The World Series of Football

All year long I've been playing it smart when it comes to Festivals and my photography.  After getting a huge response from my work hanging in Starbucks and last September people telling me to "get out there", so I spent a good amount of money preparing for a test year of "being out there".

So it started in Portage and I worked my way to bigger and bigger and more prestigious fairs all summer.

This past weekend was my final fair of the season and it was the biggest.  I was calling it my World Series, a two day event in Green Lake with 10,000 people in attendance.  After the Sun Prairie Art fair which was very very good to me I really made sure I had enough "product" to sell and was raring to go.

Friday I spent the day getting special sand bags and so forth because I was setting up my canopy at 5:00 Friday night in 40mph winds. 

I get to Green Lake and they tell me that most crafters are not even going to try to put up their tents but I figure I'm there, go for it.  I get to my spot and it's beautiful . . and windy.  Long story short I got everything up with not that much of a problem.  My trimeline is a fantastic canopy and EZUp's would have been shreaded.

The photo on the right is what I was looking at as I set up.

Green Lake can be described as Door County Lite.   Sort of a Fish Creek thing going on.  It can also be called Little Illinois (more on that later).

Saturday is the big day and DJ and I dress in 5 layers of clothing and make the hour drive north.  Do not take 73 to Green Lake - it's the long way.  Outside of Randolph take a right on 33 and a left on "A".  MUCH faster.

Anyway we get there and my canopy is still up and we hang the art in the cold and wait for thigns to happen.  

The first woman enters the canopy and is looking around and smiles and says something on the order of "I really like your work, how do you get that "paint by number" look".  

WHAT?   I think I did pretty well once the blood re-entered my brain but then the woman got this big shit eating smile on her face and started laughing.  It was Kitty B'Gosh a commentor from the Monkey Gallery here.  It was great meeting you kitty!  You had me going!!!!  

Well - we soon realize that this was a true CRAFT Fair and the place was PACKED.  I was between the marshmallow shooters and the dog puppets who seemed to be selling like hot cakes.  Me? - people were not even slowing down when they saw my booth.  No one was even ENTERING!

That was so odd because in Sun Prairie it was the opposite and people were stopping in their tracks, coming in, getting all jelly-like and buying smaller 8x12's by the handful.  Here? I could not even get people to acknowledge me.  They were too interested in the magnetic jewelry, handbags and pre packaged photos of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The place was PACKED with people and about 30 yards from me people would try to sink the Bismark.  They would hit golf balls at a boat 58 yards away in the water and every time some one hit it they would light off a canon which made woman and pee and dogs bark.

During all of this we had to endure a karaoke disk jockey who could really hit one note but all the rest were not really close.  Seriously,  he sang one RUSH tune and had everyone laughing (he was far away so we could laugh and he did not know it). But the creepy thing was that we were next to a children's games area and every hour he would have a hoola-hoop contest and get all creepy.

"come on up all of you little girls and get some candy, do you want some candy, I need more little girls and you will all get candy".   and then he would start singing all creepy like again.  FOR 7 HOURS!

We realized that while this might the World Series for me . . .I was a football team and this was the wrong venue.  

After 7 hours and two sales which covered my expenses we tucked everything in and drove home looking forward to do it all AGAIN Sunday!!  Whoo Hoo! 

Sunday the weather was MUCH nicer and there was a car show.  Not just any car show but a HUGE car show.  The entire town was filled with hot rods, hundreds of them and the crowds were even bigger - - -an different.

These people actually came in to the booth and did not buy stuff.  But at least they were looking and complimenting.  One woman was telling her husband as they left empty handed that she wanted to design her bedroom around one of my images.  A ton of real compliments (as opposed to polite compliments. 

I sold one more large image - the Umbrella shot which REALLY draws males.  Woman like it but it's always the males that are most attracted to it.  If I could figure out what it was that attracted the male of the species to that particular photo . . . . .

I sold TWO of those and ONE 8x12.  The REALLY weird thing was the 8x12 was of the Union Chair.

So here is the weird thing - the couple were buying it and I asked if they were from Madison and no they were not . . . .so they must have gone to school in Madison . . . no they had not . . . OK?  So the story about that snow . . . OH YEA - they had not noticed the snow on the chair . . . . . .

I should have asked if they new the significance of that chair but they seemed happy with it so let I just shut up and let them go on their way as the DJ in a low porno voice is saying "How low can you go little girl you all get candy when we are finished" in a limbo contest.

Lesson learned. NO MORE CRAFT FAIRS!!  I will attended the ART Fair in Green Lake.  OH there were more Chicago Bear sweatshirts among the crowd then Packer.  There is a lot of money in that tiny town. 
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And in other news - I hope you all saw the article about me in The Columbus Journal.  It was on the Front page of the paper if you read the paper backwards.

"Melotte and friend landscaping area around the water tower"

Basically a retelling of the my newest blog Two Guys And a Beer  but with one thing I must correct.

In the article it says "We want three or four different ones so there will be a large splashes of color," Melotte say. "We want it took look almost nature and beautiful".    Now I know the press is always right but I'm not so sure I actually said those exact words. Perhaps I did as I was angry at Kestrel Ridge Golf at the time but I'm not even sure what I WANTED to say there.

But I thank the Columbus Journal for their article.  I hope more people will take it upon themselves to make Columbus beautiful.  Take control.  Do some gorilla gardening.

Have a nice day.

Rod