Dear Reader,

If you’ve been reading my newsletter from the beginning, then you know that as of October I now have a studio/showroom space where customers can make an appointment to shop. This was a very big step for me and something that I never considered before. But, when I saw the space, and met the folks who owned the building, I knew it was where I needed to be. Last week I was reminded of just how happy I am to be there, and what it means for the future of my business.

Last month I started the process of applying to art shows for the spring/summer season. Thus far, I’ve only applied to two shows. The one show, which I love, I’ve been doing for at least ten years consistently, and I know that it’s a given that I’ll be accepted. It tends to take the pressure off. Did you know that some shows will often turn you away if you applied the year before because they want to change up the vendors all the time? So, basically if you do well at a show like that, you probably won’t be accepted again. And, if you don’t do well you won’t want to come back anyway. It seems like a lose-lose situation to me. I understand the desire to change things up, but what the organizers of these shows don’t realize, is that customers often look for their favorite vendors at shows. What they also aren’t taking into consideration is the fact that they will organically have different vendors each year due to the fact that some artists won’t do the show again if they didn’t do well, and new people will always apply.

But I digress, so back to the story. The second show I applied to is a big one. While I’ve never done the show before, I know that thousands of people attend every year and it’s a three day show. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get in or not, but I’d say that I’ve gotten into about 95% of the shows I’ve applied to in the many years I’ve been doing this. If I don’t get in to a show, I can get a little fussy about it. I’m not proud of that, but it’s the truth. A couple of days ago I heard back from the show and I found out that I was put on the waitlist. Now, normally this might have irritated me, but not this time. I was completely unfazed. If I end up getting accepted to the show I’m fine with that. But, I’m also ok with not getting accepted. This feeling was new to me, so of course I decided to deconstruct the reason why I felt this way. And then, it hit me. It didn’t matter. Why you might ask? It didn’t matter because now I have my own studio and people can shop whenever they want. I’ve never had this option before, and it’s so freeing. Going into my show season this year is going to be such a different experience.

Then I started to think about how much things have changed throughout the twenty five plus years or so that I’ve been making art for a living and doing shows. I thought I’d share some of my memories.

Show memories

• I did my first show at Mulberry Art Studios. At the time I was making stained glass jewelry. The two main things I remember about this show are that a customer bought a necklace that she told me she was going to wear for her trip to Paris. The next time I saw her at another show she told me how many compliments she received on her necklace and how much she loved it. That made me so happy. I also remember that I didn’t have a smart phone, so I’m assuming that everyone paid with cash or check.

• I switched to making and selling crochet pieces when I was pregnant with my first child. It was an organic process since I was crocheting while I was making stained glass and mosaics. I remember that it was really hard to find stained glass scraps at the time, and I had to go all the way to Gettysburg for supplies. Also, I thought it wasn’t a great idea to work with glass and a soldering iron with a new baby on the way. To be honest, I was looking for a change anyway, so fiber arts was the right choice for many reasons.

• I remember the many shows I did when my kids were babies where my husband would bring them to the venue every couple of hours to nurse.

• I also remember doing shows with my kids when they were toddlers and how they would try to “help” me set up.

• Back in the day there was literally only one holiday market that I would do every year, which was called The Holiday Arts Market. It was held in a warehouse which was unheated and freezing cold. Since we weren’t oversaturated with markets back then like we are now, this event was very well-attended and I always had good shows there.

• When I was doing a show at the Visionary Arts Museum I had a customer ask me about a crocheted hat. I assumed that he wanted to know the fiber content, so I told him. Then he turned to me incredulously and said, “oh, that’s yarn?” I truly don’t know what else he thought it might have been.

• I still remember how cool it was the first time I was asked to do a show and I didn’t have to apply. That’s never changed over the years. I still think it’s cool

