MayDay Underground Review

The Village Gate is in my favorite neighborhood of Rochester, NOTA, Neighborhood of the Arts. It's an old factory turned into a street of shops including restaurants, entertainment and stores.

I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of the 2nd floor is - maybe to rent out to events like the MayDay Underground Crafts & Art Luau, which was held Saturday.

(See the woman pushing the stroller on the left? She adopted that little girl from Vietnam, who was killin' me with her cuteness! Complete with little flowered pants, perfect for the show's luau theme. Yes, I do drool over every Asian baby I see and am unable to stop myself from chatting up their parents.)

It's an atrium, filled with sculptures, artwork and plants. You see the real skylights here and there are fake skylights along the sides of the ceiling that have blue sky and white clouds painted on them, which I loved too. (That's my friend Liz sitting there in her space - she spins roving into yarn during shows like I stitch my designs on paper during shows. She sells her beautiful yarn at shows, along with her vegan body products as seen in her Etsy shop I linked to there.)

I was glad I had gone to the venue Friday night to help the girls running it put up signs and hang decorations, so I knew to bring extra lighting. I normally use 3 clip-on lights at the top of my black shutter doors, but this time I just opted for this multi-arm lamp. I actually hate this style of lamp but it's very useful so it's earning it's keep. I may just take this to all shows from now on because no matter where you are, there can always be weird shadows. There's no such thing as too much lighting.

You can see I'm down to 4 measly framed art pieces, plus one on the table. I sold two at the last show, plus I had taken several to Dryer House Emporium, in Victor. But that allowed me to put the shuttered door behind the table. Not sure I could have reached the art if someone bought one - but my space was a little cramped so it all worked out.

Because it was a spacious warehouse space with very wide aisles, I was able to spill out of my space without problem. My chair and most of my Sticky Notes stand is outside the front of my space. The perimeter of the room is very jagged actually so we weren't all lined up nice & neat. I was out no further than the space behind my chair, so I wasn't being obtrusive or obnoxious or anything.

The load-in started at 8:00, and the show started at 10:00, which is really not enough time for me - I need 3 hours, start to finish, 2 hours for setting up the space alone. So Steve and I arrived around 7:30, hoping to get in earlier. The door was locked but a Village Gate employee opened the door about 5 minutes after we arrived so it really paid off to get there when we did. All I can say is thank goodness there was an elevator, which conveniently emptied very near my space.

The upside: The show was great! I made more money per hour at this 6 hour show than I do sometimes at multi-day shows. I smashed my goal by 52%. I had lots of fun seeing old and new customers and vendor friends. I had about 20 minutes to walk the show before it started so I passed out a bunch of cards inviting artists to join Rochester Crafters. I used to pick up business cards of as many vendors as I can and them email them the official invitation. Yesterday I didn't do that - I just passed out my card instead. I've decided that I like the first method better because I love business cards - they are little representational works of art!

The downside: I really have to work my tail off for the next two weeks in order to have enough inventory for the Holiday Bazaar at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, traditionally one of my biggest, if not the biggest show of the year for me. I understand - not a bad problem to have, overall. :-)

Plus - for the first time since starting to use them, I had zero hand-stitched business cards. I'd used them all at stores I'm in and/or passed them out. My increased usage comes from my recruiting efforts on behalf of Rochester Crafters. I usually give the artist my Pine Tree Designs card to show them I'm "one of them", along with a Rochester Crafters business card.

Thank goodness I had a full box of generic black ink on white business cards from the old days. I stitched cards during the show but only have 2 to show for it now because I used those at the show whenever I could. One new customer said to me, "Your business cards don't justify your art!" I motioned her over to my chair and thankfully had a spare stitched one I'd just finished and could set her straight.

The horror and shame I felt at not having my beloved stitched business cards! Especially because as I just said I love business cards in general, I specifically love my business cards and people do love them too. Minimum, they are a real conversation starter - plus I like to think people don't throw these away.

My recently retired friend Jen has joined the Pine Tree Designs staff - she's stitching business cards as we speak. (Jen - if you are reading this, stop. Go stitch!) lol

I paid Simon to stamp and label my postcard mailing a few days ago. The cards arrived in local people's mailboxes the day before the show - and several people mentioned they came to the show because of that so it was worth the money I paid Simon, I think. (Sorry to have temporarily replaced you, Pam - but time was of the essence! And Simon needed the money.)

These two 20-something organizing women have already selected a date and venue for their next show, May 7, 2011, at the Rochester Main Street Armory. I've never been there, but it's a well-known downtown venue. I will go to the show for sure, but I really want to be accepted to be in it too!

So after a bit of loafing on the couch, surfing, reading - it's back to the studio!