Cold Front Sunset – Arizona Silhouette

Cold Front Sunset

Cold Front Sunset © 2011 Bo Mackison

In the nine days since I’ve been in Arizona, the skies have seldom had any clouds. So when I saw clouds forming as a cold front approached, I headed for the nearest mountains. I’d spent the day south of Tucson exploring the Old Tubac Presidio and Tumacacori National Historic Park, and so I stopped at Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains.

I had a long wait. The sun was quite high in the sky when I pulled into the parking area for the trailhead to Elephant Head. But it was time well spent. The sky took on more and more color as I watched, and then the clouds turned a brilliant orange as they caught the sun’s reflection. Elephant Head is the highest peak towards the center of the photograph, and the Santa Cruz Valley is beyond the mountains.

Arizona sunsets. Wow!

Arizona Report – Life in the Southwest

Sun Seat

In the Sun Seat © 2011 Bo Mackison

I’ve been in Arizona for a week. The weather has lived up to its promises, and then outdone itself on a few occasions. Except for one windy day, it has been calm and sunny. I’ve basked in the first 80 degree days I’ve seen since last August. I’m 1888 miles from my home, and sometimes it feels like that distance is half way around the world. Life, for sure, is different in the Southwest.

A few observations from the first week:

  • The critters I see still surprise me. A road runner “ran” across my back yard the first morning I was in my new place. I’ve seen it a couple times since, but that old cartoon didn’t lie. “Beep, beep” and it’s outta here, way faster than I can grab my camera.
  • The birds are simply amazing. As soon as the art show was over, and I had time to slow down, I bought a book on Southeast Arizona birds. Sherpa and I spent our only free day together exploring a canyon world famous for its birding populations. I’ve never been a birder. Except for the few birds that are easily identifiable, I refer to the whole of the avian population as “bird.” I am going to learn to identify some of the birds while I am here, though I don’t think I will ever be a bird photographer. I don’t have a lens capable of capturing most birds, although I’m told the hummingbirds are quite tolerant. At least they hover, almost long enough to get their photographs taken. Maybe I’ll get a photo of a hummer or two.
  • My washer and dryer are outside in a utility shed. I haven’t quite gotten used to this. Yesterday, I returned home from an “explore” and headed for the laundry to get my clothes. I nearly came face to face with a javelina. At first I thought it was a large, gray dog, but when it turned around to gaze at me with its beady eyes, its snout was no dog snout. I don’t much like the idea of sharing my laundry room with the javelinas, but they are crepuscular – they visit at dawn and dusk – so I’ll just do my laundry at other times.
  • Early this morning, I threw my arm over the pillow that is sleeping next to me in this king size bed. At first I thought it was Sherpa. But no, it was only a pile of pillows. That moment gave me my first taste of “alone”.  A sudden heave in my chest and a better realization of what I have taken on, and then the moment was over.  But I was shaken enough by my solitary feeling that I got up and made coffee. Every morning, so far, I’ve watched the sun rise from the porch, a cup of coffee in hand. I figure each day deserves a great start.

It’s time to start my day–I can smell the coffee–and give thanks that I am here, living my dream, and that I have this gift of a new day, full of possibilities.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight seven weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Making of an Artist: Part III – Learning as You Go

Ladder of Success

Climbing the Ladder

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers…
You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”  ~Amelia Earhart

There is a lot to learn BEFORE you do your first art fair. Even though it’s a straightforward process to send in an application, get accepted, and show up on the correct date with a basic booth filled with art, there are plenty of daunting details.

But after a year of doing art fairs, I’ve discovered that there are always new lessons to learn DURING every show, too. It’s called “on the job training!”

Here are a few of the lessons I learned from the first shows I did:

Show #1: Only do juried shows. In a non-juried show, anyone who pays their booth fee can be in the show. Usually these shows are described as “arts and crafts” fairs. There is little to no quality control in a non-juried show. My booth was arranged with framed photography. It was situated across from a great-grandmother, a very enthusiastic and energetic woman, who was selling her hand made crocheted Barbie doll clothes. The craftsperson to my left had stamped white skulls and crossbones onto a wide variety of leather goods. They were…good conversation starters. Another vendor (who deserves no “artist” or “craftsperson” title) had imported a wide variety of trinkets, toys, and woven mats. Everything sold for less than three dollars.

My art was NOT a good fit.  I sold one set of cards the entire day — to a student photographer who asked many questions about the “how to’s” of doing art shows. It was painful, no kidding, but there was a bright side, too. We learned to do our set-up with absolutely no pressure. When we were a half hour late getting the booth ready, no one cared.

Lesson Learned: There IS a good time to do a non-juried show — the very first time out when you are a true newbie.

