Cool Bees Outdoor Fall Market

Custom Portrait Samples 

Last Saturday was the outdoor market at Cool Bees and the weather was just perfect! Well...perfect until the wind picked up and started sending my artwork sailing to the ground. The "perfect" lasted most of the day though so I can't complain!

Me at My Tent

I had a great time meeting people and several very nice people stopped by to talk to me about my artwork and about having a portrait done. I was able to meet and chat with some of the other vendors and get to see what they were selling. Over all it was a wonderful day and I think I might do it again.

Another benefit of participating in the market was that I was forced to get my business cards and brochures done. As you may know, I'm also a graphic designer and have my own business, Bendt Design, so that helps quite a bit. Though, as the saying goes about the shoemaker's son having no shoes...well, I'm also last on my own list so I needed a little nudge. I'm very excited to finally have these done! You can download a brochure by clicking here or on the graphic to the left if you'd like to see it!

Business Cards - 2 sided

My New Portrait Brochure - Download Here

I also learned a few things about how I might set up differently next time. First off, I'd have table clothes, that would have helped everything look a bit tidier. Secondly, I'd have all of the portrait examples up front instead of splitting them up between front and side.

I also learned a few things about tents. To answer my own question, which I had before the event, "yes, there is a difference between them". I got an amazing deal on mine ($54! WOO HOO!) which is officially more of a sporting even tent. As the wind picked up and my tent wanted to go with it I realized that the people with "Festival Tents" didn't have as much of a problem as I did. There are vents in the top of those tents which allow the air to pass through vs to cause lift off. Of courses, festival tents are much more expensive then the one I got so unless I start participating in these regularly I'm not sure that I'll be getting one. Another thing which the seasoned folks around me did was to tie weights to their tent legs, a trick which seemed to work quite well.

Prints Hanging in Cool Bees

A final benefit of participating in this event is that I got myself organized! I now know what I have and where it is! I have added many more originals to my etsy shop and also have some originals hanging in Cool Bees Artwork and Gifts! That means more room around here for new paintings! Yay!

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Cool Bees!

I was recently contacted by a local shop called Cool Bees (what a fun name!). The owner saw my work online and asked if I'd like to sell some of my work there. I've thought of doing this before but didn't know where to start so this is incredibly exciting! I do have an etsy shop but this is a real live store you can walk into! How about that?

I'm working on getting everything assembled right now and phweww! What a job! I have no idea what will sell the best so I'm going to start with framed prints. That means matting, lots and lots of matting. Thanks to my wonderful (I can't say enough about her) high school art teacher, Valerie Savage, I am rather well equipped for the job. I've utilized the skills she taught me several times over the years, but never at this scale. I am also grateful that my Dad, while I was in college, signed me up to take a framing class at a local art store with him. I must admit that I didn't learn much more than I already knew, though I did pick up some ideas and had a good time taking the class with my Dad! Also, I walked out of there with a new matt cutter (thanks Dad!) which I use to this day. I'm sure there are better matt cutters out there now, but this one suits me quite well. Also, it sure beats the old method of taping down the ruler and praying you don't lose a couple fingers!

Another exciting piece of news is that on October 15th I may have a table set up in an outdoor art event which is being held outside Cool Bees! I think I may take some originals to sell there. I'll also be borrowing back a few portraits which I've done to put on display (heh heh). I don't have the whole booth set up so I'm not quite sure yet how I'm going to handle this but have a vague idea and I think it may involve the use of easels.

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