I have officially completed my first day at the Roger’s Local Food and Art market and the results were good. I did not sell out, nor did I have record high sales, but I did make sales. That was my goal.
I was really unsure of what to bring and what to sell at the market. It is a challenging question for any vendor: What will people want to buy? The added complexity of selling art is that one must strike a personal balance of making things that will be desired and still making things that are true to one’s artistic intention.
If an artist leans to heavily toward self-expression with no regard for the customer, then the art will be an excellent representation of one’s vision with a very low likelihood of selling anything in this type of market. That kind of showing works better for a gallery exhibit But if the art on offer is solely crafted for the sake of the customer’s wants, there is still the risk of not selling anything with the added injury of not having made things representative of your artist’s vision.
Chasing the customer can feel very hollow, and that feeling can be exponentially multiplied if the whole intention was to make what they wanted; yet, still make no sales. It is a sort of double rejection by one’s self and by the public. So to avoid such a disappointing situation, I keep the customer in mind, but I place the majority of the intent on the personal expression through the pieces I make.
These are lessons I have learned over years of going to markets and swinging back and forth between these two extremes. It is part of the challenge of putting myself out there and asking the world to give me money for the things I make.
But as I mentioned in the Preparing for Market blog post, I wanted to get in the market this year to start putting my face out there and practicing the routine of market vending. It is a lot of simple tasks to highlight several difficult tasks. Setting up the tent, finding parking, making inviting displays, and practicing the art of engaging with customers in a subtle and purposeful way. All of that is built on the back of what I have brought to market in the first place.
I was surprised that some things did not get noticed at all while other things I did not expect to sell did sell. It was a good first showing, and I’m excited to be in it. This week, I have the added lesson of figuring out how to make pieces to replenish what was sold and also offer new pieces for those returning customers.
All of this will help to inform my farming aspirations. It is a little more difficult when it comes to selling produce because there is a window in which to sell the products, but that window may be 100 days after the work was begun. Anticipating what people want and balancing it with what I want to grow are the challenges that I will face in the years to come. The lessons I’m learning today at the market are just the first steps toward being ready for the day I bring harvested products to market.
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