TORONTO OUTDOOR ART EXHIBITION....THE FALLOUT....

Well, the good news is I had a few good experiences this past weekend.
But I will probably not be bloggin' about those today!
I have collected a little photo montage of my time on the square this weekend.
Enjoy!

8am my friday morning set up is a wet one! And guess who left his umbrella by the front door??? DUH!
So this is a picture of my spot.......it is all mud! I freaked out on husband....who was kindly helping me set up. I wanted to set up in the mud - because it was such a great spot for visibility (it was the first booth you see when you enter the show!) But after nearly falling in the mud, husband suggested that unless I wanted to put on a show of mud wrestling IN the booth, that I should ask to be moved! So I did.

I was moved to this spot, which was beside the Bank of Montreal Tent (who I guess were corporate sponsors and who were trying to get new sign ups for a BMO Credit Card - more about his later!) But then they decided that there was NO VISIBILITY in this location and they moved back to the muddy area. Which as you can see left me alone.....I mean, seriously, I was  several tents away from ANYONE!!!

I was amused by the irony of the sign for "RAIN" that was right above my booth!!



Needless to say, it was a long and powerfully boring day - as no one came into my booth. Hours and hours went by and I finally took a bathroom break. When I was crossing the road, freshly back from my Tim Hortons break, I saw people in my tent...A LOT of people, and then I saw some guys with cameras. THEN I noticed one of the people was the Mayor of Toronto. So I sprinted back to my little booth to schmooze with David Miller. YUP! I was on the shortlist of people for the 'Mayors Purchase Award'. It made me feel a lot better about my terrible location.

UNFORTUNATELY, they didn't choose mine as the Mayoral purchase, but the curator for the City of Toronto Art Collection came back and bought a piece anyway! HUZZAH! (Note to self: get more people to read my C.V.)


But it was a SLOW day (the picture on the left is the best illustration of people viewing my booth!! See how the man is looking in the direction of my booth, but not venturing out to it...Imagine a whole day of that! It was stupendous - with a capitol STUP!!

I also took this picture of pigeons playing a game of full contact chess. I like how they all have their butts up in the air — as social commentary about my location! I think the photo is very 'John Woo'y!


So....that night at 7:30pm, I dismantled my WHOLE BOOTH and re-set up in my original location near the front of the exhibition. Husband was super impressed about getting home at 9:30 at night! ;-)
GOOD TIMES!!

Saturday was lovely.
My booth was in a great location. I was very happy - EXCEPT for the BIRDS!!! Anyone who knows me, KNOWS how I feel about birds. They kinda freak me out a bit.........especially seagulls and pigeons. HATE HATE HATE THEM!!

See this scary one was just eyeing me from above!!
AND if not being menacing, those GD BIRDS (GD = Gosh Darned or Goddamned depending on how profane you like your artists!) just squawked all day long.  I swear, those birds (seagulls and pigeons) sounded like they were SCREAMING all day long! The sound, oh Lord, the sound!! I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and hear the screaming of the seagulls!

Sunday was kinda slow. BUT what made it so terrible, was being beside the BMO booth! They were working on commission, so they were literally accosting people to get them to sign up. Whats worse - they were poaching people from MY BOOTH to sign up......and were scaring people away! It was AWEFUL!!! I understand they were there to make their quotas - but it really affected people coming ad staying in my booth! GRRRRRRR!!!! I think it was slower also, because it was so hot and sticky...or maybe because of the soccer game. Anyways, it wasn't very busy and then to make it worse....the skies clouded over and BAM! Rain again.

Thankfully it only lasted an hour or so, and it cleared up for us to pack up and get home. It was a long wet hot weekend, and I am G-L-A-D it is over with! ;-)
(you know when I start spelling things out - that I am S-E-R-I-O-U-S!)

Well, so that is it for my outdoor shows this year!
Now I can focus on my "Arcade" show. WHEW!