Article for the SPG newsletter:

STUPENDOUS SECONDS SALE
By Kanika 

The Seconds Sale was held at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center (SFAC) in Carmichael on January 11^th, as it has been on the second Saturday in January for the past 16 years at that location.  It was a beautiful sunny morning, with just a hint of the previous night’s rainstorm remaining in the parking lot. 

The show was to open for business at 10:00 AM, so I thought I would arrive really early at 8:00 AM to get a choice booth spot, but was surprised to see so many of the artists already set up.  And, there were a couple of die-hard regular customers already waiting outside the entrance door, scoping out which artists had the merchandise they wanted to purchase!  Word to the wise:  camp out at SFAC with your clay objects the night before to ensure your choice of spot! (smile) 

So, over the next hour and a half, artists hauled, pushed, and pulled their hand-trucks laden with boxes and bags of precious cargo (uh, well, seconds that customers might regard as precious cargo) to their chosen booth spot.  The barren SFAC building was transformed into a multi-colored treasure trove of pottery, clay sculptures, and glassware.  Some artisans had decorated their tables with tablecloths and additional vertical shelving, some had brought their standalone shelving and other displays, and some chose to stack their cups inside bowls inside plates.  I really liked the “flow” of booths this year, for having several booths set up in an annex room really allowed for a less claustrophobic experience for the artists and the customers. 

It was so fun to chat with the SPG members that I hadn’t seen in many months, as well as meeting new people.  We got a chance to see the many different styles of clay work and glazing, and were able to ask questions about various clay and glass techniques.  The camaraderie and well-wishes for a fabulous show helped make the already-positive ambience in the building even more powerful. 

Even though most of us brought what “we” thought were seconds, we were hard-pressed to see why other artists were selling such beautiful pieces of art for rock-bottom prices.  When questioned, artists would quickly explain why a 1/16” glazing blemish justified only charging $10 for a large vase that would normally fetch $75, or why an almost invisible crack destined the pot for this show.  Many of us artisans took the opportunity to purchase some of these so-called seconds before the show started!  Unfortunately, there wasn’t any bartering between the artisans going on that I saw.

Three, two, one . . . it was 10:00 AM and the doors opened.  The long line of waiting customers quickly entered the building and rushed around the booths.  We immediately began to hear the sounds of artwork being wrapped with newspaper and paper bags being filled with wrapped purchases.  Money was practically flying into the hands of the artisans (OK, OK, not all of us had money flying into our hands!).  There was a steady stream of customers until about 11:30 AM, when I finally had time to turn around and notice that it had started sprinkling outside.  For the next couple of hours, the crowd thinned, but that gave us a chance to actually talk with the customers about our work before making the transactions.  The last 30 minutes was pretty slow.  Some artists had sold out by noon or 1:00 PM and most of us had very little to cart back to our studios at closing time.

For me personally, this was the most lucrative ($$$) Seconds Sale ever and I heard other people exclaim that it was very profitable for them too.  My next-door booth mate, Nicolas, was a real kick the whole day.  I really enjoyed watching him count his 2” thick wad of money (mostly $20s, he claimed). 

Many thanks to the coordinative efforts of Jon and Barbara Mehr, who compiled the Seconds applications, figured out the space layout for the SFAC, set up and broke down the tables (thanks to Clark Mehr for this too), paid for advertisements in the Sacramento Bee and News and Review magazine, and ensured that the show progressed in an orderly, clean, and FUN fashion.  Kudos to Anita Lowe for putting together the newsletter with the Seconds application (and all the other stuff she does with the newsletter!), printing and distributing the Seconds Show postcards, as well as sending out the Public Service Announcements and media releases to newspaper, TV, and radio stations.  Thanks to Mary Classen for making the arrangements with the SFAC, and paying them and the advertising bills.  Credit also goes to Joyce Westergaard for signing up customers waiting in line to our mailing list for future show invitations.  Many thanks to Laurie Kneppel and Chris Navratil for taking digital pictures of the event; check out the Events Page that I have added to our website (www.SacramentoPottersGroup.com) for a pictorial display of the show.  Much appreciation to the folks who shared their chocolates and cookies with the rest of us.  And many thanks to all of the artisans who came to support the Sacramento Potters Group’s Seconds Show.

What a great way to start the new year!