My "First" Doll Show

Valley of the Sun Doll Show, March 24th 2007

Thursday night: I suddenly realize how much I want to get done before I going to bed for the evening. Ack. I become a mad woman, gluing hair on dragons, ironing black bed sheets, paintings signs, and gluing my fingers to the desk. Midnight comes, and I decide enough is enough. Time for bed.

Friday morning: Get up early to get on the road before traffic hits. Clint helps me load up the wagon on his way to work. It is a rainy day, and I am glad I’m in my new car. Don’t have to worry about breaking down in the middle of no where in the rain. I make good time from LA to Phoenix, make it in six hours, only running into the occasional driver who insist on driving slow in the LEFT lane (Pass on the LEFT, drive on the RIGHT, hello!)

Friday Evening: My mother and I head to North Phoenix Baptist Church (the show location) to set up. Get my table location, and correct the spelling of my name. It takes us about an hour to get things set up. I put mom in charge of making sure my one topless mermaid is covered well by her hair. I know I can count on her to do a good job of that.

I discover that my dragons and Contessa have made a suicide pack. They keep trying to throw themselves off my table. I have a talk with the dragons. I promise them that they can attack anyone that gets to “grabby” with the fairies. They settle down. But Contessa decides to be difficult. I discover two breaks in her wing extensions from her trip across the desert. Sigh. She comes home with me for the night for some repairs. I cut away the damaged parts, and decide that I like the repairs better than the original. Put her up on the bookshelf while we go grab some food. Come back to find she has taken another nose dive. No damage. Sigh. Silly fairy.

Saturday
6:45 am: Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.

7:00 am: Mom knocks on door to make sure I’m awake. Mumble something unintelligent and roll out of bed. Get shower, and grab bowl of cereal. My song, “Brown Eyed Girl” comes on the radio. Must be a sign for a good day!

7:45 am: Leave for show. Almost forget Contessa on bookshelf. Doh! Still raining outside, but rainbow appears on horizon. Could it be over North Phoenix Baptist Church?

8:30 am: Arrive at show. I discover I am surrounded on all sides by bear makers. Have to keep an eye on mom to make sure she doesn’t spend too much money. Also realize that I am the only person selling Artist dolls. Most of the other tables are filled with collectables, Barbies, and baby dolls.

8:45 am: I lost mom. She spends $20 on Care bears.

10:00 am: Doors open. People begin to stream in. I realize that my table is in a great spot, right by the doors in the center of the hall. People have to walk by on their way in and way out. Score.

11:30 am: Lots of people stop by the table. They are not sure what to do with me. It is so much fun to watch people’s expressions walking by...confusion...wonder...delight... My favorite is the few times when some one walks by with a “don’t come near me I’m in a bad mood” face, and then catch a glimpse of my fairies out of the corner of their eye. And in that split second, a smile breaks through the clouds. Ha! I made you smile!

I find that I’m having to repeat, “I didn’t use any molds, I hand sculpted them from scratch” over and over. I don’t think people understand why mine are so different. I had a great conversation with a lady about my fairies, and how they were hand made, but she asked, “So did you make the molds yourself?” No, I didn’t use any molds. I sculpted them out of clay. OOooooh. Her eyes got very big then, when she understood. I feel very much like a missionary, spreading the gospel of OOAK artist dolls.

Dragons got very excited when one lady started to pick up my fairies and handled them not so gently. Don’t think she realized how close she came to loosing a finger or two.

11:38 am: Sent mom out to track down some food. I have made a new fan, and young boy named Robert. His mother has a bear table down the way. Poor guy was very bored until he saw my dragons. He was full of questions about what kind of clay I used. When I suggested he go out and get some Sculpey to play with, he said he had just made a bear out of Sculpey and it broke too easy. Smart kid! I told him I use Kato, but he tells me he doesn’t have internet to order some from. I think I will put together a care package of some clay and send it to him to play with.

12:00 pm: Food found! Scarfed down bites during lull times. A woman came by, was very friendly, asked me if I every took my art to ComicCon. Turns out we love a lot of the same artists. She bought one of my note cards and asked me to sign the back. Said she hopes to see me at ComicCon this year. Hmmmmm.

12:38 pm: Meet a man who was very interested in sculpting figures. He was full of questions. I gave him a card, told him to check out my website for tutorials, and also gave him a card for the Guild. I hope he pursues it.

1:00 pm: Mom buys one of my dragons to give to Robert. He shows his mother, who immediately comes and buys one for herself.

1:30-3:50 pm: Still had quite a few people come by and admire my dolls. I cracked up at the ones who noticed (in humor) that all of them tended to be....well endowed. I’m sorry, I can’t help it! I know, I’ve tried. Sold one doll, and got quite a few people who joined my mailing list. Best of all, I made some great contacts with other artists, and got positive feedback on my art. I’m amazed at how energizing it is to have people enjoy my art and give me positive feedback. It is very motivational to get back to work.

4:00 pm: Time to tear down. It only takes us about 15 minutes to get everything packed back up, much faster than set up. We get home, and crash. Time to sit back with a cup of warm tea, prop the feet up, and enjoy the rain.