Preparing for an art show is like getting back on a bicycle, except since it’s been 32 months since my last show, I had to: take inventory, redesign the booth layout, order what I needed, put fresh covers on the matted pictures, rewire some wall hangings with stronger wires, cut and drill holes in new flat hangers for other wall hangings, and redo all pricing tags (since I couldn’t find the old design shape).

And that’s before the grid walls…

Decisions: the grid walls

This year’s addition of cloth covers for my grid walls is an investment to achieve a gallery look for the booth.

Decision 1 – what color/ colors? With the help of my crafter friend and my daughter, I went with pewter for the display panels and black for the featured panel.

The photo below (to the left) shows one of my trial runs minus a sign talking about Evening Song Farm CSA as my inspiration. At each show one of my bigger works will be featured on a black cloth background. What About Me?, my climate action piece, is the first one.

In the right photo, you can see two bags of matted pictures and the larger canvas ones in the distance. They don’t get loaded up until the day of set-up.

Note my assistant, Via. She decided to bat a bottle cap around. I reminded her that those are her toys and she should be cleaning up after herself. I was ignored.

Decision two – Even though the previous themes for each gridwall panel are the same, what to hang on each one? There are new pieces as well as ones from before. Multiple versions of the possible layouts were made. The final ones are tucked away on my clipboard. I learned years ago that this makes the set-up go much faster … then I’m not having to make decisions on the spot.

Once that is done, the totes are packed accordingly. Extra inventory is packed and a list of what’s inside each one is posted inside the lid. This prevents the frustrations of “Now where DID I pack that piece?” when someone asks if I have XYZ with a different background color.

Fortunately my show preparation/packing list didn’t need much tweaking. Hand sanitizer and masks were two additions… a sign of the times.

The car is fully packed!

Setting up for the first show

You wonder why you’re doing this when:

• You are placed 15 feet away from the music stage and there’ll be bands all day long.
• It’s been so long since you set up your tent and it’s hot and it takes you an additional hour and you’re not even done.
• Getting the bungie cords through the gridwall covers takes so long that you just attack/slice more of the sewn openings to get it done quickly.
• 9 feet on paper does NOT match 10 feet on the ground.
• The sides of the tent billow like sails while you’re trying to set the tent up.
• You wake up at 4:15 AM the day of the show and can’t get back to sleep. Oh, and the show goes from noon until 7 PM.
• You get there 3 hours early the day of the show because you never finished the night before.
• There’s no breeze for most of the first day and it’s 89 degrees F and your booth faces the afternoon sun.

You do a happy dance because:

• You got moved away from the stage.
• You have the location of everything already decided and it’s all in one tote and product placement is a breeze.
• You like the way the booth looks and it’s not even all finished.
• A fellow crafter you haven’t seen in 2+ years pops by your booth and his booth is diagonally behind yours.
• You see your friend for the first time in 32 months and it feels like it was just last week. (Of course, that could be from talking on the phone 2-3 times a week.)

Inside of booth with featured panel in the middle

Not all shows are the same

So craft shows are a unique entity unto themselves. Some have only crafters who make their own product; others allow people who assemble pre-made things. Some have just crafters with a small food section; others have the vendors and a food court. Some add additional attractions to bring people in – petting zoos, bands on stage, beer tent, etc. Each draws a different crowd.

Even shows where a crafter/artist has been before, things like the weather, economy, world events, or other things happening in the nearby towns affect who attends. One year you could have a buying crowd, the next a strolling crowd. As a vendor, one never knows.

Since shows are a way for people to find out about my custom pet portrait and pet memorial work, I never determine “the real success” of a show until the end of the year when I find out how many custom orders came from a particular show.

Don’t get me wrong, I do a huge happy dance inside when I sell my works at shows. Seeing how much the person likes that particular piece is always so gratifying and affirming. I love knowing I’ve covered all my expenses and more. And at this time, shows are also a strong marketing strategy.

Here’s some of the new Faces collection and the Spirit Animals collection on the new shelving unit. Looks like Calvin, the Crafty One, and Tom-Tom, the Pouncer, made their way off the shelf and over to the adjacent panel.

Notes from behind the scenes

Going to the bathroom at a craft show or getting lunch at a food stand is a developed art form. It involves finding a nearby vendor to “cover your booth” as well as timing it perfectly (looking for that lull in the crowd traffic) and then hoping there isn’t a big line ahead of you at the porta-potty or food truck. And when the stars align, you can get there and back before another customer shows up.

