Acadia Christmas Craft Expo

Last weekend I attended the Acadia Christmas Craft Expo. I remembered to take a picture of the booth before the hoards arrived. Doing a craft show is a bit like doing theatre. The booth is the set (which in my case was a bunch of found objects, including a plant stand I picked out of big garbage this summer and some wooden boxes that normally hold our firewood) I have future plans for a professional looking shelves that my personal carpenter can design. He also doubles as a system engineer in planning the efficient packing and transportation of pots. I was amused to see that other exhibitors who do this all the time don't seem to have a system other than cramming various sized boxes haphazardly into the back of a minivan.
There is also lighting considerations and prop placement and presentation.

Notice the new sign. I had a graphic artist friend design the logo which I used on business cards too.We got lots of positive comments about it, and I'm pretty sure it helped to fool people into believing I was a real potter. My friend also does website design under the name Wingspan.
This was my first big craft show, it was three days long, and I was pretty nervous about the cost and the duration of the show. In the end, I took in more money than it cost me to be there so I was happy.
I was also worried that I didn't have enough stuff to exhibit. My attempts to make pots were disappointing because things kept cracking as they dried. I fired only one kiln before the show, and it over fired because the kiln sitter didn't shut off and I just kept waiting for it to drop instead of manually doing it myself. I chalk that one up to being overtired. Once I realized what was going on, I had visions of all my pots stuck to the shelves, but the glaze behaved very well despite my idiocy and only two pots suffered damage.This chip plate cracked on the edge of the bottom. I'm not sure that is a firing problem or a construction problem. It looked fine after the bisque fire, but the extra heat work in the over firing glaze kiln may have put too much stress on the bottom.This vase looked fine out of the kiln, but on day two of the fair the glaze started to flake off the shoulder, as if the pot contracted more than the glaze. Luckily, it was the only pot with that particular glaze.My fear about not having enough stuff to sell proved to be true. I sold lots on Friday and Saturday, but by Sunday the table was looking a little thin. We sold mostly butter dishes and mugs and vases the first two days. No bowls. By Sunday, those items were mostly gone and we sold four bowls. I observed the interesting phenomenon that no one wants to buy the last of something. As long as we had lots of a style of mug, we could sell them, but once there was only one of each style left, no one wanted the last one. Always have at least two of something so they can choose which one they want.
The other observation was that only other exhibitors appreciate coil built pots. The general public passes by them without a glance, but other exhibitors understand how much more work they are. I traded the red coil pitcher for some leather work at the end of the show. This is one of the benefits of going to a craft fair, you get to trade your stuff for other stuff which is gratifying because it means other people want your stuff. But also, in a lull, you can get your Christmas shopping done.
In all, it was a good experience.