Gary's Third Pottery Blog

When the going gets tough, dragons gonna get going....

Gary's third pottery blog

WRITE TO ME! garyrith@yahoo.com Come see me! Open studio HERE! November 25-26 (11-4 each day); Aurora Art and Design, daily until 12/24; Cooperstown Art Assoc. daily until 12/24; Ellis Hollow Community Fair, 12/10; December 10, Little Red Wagon at the Space at Greenstar. All material on this blog unless stated otherwise is copyright Gary Edward Rith 2016

Sunday, July 11, 2010

le petite BLOCKBUSTER

We lived and worked in New Hampshire for about ten years before moving to Ithaca in 2006. I have been fortunate here in Ithaca, people come shopping at my studio or I have online sales. But in New Hampshire I hustled to craft fairs and farmer's markets about every weekend summer to Christmas, hundreds of fairs over the years, and I get exhausted just thinking about it.

In that time I was very lucky. Only ONE fair in all those years when the booth fee was 50 and I made less than that, like 26 bucks---the worst I ever did other than that was 3 times the booth fee. And only one bad weather fair, which is a miracle, a hurricane at a Massachusetts fair. I was only set up for 5 minutes before I left. Sold a bowl at least! Two bad fairs in ten years is a good record, all others were very good to excellent, with a few blockbusters. I remember my first blockbuster, at an apple fest in Vermont: I had been in business full time only 2 months, I went to the fair with 14 boxes and came home with 2, I knew I was gonna be able to make a living with pots.

Anyway, I don't do fairs much anymore, I am just so busy selling out of the house. BUT, due to my TV interview last winter (clip is down toward the bottom of the blog) I had a call from the city of Binghamton, putting together their 48th July fest. It is a big deal, and their terms were amazing. They provided chairs and tables and a sturdy tent. I paid only 50 dollars, and they had a corporate sponser pay the rest on each chosen artist's booth! I am certain that instead of 50 dollars it could have cost 250-300 or more, which is common for big arts festivals. I said yes, it was such a good deal.

ANYWAY, it is an easy hour's drive, they had a running race, new bands playing every hour, it only rained at night when we had left, spectacular days, and I will tell ya, I sold a TON. It was unbelieveable, a real blockbuster. I feel really fortunate, so many nice people. I also went through a lot of water , diet coke, and peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

I got home and the wife tells me our neighbor's house was firebombed. He is a police sergeant who had shot and killed a suspect and the investigation cleared him. The house is right around the corner from us, we walk the dog there 4 times every day. Story here.
Everybody is FREAKED.

(thanks for your submissions to the jokes fest below, great job! I will select the winner later Sunday)








Extraordinary sunset driving home Saturday, and look at this old chest of drawers we bought! We are, um, using it as a tax deduction, because um, it is part of my business. See, its covered with pots! And yes, Penny the beagle is in the mirror...

17 comments:

cookingwithgas said...

firebombed!
That is CRAZY!
Love all the different color tents.
hey- we were in New Hampshire and went to MT. Washington- pretty state and I saw no snakes while I was there. Wonder where you keep them?

Anonymous said...

Goodness Gary, your neighborhood sounds even more "wild wild west" than ours does! Scary shit!

Glad to hear the fair went well. :-)
Miri

denis said...

your stuff sells because it's great stuff. i'm not worried about someone firebombing your house because you and maude are too likable.

k.a. barnes said...

Glad you had a good time- and nice weather! I saw the story about the firebombing today. I think the Journal understated it a little when they said "fire damages house." That looked like an awful lot more than just "damage." I hope they're ruthless with whoever did it.

unmitigated me said...

Take a picture of every new pot you make on that dresser, before posting it to your web space. Then it really is a tax deduction!

Unknown said...

Glad you had a great show, your tent looks awesome with all your pots, who could resist?!
Love the chest you brought home.
Firebomb is very scary!

Unknown said...

GARY! That is SO awesome that you had a great show! :)

Firebombed?!!! That's crazy! See what happens when you leave the house? Chaos!

Jay said...

Glad you had a great show!

But, dang. First you guys have a dude the cops are chasing wander up to your house, not THIS?? Crazy!

CiCi said...

I am so glad the fair was such a success! I haven't seen your work first hand but all the pictures show beautiful work.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Congrats on the great fair!!!
I can't believe someone firebombed a cops house...crazy people. Let the man do his job.

Reverend Awesome said...

Look at all the brightly colored tents! That's great.

Your hood is turning into the hood isn't it? Gary N The Hood.

Of course everyone loves your stuff. They'd be fools not to love it. You're the greatest.

Cheryl said...

So happy for you that you had a fantastic weekend! The photos are certainly colorful. The dresser is wonderful, of course it should be a tax deduction! And Penny, she is a fantastic model.

Glennis said...

Chest of drawers is gorgeous!! So are the pots. Congrats on the business. I work with a promoter of a big craft show on the west coast, and I see how well some artists can do - it must be quite a good feeling.

Wow, the firebombing story is pretty scarey.

Patricia Griffin Ceramics said...

GREAT news on the show! Fantastic!
Sorry about the homecoming to the firebombing... Some people are just damn crazy.

Nicki said...

So glad JulyFest went well for you. Hope lots of my friends stopped by and saw you and said hi since I couldn't stop by.

Was watching the news Saturday evening to catch the weather for the race Sunday and saw the story about the fire. Was wondering if that was close to you.

Maureen and George Johnson said...

Oh gosh, we are so happy for you that your Art Fair was such a success, and you had a great time! YEAH cousin wonderful, you deserve it!

Anonymous said...

I call that a BIG Blockbuster, terrific photos, super sunset, nice new furniture, and downright scary situation in your neighborhood!

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I am a full-time studio potter, sculptor, and dog walker, married to superhawt Missus Tastycake.