So I need to make something of it, otherwise today will feel so much like just a waste.
After several weeks of dithering and fucking around (putatively producing product, but instead spending loads of time floundering around, trying to figure out why shit looks like shit), I have five new prints added to the inventory, which is a lot, but it really isn’t. I need to focus a whole lot more on producing sellable stuff that draws people in.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Having enough “new” stuff to feel ready to head down to Spanish Village, I got up at 6 this morning (after a late night, AND fucking Daylight Savings Time taking another hour off the total sleep I got), tubbed and showered and dressed and hauled ass down to Balboa Park to try and sell some art.
Chet talked me into setting up out in the Prado, instead of setting up in Spanish Village. (Sidebar: SV appears to be in a LOT of trouble with the City. Compound that with the general run-down state of that corner of Balboa Park and the putative level of artistic expertise—old ladies pimping bad jewelry and cut-n-pasted art that would get them bounced out of any actually managed juried cohort—and it doesn’t add up to Happy Trails. There’s controversy currently about SV’s non-profit status that will eventually lead to some sort of major upheaval. Here’s to hoping we can retain some level of access throughout all of that. But anyway…)
The crowds haven’t been exactly been flowing through SV, and there have been many days where Chet reports zero sales and zero contacts. That shit just isn’t acceptable, so he’s been setting up out in the Park itself.
Of course, that’s not straightforward either: apparently, there’s some allowance for SV Artists to do such a thing without the additional permits/etc. One has to set up only hand-made art, cannot have pricing on it (can “sell” it for “donations”), and must have some form of hand-made storyboard and a stance of “education and outreach”. Feh. It’s all apparently some kind of cover to allow SV artists to do their thing, but fuck it seems fraught and weird.
But so, I arrived at the Prado at around 8am, and there were already several vendors already set up, but also plenty of room. Took a few trips to get all of the stuff out of the car to the site, and Chet helped a bit with the setup, but it all seems manageable and straightforward, except for the transport.
FUCK I NEED SOME KIND OF HAND CART THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO TRANSPORT ALL OF THE NEEDFUL THINGS IN ONE TRIP.
Really, once I’d gotten all the stuff to the site and Ruby parked, the setup only takes a few minutes (I don’t have that much in the way of inventory, remember?). By the time I was situated, there was decent foot traffic. Navigating things like going to the bathroom or getting some coffee turned out to be extraordinarily tedious and worrisome, as you end up having to walk away from your setup in order to do such things.
FUCK I REALLY NEED A SMALL COOLER WITH SOME SNACKS AND COFFEE AND WATER AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING BUT A CATHETER…
Thankfully, I remembered that I’d forgotten a chair during the drive out, so I snagged a cheap one at Walmart (even though, as I remembered even later in the day, there is a star-gazing chair ALWAYS IN THE CAR)… At least I could sit down and relax whilst people-watching…except, NO I COULDN’T, because you’re essentially “on” for the entire time you’re there, always paying attention to the folks coming in and out of the booth, and making sure you’re friendly and available and all that…
IT’S FUCKING EXHAUSTING, IS WHAT IT IS. I’m not good at it, and I need to get better.
But I could also have been sketching.
But I could also have been printing (sort of).
But I could also have found other ways to be productive (and I kind of did, but it wasn’t enough to make the day worthwhile).
Bring sketching materials (but keep the overall load small).
Bring a laptop so that you can do design work
Bring a press and run some split-fountains (dicey with WB)
[Gah: I’m so fucked up these days I can’t even finish a blog entry.]