Saturday, November 26, 2011

Special people buy my work

The show is going pretty well, I had strong sales today until 2pm and then it died and I sat there until 6pm, when they announced the doors were being locked and a customer walked in with a last minute purchase. I always love those, it ends my day on a happy note!
So, I'll tell you a little about my day. I am across from a potter from Morehead City, I watched his blue bowls and lamp bases fly out of his booth all day. I don't know him, but he seems like a very nice person, people seemed to like him and his work is nice.
My work does not fly out of the booth, but here is what I have observed for the past two days. This doesn't happen at outdoor shows, which by the way I am done with. Anyway back to my day. People stop in the aisle to read the Deep Water lyrics that Wes wrote on one of the tall barns. I had many many comments on those, they are $500 so I haven't sold one, but that's ok, the right person has not come along yet. Then they come into my booth and they stop at each barn and look at it carefully, they pick it up, they look around and then this smile comes over their face and they look around for me, behind the counter to say something. I have been told they are "evocative", "they touched my heart", they remind me of going to see my grandparents when I was a kid", "they are powerful", whatever, I hear a story from everyone that takes the time to look at them.
And then there are the stories that go along with the folks that purchase them. This is the BEST part. Today, the door knob barns are gone. The first one sold to a beautiful woman named Margot, she is a cancer survivor, still very weak, she had a wheelchair to support her, but this woman came out, as tired as she was to BUY ART! Can you imagine this? And she bought a door knob barn for herself. I love the spirit of this woman and she inspired me so much. Then this other familiar face came in and picked up another door knob barn, the smile is what I recognized and I remembered she bought barns from me last year. In fact she bought one of my very favorites, it was one of the little white houses and it was the first one I put a door on. I got very teary last year when she bought it. So she bought a door knob barn too, it is a gift so I won't tell you her name, in case the person getting the gift reads this somehow! I sold the angel barn to a man from Key West for his wife's anniversary gift, one of the wall hangings with the bee transfer on it to a beekeeper that lost all of his bees, probably to pesticides. It just goes on and on.
My point is, the man across from me did well, sold a bunch of bowls, and that is a fine thing. People will use those bowls just as I use mine and they will love them. But every piece I sold was connected with a story, a memory, and that is what got me started making these in the first place. I love that. And here is the best part too. I mention the woman with cancer and the buyer with the pretty smile, because...... I took part of the money from their purchases and bought the most beautiful handmade scarf you have ever seen for myself as a treat for my hard work! I hardly ever do this, but it felt right, so girls, if you are reading this, your purchases supported two artists today!!!!! Thanks so much, I will wear this scarf every day for awhile, I love it so much and the artist that made it is from Asheville and a really interesting person that I got to know today. Isn't being an artist the very best thing in the world!?!?!?
Can you tell I had an ungodly amount of caffeine today, haha! It was a great day, the most money I have made at a show all year, and I thank all of you very kind people that loved my work and bought it!!!!!! I am so inspired and have a million ideas for new work.... in January!

11 comments:

Dennis Allen said...

I'm very happy that the show is going well for you.Hope the affirmation convinces you that you do belong in the big leagues.

Tracey Broome said...

Well, I did feel like a grown up today :) I do feel like my work is going to a new level and it's exciting for me, not boring that's for sure!

Ron said...

Way to go Tracey!! What a great day. Thanks for sharing.

cindy shake said...

Powerful work sells to sophisticated and DESERVING buyers. Your artfulness and passion was communicated through those works and those folks sensed it :) so happy to hear your day was fulfilling for all!

Erin said...

So happy to hear the show is going well for you :)
It must be so special for the buyers to be able to actually meet the artist too!

smartcat said...

So happy that it's going well for you. The connection with customers is one of the neat things about doing shows. I love work that tells a story.

cookingwithgas said...

It will be great to see what paths you take from this and to see how wonderful it will be when you have the gallery crawl and actual get people to your door.
Sweet success.

Anonymous said...

hi tracey,
good to hear about your sale and i'm hoping the dude with the pepper spray was able to control himself and not spray Margot although I bet, given the chance, he would have a hard time not blasting away. it strikes me that these people's wonderful reactions could form a substantial down-to-earth and no-bull basis for that illusive artist statement we all struggle with. the fact that those reactions to your work are so palpable and regular is a fantastic testament to your chosen path. great to hear

Lori Buff said...

It is hard to sit at a show watching the artist across from you selling like mad while you wait for your perfect customer, but it seems they always show up and remind us why we do this. I'm so happy the show was a success for you.

ang design said...

me thinks you've hit a new groove trace!!! well deserved sales and sounds like an amazing wkd of highs and lows :))

just jody said...

what's special...Tracey....is having the ability to touch people with beautiful art AND memories....what a great combination....from a special artist!