Show #2: No matter what the weather forecasters have predicted for the weekend, take your severe weather gear. All of it. The puffy clouds may turn into a cloudburst, with accompanying 50 mph wind gusts. The most important part of the art booth is a quality tent and canopy that is weighted and secure.

During the storm that appeared out of nowhere, Sherpa and I each hung on to a tent cross bar until the worst was over. The next week we bought enough lead weight to put 75# on each corner. Now my tent doesn’t move when the thunderstorms roll through. As far as tents and safety go, weights are essential. I didn’t quite understand how important this issue was until I saw my first air borne tent, my neighbor’s tent — which he abandoned when he sought shelter in his truck — crash landed too close for comfort.

Lesson Learned: Prepare for any kind of weather. Have a quality tent and weight it appropriately.

Yep, Neighbor's Fallen Tent

Yep, It’s the Neighbor’s © 2010 Bo Mackison

Show #3: If you are doing a summer show, even in a state with a moderate climate like Wisconsin, prepare for hot weather. Really hot weather. Sooner or later, it will come. Bring water and plenty of it. Bring fruit, especially grapes which are easy to eat and not messy. Leave the diet soda and candy bars at home-especially the chocolate!

I also longed for a set of battery operated fans that attached to the crossbars of my tent. My neighbor artist had a few in his booth. Not only was he much cooler than we were, but his customers lingered longer looking at his art, a brief reprieve from the sweltering weather. And that’s always a good thing. Before the next show, I had invested in a couple of new fans!

Lesson Learned: Prepare for cold days. And hot days.

Part 4: More on the Job Training

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Valentine from the Southwest

Red Pepper Heart

Red Pepper Valentine @ 2010 Bo Mackison

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Valentines.

Red Pepper Valentine especially in honor of Sherpa. You’ve added lots of spice to my life!

And big hug to my son, my best Valentine gift ever. Valentine’s Day, all those years ago? — I remember as if it were today!  Happy birthday, Jeff!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks. She is taking the day off after successfully exhibiting at the 5 day Tubac Festival of the Arts to enjoy the Arizona sunshine and celebrate Valentine’s Day. (Artist series will continue tomorrow.)

The Making of an (Art Fair) Artist: Part II – The Start Up

Sky's the Limit

Sky’s the Limit

This is the second in a five-part series about my first year’s journey on the art fair circuit. Part one described my initial questioning and seeking of answers.

It took me two months of questions, answer seeking, and second guessing before I decided to assemble a basic art booth and apply to area art fairs and festivals.

Interestingly, my biggest concern became not whether my photography was good enough.

By this time I had photographed a number of botanical photos, mostly macro shots, and I thought I could put together a cohesive show, rather like a garden gallery. I had photographs I liked, photographs I was proud of. And the botanical theme was a perfect fit with the business name I had registered a year earlier, Seeded Earth Studio.

There were other, more difficult hurdles that I was worried about.

The first hurdle was putting together a list of what I needed to make a professional looking booth. There were so many parts to the whole, and the list made me dizzy to read. Another concern was the number of show applications I needed to track. Organizational skills were not one of my strong points and the thought of keeping track of inventory, show applications, and supply orders was almost more than I could bear.

Another major worry was money. I needed to purchase a basic booth set up and inventory, plus pay for ongoing jury applications, booth fees, and travel expenses.

The first hurdle that I overcame was a big one — the money. By way of a small financial windfall from an unexpected source.

Sherpa and I have been avid fishermen for many years. We were never very successful, but we enjoyed fishing together several times a week.  We had an 18 foot fishing boat, just the perfect size for cruising the chain of four lakes in the Madison area.

But without us even realizing it, our habits imperceptibly changed. We began to substitute photography outings for fishing expeditions. More and more, our evenings and weekends were taken up with trips to the local gardens and parks, or road trips to check out photography locations.

When we re-assessed our leisure time activities, we realized we’d only used the boat once in the last year. It became an easy decision to make. We sold our fishing boat and equipment, and used the profits to start up my photography business. (It helped immensely that Sherpa is my most enthusiastic supporter; he thought it was great plan to switch from fishing to art fairs. We never were very good at fishing! And there is always shore fishing when the urge strikes.)

So now that I had money for the basic expenses, I applied to a few shows in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.  To my great surprise, the acceptances came in quickly. I hadn’t expected such success. In just a few weeks, I had six shows lined up from the end of June through the middle of September.

By then it was mid-May. I had less than two months to prepare for a summer of art fairs and festivals. And I had already committed to take a ten day college-graduation-celebration trip with my daughter to the Pacific Northwest.

It was at that point that real panic set in. So I did what made the most business sense to me – I packed and went on my trip with my daughter and we had a wonderful time. I knew all the art fair work would still be there when I got back. And they were…

Part 3: Learning as You Begin

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”