• The most amazing show I ever did was The Squam Art Faire in New Hampshire. The show was located at an artist’s retreat in a beautiful huge barn in the middle of the woods. I really didn’t know how it was going to be, but my family and I thought we’d have a lovely vacation in New Hampshire. And, since the show was only three hours long, it wouldn’t take up much of my time. At this point, I was a seasoned veteran. I arrived to set up, and after I finished I noticed that the people in the booths around me were a little tense. When I asked the woman in the booth next to me if she had done the show before, she said that she had and that I better get ready. Ok, I thought. But, inside, I was wondering what all the fuss was about. Everyone around me was standing up at their booths, and I was still wondering why they were all so serious. Then, they opened the doors, and I saw why. A sea of people entered the barn. The vendors were in the middle of the space and the customers walked around us in a circle. It was literally the most intense vending experience I ever had. I didn’t sit down for the entire show. My booth was packed with people for three hours asking me questions, trying things on, buying clothing. It’s what I assume a designer sample sale must be like in New York City. Since we were out in the middle of nowhere there was no wifi, and people just kept handing me their credit cards left and right. I wasn’t even sure if all of the sales were going through. At the end of the show, three hours went by like three minutes and I made infinitely more money than I had ever made at a show in my life. It was exhilarating. I met people from all over the world. The show runners were lovely and the customers were amazing. Unfortunately, they stopped doing shows during covid and never continued.

• Weather is always a concern for outdoor shows. I could write an entire newsletter just on this. The most notable for me was when I was at a show where it poured the entire time and all of my clothes were damp due to the moisture on the inside walls of my tent. I had to wash and dry all of my clothes before putting them away. This might not sound like such a bad thing. But, I had to remove all of the tags (on over 50 pieces of clothing) and create an inventory sheet with descriptions of each garment, so I could properly put all of the tags back onto the corresponding clothes.

• It’s so strange to think that back before social media and my website, people only found me at shows.

  I could literally go on forever with stories about my shows. Whenever you stop and think about anything you’ve done for a long time and look back, you can really get an idea of how far you’ve come and how things have changed. The journey has truly been a long and hard one, but definitely rewarding. I’m so grateful for where I am now and how I got here. Big thanks to all of the customers and wonderful folks who have supported me along the way. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.

I truly appreciate all of you who choose to be here and read my newsletter.

xo,

Christa

This week at a glance

• I enjoyed the warmer weather.

• The change in temperature really helped to jump start my sewing. I made two dresses and two skirts. I plan on taking pictures of everything today.

• The cats have been using the one corner of the sectional as their scratching post. Their actual scratching post is right nearby, but why use it, right? Last summer I sewed a quilted patch on the wreckage, but they’ve since scratched through that. Finally, last week I decided to crochet over the destruction, and I really like the results.

• I found some great jewelry trays at the thrift store that I’m going to use for display.

• A guy rode by on his bike while I was walking Albus and yelled, “G’day mate” to me as he whizzed by.

• My old immersion blender that I use for making paper clay finally died. It was only a matter of time. I switched to using an old blender and I think I like the results even better.

• I finished making a paper clay shelf and a lampshade for a pendant lamp.

• I started taking notice of how many plastic flossers I see on the ground when I walk Albus everyday. The average amount is two. As a whole I think the city is often pretty free of detritus, but these flossers are a constant presence. I get the need to floss on the go. Maybe you have a meeting later and the remnants of that bag of popcorn you had for a snack are still lingering. My only question is why it’s necessary to throw your flosser on the ground? How can you be so responsible with your flossing and so irresponsible with your littering? It’s quite a conundrum.

• I found Daughter of Fortune and The Hamlet at the little free libraries this week. Since I’m currently reading four books right now, I have to finish at least one of them before I start any new books. I haven’t read Faulkner since college, and it takes me back. I had an amazing Faulkner and O’Connor class. The professor who taught wrote his thesis on those two authors and he was so passionate about their work. It was truly inspiring to read (and actually understand) Faulkner for the first time in that class. Literally a transformative experience.

  

• Albus and I met a awesome Great Pyrenees while we were taking a walk this week. Albus loves most dogs, but he really loves gentle giants. While the dogs were enjoying each other’s company I petted the sweet boy on his head while we stared soulfully into each other’s eyes. He reminded me of my sweet boy, Dante.

• We went hiking with friends at county park and got some treats at the maple sugaring.

• I started learning Creep by Radiohead on the piano.

• I listened to a new podcast called, Woo Woo. Rachel Dratch is the host and it’s all about people telling their ghost stories.

• I started watching a show called, How to get to Heaven from Belfast. It’s by the creator of Derry Girls.

• My kids and I took a walk downtown with friends.

• While I’ve been enjoying only spending a very minimal amount of time on instagram, I reminded myself last week that I probably need to be more of a presence there heading into spring and summer.

• My friend gifted me a small air purifier that I keep in my sewing room. I love it. Thanks, friend.

  

  Links

  Email: wildchildfibers@gmail.com

  Website: https://www.wildchildfibers.com

  If you’re in Marietta, you can find my work at

  River Pearl Studio.

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