Wind is not an artist’s friend at a show. A slight breeze, yes, for that can certainly cool you down. However, the gusts that grab your tent top and sides and turn them into sails are not welcome.

There is a learned skill to holding onto a truss or side pole with all your might to keep the booth from going slightly airborne. Even with heavy weights, tents can lift. I bring four or eight 5 pound weights to go at the base of the legs, stakes to pound legs into the ground, 4 concrete-filled PVC pipes with rope attached to tie onto the tent at the corners, and, in case of strong wind forecast, dog screws with 4 ratchets to attach at corners. Not that I use them all each time; however they’re there if I need them.

Rain and dew aren’t a vendor’s favorites either. Besides the fact that rain keeps crowds away, it’s a matter of protecting your art as rain hits the side of the tent and roof. Some sides are completely waterproof. Mine are not, thus requiring plastic to go behind the panels when there’s moisture. On those cool late summer/early fall nights, dew forms inside a tent requiring everything to be covered with plastic or tarps at the end of the day.

But the most challenging thing for me is when it’s raining hard during a show and the rain starts coming into the tent. Clear shower curtains clipped to the front tent trusses and weighted down with clamps have worked the best for me. There is an opening for people to come through and they can still see what is being sold while the clamps prevent the curtains from flailing all over.

This event was held on a recently mowed field. There were crickets everywhere! One or two came home with me.

What makes it all worthwhile

At my second show, I was so moved when two different former clients came up and talked with me about how touched their daughter and wife were with their holiday (2019) gifts. Here are those portraits…

Kitchie and Tanner

Other tidbits

There are certain things that are constants and require no thinking at this point in my career: insurance, a shopping app, and a packing list.

I use SQUARE for my transactions. I find it simple to use and even with my sometimes wonky phone, it worked like a dream this past show. An investment in a battery pack is invaluable so that you can still process sales if the phone runs out of battery.

I have ACT insurance. Prior to moving to Vermont, I only had a rider on my homeowner’s insurance. At one Spring Marketing Conference sponsored by the Vermont Crafts Council, there was a couple who shared what had happened to them. Their studio had burned down completely. Listening to them talk about the help and support they received as a result of having their insurance policy through ACT just convinced me that this was an investment I needed to make. I chose to get annual coverage because that way it was on auto-pilot. I didn’t have to remember to apply for insurance for one show and then the next and I had that backing all year. Besides, it ended up being less expensive.

A packing list is another necessary tool. I was able to pull up mine from 2019, tweak it a bit and use that to be sure I had everything I needed. With the exception of the phillips head screwdriver I left on the kitchen table, everything made its way to my first show. Even had extra tent stakes, electrical tape, and string to lend to other vendors who needed some supplies.

For the following three shows, my routine was basically the same. It definitely was an advantage that I had been to two of the shows before.

Olivia at her first show. I decided to bring her even though she is still a WIP (work in progress).

I’m currently unpacking from my last show. The next one is in 6 weeks, which gives me plenty of time to go through my winter-themed inventory and make whatever is needed for the November shows.

What has been so satisfying has been sharing my art with others in-person once again. Being able to describe the how-to to interested visitors and watching people’s reaction when they go through my Look Book of completed pet portrait and pet memorial custom orders is always invigorating as an artist.

The Farm

You often hear me mention “the farm” on my Instagram or Facebook accounts or in these posts. The farm is Evening Song Farm, an organic vegetable CSA, owned by Kara and Ryan Fitzbeauchamp, my daughter-in-law and son. It is located in Shrewsbury, Vermont and is in its second location; the fields were completely washed away during Hurricane Irene in 2011.

Kara and Ryan have inspired me in so many ways over the years. Their initial business plan blew my socks off. I remember thinking “These two are only one year out of college and wow, this is what they envision for their business/ lives.” 

One influence, in particular, came from their business postcard.  It was a photograph of different varieties of carrots heaped high at their  market.  I looked at this and said 1) I need to put pictures of my work on a business postcard, and 2) I want to create those bunches of delicious carrots in fabric.

While this isn’t the original inspiration, here are bunches of carrots washed and ready for CSA members.

The First Evening Song Carrots

When I went to create my first Evening Song Carrots piece, I pulled out all my yellows and oranges and even some purples from the fabric totes. The piece was to be on a 16×20 inch canvas. Once I free cut some carrots, I quickly realized that there was no way bunches and bunches of carrots would fit on this size. Each carrot deserved to stand out, not look like a smush of orange.

