Lessons from my first art show

Wow. What an experience. I learned so much from my trip to the Carderock Market. What a blessing that I could experience my first show surrounded by familiar, kind, wonderful community. I won't list everyone but you know who you are and I am ever grateful. It is truly a village. For example, eight people helped me pack up and load the van!

Here are the lessons I took from the show:

Basic logistics regarding how to pack and what to concentrate on when setting up. This was an incredibly stressful experience, as I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. If Lipika hadn't been there to help and calm me down, I might have run away to "Carderock's Secret Playground" until the show was over. This is the data I needed, however. No amount of reading and talking to people could ever prepare me as actually going to a show has. Now I know how to prepare parts of the set up so that there is minimal effort once on site.

I need to work on my buyers!  I apologize to my buyers for my lack of packaging and preparation for your very special artwork. I actually wasn't totally expecting any buyers! I am so humbled that my work resonated with you enough that you wanted my artwork in your home. At my next show, I will have padding, bags, and thank you notes all ready to go. 

I had buyers! This event was so validating. During the last nine months, as I bought supplies and prepared and applied to art shows, I thought this was a lark and it would be a quickly passing experiment. This show relieved me of my imposter syndrome.  Thank you to all of my family and friends who encouraged me to get to this point. 

I need to find a car! As much as I appreciated the extra space in the 12-passenger Ford Transit 350, which replaced the SUV I had requested at Enterprise, I can't do that for every show. (Shout out to Alyssa, Omar, and Lyrek at Enterprise in Wake Forest--you set me up!!!)

Having driven 6 hours home in traffic, I also reassured myself that six hours is a reasonable driving distance for solo trips. That's a good thing, since my next non-Carderock show is the Lavender Festival in Roswell Georgia, just north of Atlanta. I think I will have a helper with me for each show but good to know for sure.

I am exhausted today but with a happy soul.