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Work Smarter and Harder… Be an Entrepreneur! — The Faux Louvre pg256
Colorful companion to my memoir The Incompetent Psychic
2006
Back to work. I applied for festivals, designed schedule postcards, got them printed and mailed, and handed out thousands to everyone who came into my booth.
Spring through fall meant packing everything in and out of my trailer, setting up, tearing down and trying to be someone people would want to buy art from weekend after weekend. Early on I figured out how to paint new watercolors in my lap during shows. This kept me productive, stopped me bouncing off the flimsy walls when it was slow, and ended the ubiquitous question, “Are you the artist?”
Painting also gave me something to focus on other than the discomfort of talking to so many strangers — even friendly strangers. I really liked all the people who engaged, asked questions, and bought my art. They were really wonderful people, so something was wrong with me.
Sometimes the fair fairies would badda bing me with their sparkle wands and I would wrap up an exciting sale. There were good shows and awful shows, but it averaged out I was making a living. — From Chapter 14
Sole proprietors don’t get to choose between ‘smart’ or ‘hard’. That old chestnut…
