Well, that was different! I mean, like night and day. Last weekend we sat and did crossword puzzles for hours on end, bored off our asses. After this weekend, I’m just exhausted beyond belief. Pooped I tell ya! It was nonstop standing and talking. Busy, busy, busy…

Saturday was the busiest. I sold a lot and met so many new people. Surprising new neighbors, many of them were other queer artists and musicians. I was amazed and grateful to connect with these wonderful new people! I would’ve never met them without this opportunity, so I have to say, for that, I am glad I have participated in this event because that was my main goal: I wanted to connect with the community. And that I did. All the sales were just icing. 

However, now that it’s over, I’ll disclose this: I don’t know if I would ever do this event again because of the way it was all organized. Far too many mistakes were made. All the misprints really screwed me. Pretty much everyone who came this weekend said that, had they known I was open the other two weekends, they would have made a point of coming earlier instead of later.

I learned a lot about the way people navigated the event. They picked out who they wanted to visit from the pictures in the catalog, and then chose a few to see each day. There’s no way you can see more than a few a day. There are over 100 studios after all. Most people did not use the app because it was easier to flip through the catalog to choose the artists, so they just picked their favorites.

Also, because I was not on the map either, it made it very hard for people to find my vicinity despite my signs. I would have received even more people than I got, let alone more on the other weekends I was supposed to be listed. So, my promotional efforts were useless. But at least my newsletter got a few of my own people here. Everyone else (the very few), were literally accidental. It all has angered and frustrated me way more than I’ve let on because the organization keeps telling the artists to “keep it positive,” and I have. But I can’t lie either. The directions, the weekends, the times (I even opened early at 9:00 AM because no times were listed either–only the 9-5 gallery hours), and not being on the map. It all sucked!

There have been many positive aspects. I made good sales and I met amazing people, but it is very expensive to participate in this thing. It also took me over a month to prepare for it—hours and hours of hard work. Can anyone blame me for being this frustrated?

Do I want a refund? Of course not. They are a non-profit. All I’ve ever wanted was a proper apology. Instead, all I got were a lot of excuses and was even blamed a bit. I wanted some accountability that never happened. 

Nice people for sure, but it all could have been a lot better. And now I could very well be shunned for typing this. Not typing it, but publishing it rather. I’ve typed these complaints several times over and have not pressed “publish.” But I’m just reporting the facts. I have always been candid and honest on my blog.

Well, alrighty. I really needed to give an honest vent, and here I have done it. Now, this is in the past: over and done.

So, I will spend the next week putting everything away. There are a lot of paintings to wrap back up in plastic and bubble wrap and refile into storage. Now that the garage is very organized, I hope it stays that way for a good long while. 

And we just made it out of the wind. It picked up pretty bad right before 5:00 PM yesterday. Now there’s a huge storm going on already. I know the Bay area is getting hit hard, and down here, the winds are insane like never before. And supposedly, this is just the beginning. We can’t put the trash out because the bins would tip over and trash would be flying all over the street right now. The house is already shaking and the windows are abending. It’s crazy.

Anyway, I guess I’ll rest most of today. I have one little drawing to do for a buyer and hope to mail it off before the afternoon.

And that’s the news and weather report for today.