Who Has a Fork?

Go ahead and stick one in me.  I am DONE for the year.  The last push is always the hardest, which is what I imagine child birth would be like without the epidural. 

In the past 10 days, I have set up four times and had a total of five show days.  I know the math here doesn't really work and I didn't even consider it took me two days to set up my home show. 

The show I had this past weekend required set up on Saturday morning, then a breakdown that afternoon, followed by a set up again on Sunday morning, breaking down again at the end, concluding with a breakdown from exhaustion upon returning to my home.

This is why I do not belong to a gym or even exercise on my own.  I get all the workout I need at the 18 or so shows I do a year.  The exercise I got last weekend alone will last me at least until March, 2017.

Below is a before and after setup of a show I did two weekends ago.  This setup took about eight hours and was the only indoor show I did this year.

Usually my last show of the year is bittersweet. Sometimes when the season comes to a close, it hurts my heart a bit, just because I do enjoy it so.  I wonder how I'll pass the time for the next few months while I break down that last show.  Packing up those boxes I know will remain closed for a while.  Noticing how much my canopy, mesh panels and tent walls need a good cleaning, promising I'll make it shine again.  Mental noting that I need new signage and updated pedestal coverings.

This year, I could not wait to get all of it put away!  I don't care how dirty it is.  I am tired.  And I'm running out of show clothes options.  Those walls are just going to get dirty again and I'll worry about the rest in a month or two.

So for now, here are a few bits of advice for those of you who do art shows and those of you who attend them.

Artists:  Never, ever complain about how cold it is, how hot it is, how tired or hungry you are.  Do not sit there and ignore your patrons.  Put your phone down and for the love of chardonnay, if you want to eat something, do not have an affair with a cheeseburger or a plate of ribs.  People you might very well be taking a payment from do not want to watch you devour 1,600 calories or take change from your greasy, ketchup-y hands. 

Patrons:  Be mindful of where you stand when you have 10 minute conversations with your friend from college who just got married and hopes be be pregnant by early next year.  If you are standing directly in front of an artist's display, you are blocking it and no one can see all the things they simply cannot live without.  People who do this should have to, by law, come in and purchase one item for each minute they stand in the way.  Just move your reunion so you aren't in front of a booth.  And please do tell her to get the epidural.  Pushing does not have to be painful!

And neither does the end of a show season...