2009 Pot Show at the Garden

On June 27, 2009, the Sacramento Potters Group had its Second Annual "Pot Show" at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center in McKinley Park in Sacramento, California.  It was hotter than Hades that day but we had a steady flow of customers. Many thanks to Anita Lowe and her crew for putting together the show, Nic Guerrero and Mark Pratton for giving awesome wheel throwing demos, and to the SPG membership for setting out banners and signs advertising the show. You may click on any picture to view a larger image.

YES!
by Kanika Marshall

The Pot Show was as hot and dry as the Clay Fest was wet this year, but both were surprisingly well-attended and very pleasant. A HUGE thank you to Genelle and/or Anita who arranged with the Shepard Garden and Arts Center to let us set up our booths on Friday night. Those of us who took advantage of that benefit were calm, cool and collected when we stepped into the building Saturday morning. Just a little touch up to my booth and I had plenty of time to visit with my artist friends before the show began.

How beautiful it was outside under the trees! I guess about a dozen artists were out there with their canopies or umbrellas or utilizing shade from the building overhang. The sun kissed the glazed surfaces and made them look yummy. All of the booths were showcased exceptionally well on the outside terrace. And inside, each room had a different "feel" to it. I was in the big room where it was bright and spacious. The lobby room that Connie was in was duskier and very calming. The small room that Laurie was in was comfortable and intimate.

I ventured outside to put an extra SPG Annual Show sign in the park at the corner outside the building. It was packed with runners, parents and their children, and smiling dogs. The green was so GREEN. So full of life. †More beautiful than reality. So "present." For those of you who have read the "Celestine Prophecy" you know what I'm talking about. And when I returned to the building, I heard someone outside call my name. Then I noticed the line of people who were waiting to come into the show! YES! †Two of my cousins were there to see me and add to their Kanika art collection. Yes! It was time to start the show, so I hurried back in through the back entrance and got ready for the throngs of people.

The Pot Show wasn't as crowded as the Seconds show, but it was steady all day long. Several of the people I invited came to the show and bought sculptures. Yes! My cousin, Michael, told his wife to buy whatever she wanted . . . and she did! They added four larger-sized wall pieces to their Kanika collection! Yes! And another of my big collector customers came and added to her collection. I have been using ?www.surveymonkey.com to get feedback on my business and I offer respondents to get a 20% discount on any one piece, so Camil used her discount on one of the bigger pieces. Yes!

And then a new Facebook friend, Judy, came and we talked about using ?www.ConstantContact.com to develop professional newsletters. She then contacted the next day to say she signed up and said I referred her to Constant Contact and they gave me a $30 credit on my bill. Yes!

I unveiled some of my new metal and clay works and one of them sold. And one of the pieces from the 20th Street Gallery 50-50 show. And several hearts. So it was the most profitable SPG show that I've ever had in the 14 years that I've been a member. Yes!

And the icing on the cake? There was a lady who came by. She had a small note pad. I gave her my normal spiel. And she kept looking at this tall mask sculpture - one of my outdoor art sculptures. She looked through my portfolios and kept asking question upon question. She then asked whether I would object to her including an article about my outdoor work in . . . Sacramento Magazine! Yes! Of course I let her know I would be most pleased to be featured in her column and that she might want to go to the Blue Moon Gallery to see some of my large outdoor tile pieces . . . and she went! So the gallery owner was most happy with me, because they might be mentioned in the magazine. After the show, I e-mailed the writer more images that she could show to her editor and I gave them permission to shoot a picture of my sculptures at BMG. So hopefully, I'll be in the September edition of Sacramento Magazine! Yes!

I had been cutting down on art shows this year because my work is so heavy that it is taxing my shoulders to move it around for one-day shows. I've been leaving the pieces in galleries instead. So this was only my third fine art show of the year and it was a YES! experience.