Because these were farm carrots, the carrot greens had to be part of the artwork. After ironing on a two-sided adhesive onto the fabric, I drew squiggly fronds and cut them out. Next was to carefully arrange the bunch while considering color and carrot shape. I ironed down the greens and sewed the individual carrots, making it a point to add root hairs at tips. The tops were then free motion quilted to prevent them flopping around if the adhesive became loose in the future. 

Evening Song carrots grew into other designs such as Carrots Dining

I have created eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and corn so far, with peas and broccoli cut out waiting to be sewn.

Not the inspirational photo, but just a reminder about how many colors an eggplant has on its skin

And the peppers… there are so many varieties of peppers grown at Evening Song Farm. There are habanero and serrano and poblano and jalapeno and rainbow and carmen and…

And Then Came the Farm Animals

It was an easy transition from pet portraits to farm animal portraits. Bella and Zia grace the farm with their presence and serve a critical role in the health of the farm ecosystem. Over the years there have also been chickens, pigs, and Mr. Nelson and LMNO (both goats).

Zia with her baby, and Bella in the background with one of hers

Bella has been my featured farm lady as Zia tends to hide when I’m looking to take a photo. The first goat portrait I did, I did just for the joy of it, not really thinking it would sell. I wanted to make it extra whimsical so I added knobby tan yarn for hay.  My explanation to viewers was that whenever I walk by her, Bella lets me know she wants some hay and isn’t happy when she  doesn’t get it.

Little did I know that finding a unique gift for someone who adores goats is not that easy. My goat art has gone to a piano teacher who “LOOOOVES her goat more than she loves piano” as an end of year thank you, a best friend’s birthday present, as well as for a child’s farm nursery.     

Two different variations of Bella. Note her flakes of hay to keep her quiet and well-fed

And there are other animals I have made.  Shiloh is in the living room of her owner. Piggie now patiently awaits dinner at the house of the grandchild of a customer.  My chickens…  well they are still wondering when someone will take them home to roost.

Interesting facts: Shiloh’s top part of the barn door is 3D. Piggy won a 2nd place ribbon at an art show.

What’s Next?

I’ll continue my (mostly) weekly farm visits and instead of weeding, my Grandma B task is to play with  my younger two grandchildren.Together we are making memories for us all.  

There’s another pig on my design wall.  I’m definitely open to ideas for new farm animals and veggies. The farm is adding a pick-your-own flower option for their CSA members so I anticipate that I will be adding some new  flower art to my upcoming collection, Flower Power.  

Let me leave you with this picture of the tomatoes growing in the high tunnel … rows and rows, reaching up at least 15 feet high.

All photos of animals and vegetables are by Adam Ford of Adam Ford Photography.  He is an amazing photographer who captures the essence of the farm through all the seasons. There are so many that would just make wonderful gifts for anyone who loves vegetables, gardening, farm animals, or just plain nature in all her glory.  

Back when my daughter was expecting their child, needless to say we all were excited. Kara Fizbeauchamp, my daughter-in-law, wrote “When Your First Grandchild is a Farm” for me and framed it within one of her paintings of garlic growing. I wanted to share it with you as the farm has always been a centering place and creative signpost for me.

When Your First Grandchild Is a Farm

by Kara Fitzbeauchamp

A grandparent is intimately involved in the birthing of a farm baby. It’s unclear how long a typical birth takes, but you’re on call or active duty for the duration of the pushing, screaming, crying, and cursing. Unlike the human birth, you will find yourself sharing in the physical exertion, exhaustion, fatigue, and dehydration of transitioning the grandchild from gestation to breathing on its own. But like a human grandchild, once the birth has been crystallized, the adventure has just begun.

Perhaps with the human baby, the grandmother is exempt from the primary duties of general care-taking – being free to focus on spoiling, baking for, playing with, adventuring with, singing to, reading to, and primarily having a wonderful time with the new being while mom and dad nap between feedings, cleaning, diapers, tantrums and vomit.

Three of my favorite photos of my two farm (human) grandchildren

Well not so when your first grandchild is a farm: When it’s hungry for transplants, you’ll be spending hours bent over with your hands in the dirt, plunking one optimistic seedling at a time. When parents have neglected daily hygiene routines, you’ll be out there weeding like there’s no tomorrow. You will find yourself shoveling a much larger volume of feces than a human baby could ever cumulatively collect in diapers. It’ll expect you to build, make, and sew it all sorts of toys, like wash stations, harvest bags, compost bins and flower beds.

