21 Nov My Mini Art Show Travel Memoir
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I’m so glad to be back! I’m wrapping up a year of travel from art show to trade show with my jewelry collection.
I have been doing a lot more traveling with my work in recent years, and 2018 has been the peak of the travel in terms of the number of trips and the distances covered.
And now here I am in your inbox to share a few photos from the road, some art show travel lessons learned, and a few of my favorite pieces from the new collections that were the reason for the trips in the first place.
GMA was represented in five wholesale trade shows this year, and a half dozen retail art shows and trunk shows as well. There’s only one more trip remaining on the calendar between now and the close of 2018, which means that I’m in the studio for a while to focus on making both collection pieces and bespoke holiday gifts.
So, here’s my mini travel memoir. The photos below are really in no particular order, and they’re a mix of show shots and scenery along the way. Enjoy!
Most of the shows (certainly all the wholesale trade shows) happen in huge convention centers in major cities. This one is the American Handcrafted Show in Orlando. I also exhibit at the AH show in Philadelphia, and next year I’ll be adding the one in Las Vegas.Sometimes we fly….
…And sometimes we drive. (And once we took the train.) It all depends on a variety of factors – the distance, the cost of shipping freight, the cost of parking for a week, the ease of load in and load out at the venue, sites we might want to see along the way.
This is a good sign, when the freight has arrived and is waiting for me when I get there. This is the beginning of my booth at NYNOW Handmade Designer Maker. That crate is roughly 80 cubic feet of GMA show equipment, waiting to be unloaded and put to work.
The process takes the better part of a day. Building the booth is an art in itself. We get a little more efficient each time. This photo was taken at the Atlanta Jewelry Show, and the temperature was about 90 degrees in that building that day.
GMA on display – my booth setup can flex for a variety of different layouts.
And then we pack it all up until the next time.
Hotels are great, and we stayed in our fair share. But sometimes finding a quality private rental or sharing the gracious hospitality of a friend or family is better for a home away from home. Either way, there’s usually some pricing and inventory work happening behind the scenes.
…Or line sheet editing.
I’m best known for my approach to stone setting, and this year I added an 18K gold and sterling silver mixed metal collection called Arise.
Some of my travels were for trunk shows and meetings with galleries. This photo was taken during a stone setting demo in the window at The Jeweler’s Workbench in downtown Waynesville, NC. It looks like I’m laughing more than I’m demonstrating, which often is true. The JWB is great fun, after all.
Exploring foods in different cities is a hobby I’ve developed. Tapas in Hell’s Kitchen is pictured here and was a delicious adventure. We’ve found lots of favorites like this, as well as a few others that will go down in history as a … one-time experience. 😉
The Down Home Diner in the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia has become a first-morning breakfast tradition for us. Philly is known for its scrapple. (It’s not all about cheese steaks.)
Sometimes there’s some buying happening on these trips, as well as marketing and selling and showing. We visited the Gem Show in Franklin, NC, and found massive tables covered in tanzanite and citrine and many other gorgeous specimens. Yes, some came home with me.
And I usually try to work in a visit with my stone dealers in the Diamond District when I’m in NYC.
I was thrilled to have a show close to home. Rough To Refined was the inaugural event hosted by the Raleigh chapter of the Women’s Jewelry Association at the Contemporary Art Museum.
The scenery of different areas always amazes me. Being an East Coast gal, a sunset over water is not something that’s familiar to me. Here’s a sunset over Lake Ontario, with Toronto on the horizon.
And here’s something else I won’t see at home – an egret strutting along a hedge in Orlando.
We were able to cross Niagara Falls off the bucket list this year. What a surreal experience!
The Abbey of the Genesee in New York was a wonderful stop along the way. I really enjoyed my sacred quiet time in this space.
Western New York in June is a favorite for me. I spent the better part of this day in the grass overlooking Lake Ontario.
Perhaps this is not such a picturesque scene, but it’s pretty common for the life of an artist traveling from show to show. This is the actual view of the space behind my show banner (my introvert’s retreat), with lunch in process. Don’t worry – the Pepsi is rare.
Sometimes I do get a lot of eye rolls when I ask for a selfie. I ask not because I like to take pictures of myself, but because I want to remember moments with friends who enrich my life. Here are just some of those people and just some of those moments from my travels this year. The faces you see here are fellow artists, friends who came along to help, and my husband and partner, Jimmy, hauling yet another load of show stuff.
And here’s a selfie taken while my amazing teammates were busy in the studio. Liz is amazing when it comes to keeping us on track and making sure we deliver orders on time while always ensuring quality. My youngest daughter, Mae, jumped in to help this summer, and turns out she’s pretty good with a jeweler’s saw.
My favorite demos involve fire, and I had the opportunity to demonstrate soldering for the Rough to Refined show at CAM.
For our August trip to New York City (one of three throughout the year), we stayed in Weehawken, NJ, and took the ferry from Lincoln Harbor to Midtown Manhattan every day. The ferry ride provided a wonderful decompressing buffer to both sides of an otherwise hectic day. This is the view from the upper deck.
After a handful of trips to NYC, I am actually proud to have mastered the subway system, pretty much. It’s hot in the summer, the rats are real, but it’s just an amazing network for moving large numbers of people around relatively efficiently. I’m sure others would argue that with me, but I still have the bliss of novelty working for me.
This photo journey would be incomplete without sharing a view of the Manhattan skyline at night. This is the view from Brooklyn Heights.
Despite all the scenery shared here, show days are pretty intense, and the view on those days doesn’t really change. I have learned to do little things to keep my energy up, and to help me remain effective after so many demanding days in a row. I begin and end each day with my journal. And then there’s The GMA Show Survival Kit: wipes, lotion, water bottles, protein bars, lavender oil, nuts, hair ties, extra shoes, baby powder, sketchbook, notes of encouragement, and a few other personal things.
I received some wonderful advice from a fellow artist during a slow point in a large national show. He said he and his partner refrain from worry in the moment if sales at a particular show are lower than expected. “You have to wait until December 31st to let yourself get down about it,” he said.
I agree.
When we look back over the year considering both the numbers and our experiences, the long view usually produces prevailing gratitude. Course corrections may be necessary going forward, but there really aren’t any wasted efforts when you pause to consider the whole.
Thanks for exploring and sharing my story.
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