Recap of the Weekend

I really wanted my photo to sell at SEAF.  I’ll be honest. I wanted to walk into the hall yesterday and see a red dot on the tag next to it.  So when I did – and it was not there – I was a bit sad.  Then as we stood back assessing the rest of the art setup – trying to decide where to go next  – I saw a couple walk up to it – they looked at it and responded positively to it and lingered by it.  Seeing that interaction throughout the night – well, made me not feel like a fraud but feel like an artist who should have been there.

We got a drink after seeing my piece and were sipping it deciding where to start when an event photographer came up and asked for me to pose for a photo or three by my piece.  I took her to it – and she giggled at the goofiness of it – commented she had walked by smiling at it with each pass – then took my photo next to it.

I thanked her for that opportunity – and G and I set off to explore the show.

This is my fourth or fifth SEAF show I’ve attended.  I’ve lost track.  This is my second show attending as a juried artist.  In the past, I’ve loved about 80% of the show. Usually about 20% of the show is “WTF was the jury thinking!?!”  This show was 100% wow!  The jury did a great job putting together an amazing mix of erotic art.  All of the different types of art were great.  Some made me cringe (needles in nipples), some made me giggle (boobie coffee cups), some made my jaw hit the ground in its greatness.  We spoke to a couple of artists who had crafted art live during the event. Both made extraordinary pieces.  I spoke to a few people I knew there who were also showing.  One artist sold 2 of the 3 pieces she had in the show.  She had an amazing show selling over $2000 worth of art in 3 days.  Another artist who I know had two amazing oil paintings in the show – huge canvases of erotic images.  And he sold one of them.  I was truly happy to see the artists I know have success at the show.

We left the show a bit early deciding to go back to our AirBnB, have a drink, and relax in bed.  G found a great AirBnB for us with the added bonus of cats.  The owner has 2 who he talks about just in terms of “I have cats – if you have severe allergies, this is likely not the place for you as the cats will be gone but I can’t get rid of the dander in the place.”  We asked him to keep the cats in their home while we were there.  We were met at the door by a gianormous orange cat the size of a beagle.  He greeted us, showed us around, and told us everything we needed to know as he rolled around getting belly rubs.  His mate was a fluffly tiger striped female who kept to herself unless a window was open – then it was right there.  She was quite sweet, just not as interactive.

We came back to their fuzzy faces, basked in the goodness of the night, and slept.  The girls told us this morning that both cats perched over them – and watched them sleep all night.  That made me laugh.

This morning we played with kitties, ate some breakfast, cleaned up, and poked around Seattle to waste three hours before we had to head over to pick up my photography.  We hit the Gas Works Park on the shore of Lake Union.  I took some great photos there.  We visited the Fremont Troll.  We wandered into a Japanese American Celebration held near the Space Needles and some amazing Japanese drum performances (taiko).  Then we headed over to the hall a bit early, so I can get my art.

We were sent with a woman who was tasked with getting and rewrapping our art.  I took her to my piece – and she exclaimed “OMG, I so wanted to buy this when I saw it – it’s amazing!! But I just lost my job and don’t have the cash even though it’s priced perfectly and you used the right framing too — I was a framer for 9 years. I SO love this!!”

I was in shock.  She wasn’t being polite – no she wanted that piece.  She continued to gush about it while she was wrapping it up.  I told her about the other ones I had taken – and she wanted to see them.  She laughed at the reasons I took them – and loved it.  I wrote my email on the art tag and told her to ping me when she thought she was ready to buy a piece.  She was truly elated.  “Let me know what size you want – I have a professional photo printer, so I can print any size for you.”  We grabbed the other art we were transporting home with us, and she talked aloud about how big it should be “8×10 or maybe 8×12 – both would work….this is awesome!”

Meanwhile I’m screaming in my head “No, THIS is awesome!”  I mean, I didn’t sell my piece but I have someone over the moon she met me so she could negotiate with me sale of a print.

And that is how I ended SEAF.

I went there nervous for many reasons.

Came back feeling damn good about how things went.

It was a good weekend.

Only bad part? Someone I care about was missing. And I hate that.

Oh and here’s my photo –

After Hours in the Batcave
After Hours in the Batcave

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.