Old wash station with harvest bags, and planting onions in the snow with Kara at the old farm.

On top of all this, the farm grandchild is oblivious to the weather, so you’ll have to do these things in the rain, snow, wind, heat, sun and maybe once a hurricane.

Winter at the farm, and the damage from Hurricane Irene at the old farm (photo by Adam Ford).

Yes, you will have more work with a farm grandchild because the farm parents cannot do it all themselves – it’s simply too big. (If someone alerted farm parents to this phenomenon, they may have used better farm birth control).

But just like human grandchildren, the joy it provides melts the burdens of raising it: Weekends outside reveling in the blessings of the earth; reconnecting with dirt, that essential medium transporting us to childhood where life is a series of sandcastles to build and cookies to eat; impressing yourself with your body’s ability to physically toil the way it did when you started a family of human babies; watching the farm grandchild grow and mature into a beautiful, abundant, resilient multi-species system that may one day inspire other farm baby births.

Carrots recently washed waiting to be packed for the cooler. Photo by Adam Ford.

And you’ll eat!! You’ll eat the most rewarding, colorful nourishment because that needy, demanding, high-maintenance grandchild gives back delicious gifts. (This is an advantage of a farm grandchild because you would be in serious trouble for eating a human grandchild.)

Rows and rows of tomatoes growing in one of the long high tunnels. Photo by Adam Ford.

The magic of being a grandparent is that you don’t know who that being will be, but you will love the hell out of it. And lucky you – not everyone gets to grandparent an ecosystem.

The glorious ecosystem that is Evening Song Farm, CSA. Photo by Adam Ford.

 As I mentioned earlier, the farm has been a centering place and creative signpost for me throughout the years. When my job consumed  too many weekends, I would head up there and just weed and weed and weed. Their business card of carrots stacked high at farmers market was my inspiration for the first carrot fabric picture. To this day, the carrot art pieces are my top seller in the On the Farm Veggie Collection.

Interested in purchasing carrots (or another vegetable) for your home or as a gift? Contact me.

Thank you to Adam Ford, an amazing photographer and author. He has captured those littlest details of both the big events and day-to-day doings of the farm over the years. Choosing which photos of his to purchase was so challenging.

And a special thank you to Kara, for the wonderful gift of her art, seen below, and this written piece. 

When I was considering leaving my professional career early, I came to realize that these 3 F’s were my motivating factors:
   FAMILY: I wanted to be closer to my two adult children and their partners.
   FABRIC: I wanted to focus on my fabric art business.
   FARM: I wanted to get my hands back in the earth on Ryan and Kara’s farm.

Keep in mind that I grew up on the northside of Chicago, close to Lake Michigan. I walked a couple miles to elementary school, rode the bus everywhere including to high school, and, well, was a city girl. Fast forward to living/working on a specialty farm to see if we wanted to buy one (answer was “no”) to semi-homesteading as the kids grew up. We canned, froze and juiced our food for fall and winter. And if we were lucky, some lasted into springtime.

My first association with pigs came at the homebirth of my son. His first toy was this plump plush pig, Piggy. Piggy is still with me, sitting on the bed in my office eagerly awaiting grandchildren’s visits.

 We also raised pigs for food. My most vivid memory is one year when one of the medium-sized pigs got out of the fenced pen and wandered over to greet my mother. Think of a very short, wiry grey haired grandma lady. The pig semi-blocked her in against garage doors. When she moved one way, the pig would follow. She backtracked and the pig backtracked; she moved forward, it followed her. This went on for a couple minutes just like a game of Simon Says.

Kara and Ry raised pigs for a couple years. A farm visit offered a great adventure when my oldest grandson was younger. I’d drive him to see the piggies, chickens, goats and of course to pick cherry tomatoes off the vines that grew up 15 feet.

One of my favorite books as a child was Charlottes’ Web.  So when I started my On The Farm Collection, I wanted to do a pig. I just loved the reference photo I used, yet that pig was piggily dirty. It became apparent as I was creating Piggie, that he did not want to be dirty. He insisted day after day that I find buttermilk-bathed material to cut for his snout and neck.  This award-winning piece is called “Where’s My Dinner?”

As I write this 5 years later, my inspiration from family, farm and fabric continue. The family has expanded by two more grandchildren who I visit on a regular basis at “The Farm.” My business continues to nurture my creative spirit and allows me to share my gifts with others. And I have another piggie up on my design wall, calling out to be finished, so it can join the art pieces of chickens, horses, and goats in my inventory room.