Every year, for every show, for most applications, one has to deal with the dreaded booth shot! I have to admit, I'm lucky if I can get one before a show starts, and usually once I'm done I forget to really look at it until its too late. One notices the paper lunch bag you thought you hid and the extra bags behind the shelving. The dreaded but essential coffee travel mug left on the floor. And then I never have a decent camera with me, so then I'm depended on my cell phone.
So, I decided to be really smart and make myself create a booth set up in my studio and curate it to my dream space. I'm applying to a number of high end shows that value one of a kind, high crafted art pieces. So I needed a shot that only shows my stitched pieces and not have my accessories and housewares that I pretty much created to sell while I wait for the sale of my more expensive, more artistic art pieces to sell. I had a woman at the show in Rhinebeck tell me that I really should only do my art pieces and take the fluff away! And then at my last show, Artscape, I actually sold more bird portraits and higher end pieces then my "Fluff"!
So I made my dream booth! DId some very specific curating and I think I can say, I made a booth shot that mirrors my application to the American Craft Council Shows and the Smithonsian Show.
To compare, here are some of my past booth set ups from this year:
ACC Baltimore
Three Rivers Arts Festival : Pittsburgh
Art Rider Arts Festival at Lyndhurst
Richmond Art and Craft
I'm taking off for a few months to recover from knee surgery and plan on doing some very careful reflections on my craft future. I want to be more of an artist, less like a production worker. Going to work more on grant writing and less applying to shows I know nothing about. I put myself on fabric probation as well. We shall see where the future holds!!