would pause and blog for a moment. I wanted write about what I thought of the show. There was this strange nervousness in the air. I think the exhibitors were not sure what to expect and rightly so. When I arrived for the retail only section I could tell that some of the wholesale people were not happy. I think I heard the words "dismal" and "ghost town" multiple times. I can't speak for the wholesale but I think the retail was just slightly lower than before. I did about the same as when I was a searchlight artist two years ago.

Sometimes I don't feel like that sales are as important than the people. On average, everyone had a great positive attitude. I think it was kind of a "we are all in this together" thing. Which was kind of comforting. I had a great time. I think Liz had a great time. I talked to a lot of folks I had not seen in years. Truthfully, I wish I had more time to talk to people that came by my booth. I started having a conversation with Bruce Metcalf about micro economics and Etsy but my booth got swamped. I also wanted to talk with Gabriel Craig who was there doing interviews for an upcoming project but again I kind of got sidetracked. Andrew Wagner and Monica Hampton came by which was great! Andrew did the interview from my previous posting. I think the best part of the show was the metals searchlight artists. I love all of them. If I could have, I would have hung out with them the whole time. I loved all of their work and wanted to buy all of it. I did a couple of really great trades. I am pretty sure I would have traded my whole booth if I cold have. I also ran into two folks that I was excited to meet in person. First Annie from Imogene and Allison Fomich from Tiger Lilly. I also ran into a bunch of old friends like Jeff and Susan Wise, Biba Schulz and Sam Shaw.

All in all I had a blast. I made enough money to pay for the trip and the booth so I am happy. I told someone that I didn't think I would do the show again but hey at this point I would totally come back. I am leaving you with photos of all the wonderful work by the searchlight metals people.