Wednesday, March 4, 2009

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.

ACC highlights!! search light!

ACC highlights!!

ACC highlights!! stacey lee webber

ACC highlights!! stacey lee webber


ACC highlights!! stacey lee webber

ACC highlights!!
ACC highlights!!

ACC highlights!! maya kini

ACC highlights!! maya kini

ACC highlights!! jennaca davies

ACC highlights!! jennaca davies

ACC highlights!! Amy Tavern!

ACC highlights!! IMOGENE!

ACC highlights!! Natalya Pinchuk

ACC highlights!! Biba Schultz

4 comments:

  1. How did I miss Bruce Metcalf? Darn it.

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  2. yo, arthur! thanks for all the props for searchlight! great to see you up there. looking forward to the summer.

    p.s. my bf loves his ping pong pin.

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  3. Interesting to hear a perspective from the exhibitor's point of view - we kind of wondered how the crowds were going to be the rest of the weekend. (We typically sneak in Friday early afternoon, just to avoid the crush on Saturday & Sunday)

    I did notice a few signs inside some of the other spaces, encouraging people to "Buy Local! Support the Economy!" which didn't bother me too much. Hey, we did all of our economy stimulation at your booth! :D

    Good to see you guys this year, hope you make it out next year with lots of cool new pieces!

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