What Advice Can You Share With Fellow Outdoor Craft Show Exhibitors? compiled by Kimberly Geib

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?

Each month, The Crafts Report invites readers to respond to the Public Opinion question. Responses are published in the magazine. Go to our Public Opinion Question page to answer the current and/or future questions.

Even though I have a "white" roof for my booth, I still use a steel-gray tarp underneath. I have been in all-white booths on very hot summer days and felt the stifling heat. My booth always stays cool, and as I sell clothing, I also lessen the chance of sun damage to both my work and to my skin. Having a gray tarp under the white one reflects the sun and keeps my booth shady so that even on the hottest days, I can last all day and stay relatively fresh. And more important, my customers are cool enough to try on my knitwear in July! This makes up for slightly less light on an overcast day -- the next day might be a scorcher.

Carolyn Barnett
Knitwear designer
via e-mail

Make sure your canopy has a secure weight system in place, because I've seen tents sailing across fields, etc. -- it can be disastrous for the craftsperson, as well as others in its path. I use a Light-Dome canopy with PVC pipe filled with concrete and an e-pin embedded in the center. As a glass artist, I am especially leery of wind gusts. I've been using this system for four years with no problems; no puddling of water on the roof either, although water doesn't affect my product.

Deb Libby
SGI/Deborah Libby Art Glass
Concord, New Hampshire

I make outerwear, some of which is ankle-length. To protect it, I cover the grass or asphalt with a plastic tarp, then a low-pile rug. It makes my booth more attractive, and protects my work. At the end of each day, I clean it with a small portable push sweeper.

Suzanne Gentes
SUZKNITS
Amherst, Massachusetts

As soon as you set up your canopy, put in the stakes and sandbags for extra protection from wind and storms. Do not wait until it starts to look overcast. A bad storm can strike suddenly, and if you aren't prepared the results can be disastrous and dangerous. I speak from experience!

Anonymous, Clay artist
Virginia
via e-mail

I ordered my entire display from one company, and went to the factory personally to discuss color and fabric. I am a silversmith, and it is very important that the material on my risers and floorboards conveys wealth and class. I went with a slightly plum-colored suede. I chose the color because it offsets the silver nicely, and allows the pieces to stand out, while still allowing for depth-perception, and for color variations in my work with stones and gold, or enamel.

I discovered one problem at my last show: The cases I rented did not fit exactly to the size of my floorboards, so I went to the nearest craft store and stocked up on really nice silk flowers. I got them in colors that highlighted or accented the plum suede I already had -- some green with plum accents, and others more of a brown. The leaves were very realistic, and I could use the entire flower and stem in my display. I cut the flowers and bent the stems to make a backdrop that surrounded my floorboards, and was able to use the leaves in bunches as well, creating a really nice, well-matching motif, and the customers never knew that the floorboards didn't go to the edge of the cases.

Alex Austin
Austin Creations
Rimrock, Arizona
www.austincreations.org

Kimberly Geib is editorial assistant of The Crafts Report.

JUNE 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS