Borrow a book, call a friend

Well, learning from our kids is nothing new, but I thought I would share another life lesson I learned from my son a few summers ago. It's something that comes up over and over in both parenting and even in other aspects of my life as well.

James asked me if we could fishing. Not that big a deal, except the fact that I had never been fishing and had absolutely no idea where to begin. And that's how I answered thinking that would be the end of that and we would move on to something more within my comfort zone. But, not with James, he said 'well then let's go get a book from the library to learn how'. Darn library!

We did go to the library, read a book, stocked up on supplies (all the wrong supplies mind you), and headed down to the lake. Thank goodness for not catching anything that first time, I didn't even have pliers with me.

We then enlisted a friend, an avid fisherman, to take us on a fishing trip. We learned a ton, got the correct supplies and have since caught many fish together. All it took, was a little curiosity, the desire to learn, some good resources at hand, and a little practice. Sounds a lot like art doesn't it?

Rain Rain come today

Not usually the chant you would think of when heading off to an art show, but rain can sometimes be helpful for things other than our gardens. It can even be helpful for an outdoor art show - really it can.

This entry took me a few days since getting back from my last show, in the rain. Since Monday I have been hanging up my tent, my table cloths, my curtains and cards to dry. This is definitely not the fun or productive part of a show in the rain.

The productive part is that there's less window shoppers out on a rainy day. Which means that only the die-hards, ready to spend consumers venture out in the rain. So right off the bat, you have to work less to sell more. And on top of that, you don't lose those customers to 1. getting lost 2. getting tired 3. changing their mind. On a sunny day at an art show, shoppers will find something they like, but say 'I will buy it on the way out', or 'I will come back once I've found my friends'. And then they are gone forever (lost, tired, or changed their mind). In the rain, people are more impulsive, if they like it they will buy because they don't want to have to come back if they decide later they really want it.

So, yes in general, rainy days aren't that fun, but my experience shows that rainy days aren't that bad for sales, at least for the amount of work we have to do on those days.

Ok - time to fold the drying tent and pack it up for a rainy weekend show in London!