Pets Pictured booth at Pittsburgh Pet Expo

10x10-foot booth at Pittsburgh Convention Center, October 13-14, 2007. Susan Donley, right, at the easel demonstrating portrait drawing; Chuck Lang minding the sales table in the back; Peggy Lang behind the camera. The series of drawings in front of the easel is a step-by-step portrait in progress.

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Comments

Lins~ says:

It's lovely to see you in action
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Janeys Journey says:

I went to your site and I am amazed at your work. All your portraits are just great. Even your humans ;D
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Anita & Greg says:

I'm sorry I missed this. I hope you'll send me a note for your next public engagement.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Jennifers Photography says:

nice shot. great to see the artist
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Susan Donley says:

Janey: Thanks for the kind words about the human portraits. I'm not prejudiced against humans -- I'm a human myself -- but much prefer the variety and lack of vanity in my animal subjects! LOL!

Anita: This was my first venture off the 'Net and into the bricks and mortar world of art selling. Folks seemed to enjoy my work, but their wallets stayed safely tucked into their wallets. One time will tell if it was a good investment. It was also a LOT of work, but if I decide it is worth it to do something like this again, I'll be sure to let you know.

Thanks, BYB and Lins -- I hope i'm thinner in person! ;-)
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Johny Day says:

HelloOoooOOo you , the next person that tells me to do this , he cough the $10,000 I need to do an expo , or ill slap him ;o)

it is a lot of work aint it ...

--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Susan Donley says:

Johny -- You are right, it was a TON of work and I didn't even make back the booth fee in sales of prints, cards and jewelry I had made featuring my B&W pet drawings.

People responded well to my work though and I got a lot of new names for my mailing list, so i'm hoping it will pay off in portraits down the road.

Booth fee was $550 for two days, BTW.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Sarah Clegg says:

Hi Susan - Good to see you are out there 'on the road'. I've been doing exactly the same for about 5 or 6 years now (with the same 10 x 10 space) and have learned lots of tricks of the trade... It IS a lot of work but once you get into the swing of it, it gets to be easier. My main advice is to keep at it, as you find a lot of people will come back year on year, recommend you to their friends and even make a special journey to the event just to see you. You do need to sell lots of 'bread and butter' items like small prints and postcards as well as the expensive stuff and commissions too. To be honest though, this year is the first time I've done any more than break-even and I think this was partly because I made the decision to abandon the smaller local shows and only do two or three big national events (one day things really aren't worth the hassle anyway) where people expect to shell-out more money for serious works of art. Best of luck to you anyway for 2008!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Susan Donley says:

Thanks for the encouragement, Sarah! Since then I've tried two smaller venues: one a charity "Howl-o-ween" event at a mall, where I was barely noticed for all the pets dressed in costume; the other a regional Bichon Frise match, very small, but percentage-wise, more profitable. I guess I need to find that sweet spot that balances the size of the event, the cost of the booth, and the expectations of the crowd, as you have. I haven't given up on the "roadshow," though each time after lugging all that stuff around, I think, "I'm wa-a-y-y-y too old for this!" Being a starving twenty-something artist was easier than being a starving fifty-something artist! ;-)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Sarah Clegg says:

I should add that it's always worth considering small events too if you can get free space! When I first started I managed to blag my way onto various stands run (and paid for) by other people like larger animal charities, usually in exchange for offering a 'Win a portrait' where visitors could buy raffle tickets from the charity concerned. I used to charge £1 (I guess a dollar would do it too... you nearly always sell more than one at a time) Trust me, it's amazing what a big sign with 'WIN' does to attract people to your stand! Always a useful exercise to get lots of names and addresses for your mailing lists this way too. Only drawback is that you have to do a 'freebie' for the winner and you have to be very clear about what exactly the prize entails, but the weird thing is that my winners have often asked if they can pay for a second painting of a second pet at the same time! The other advantage in doing this is that the charity is ever so grateful and the more recognised you get, the more PR you and they get out of it too.... These days I limit myself to one charity painting a year - you have to draw the line somewhere eventually. The work tends to go to auction at a ball or some function and it always surprises me how much money they make. But nice to think you can contribute in a practical way to a cause you want to support.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

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Taken in Downtown, Pittsburgh (map)
Taken with a Samsung Digimax 420.
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Taken on October 13, 2007

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Pets Pictured booth at Pittsburgh Pet Expo

Comments

Lins~ says:

Janeys Journey says:

Anita & Greg says:

Jennifers Photography says:

Susan Donley says:

Johny Day says:

Susan Donley says:

Sarah Clegg says:

Susan Donley says:

Sarah Clegg says:

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