THE SHOW was a Success!!

(Greg & Zander with Big Tom who put the show on.)
I'm not even sure where to begin...the show was a success!

The beginning:
It didn't start until 2p, so Greg, Zander and I were able to wake up at a normal time and have a lovely family morning. We hung out in the sun room talking, stretching, listening to an Abraham-Hicks CD while Greg drank his coffee, I had my usual large glass of water and then Z and I split a tasty banana, strawberry smoothie. We were finally ready to go to the The Center at 11a to meet Michele and JB.

Our wonderful support:
Michele is a very good friend, we call her family by choice. In fact, it's hard not to think of her as family because she was my step-son's mother's father's companion for many years. That may seem very far removed. In our world it's very close. That relationship ended only because Jack decided he was done being here in the physical form. Michele is also our partner in another project.

(Michele, in purple, available to help.)

JB is the eldest son of Greg's best friend, Craig. Greg helps Craig and both of his boys with their cars. JB was showing his appreciation by helping us set up at the show.
(JB, in black t-shirt, helping Greg set up.)
The power of manifestation:
With over 80 artists needing to schlep their wares into the The Center, Greg manifested the two closest parking spots to the main door. THANK YOU, GREG! Our spot was as far away as you can get within the auditorium, so not having to walk the whole length of the parking lot as well was a relief.

The set up: (Greg, JB & Michele setting up the display.)
It took the four of us 2.5 - 3 hours to set up. That included:

1. Bringing EVERYTHING inside from Greg's van and my wagon (there were even 2 volunteers that made a few trips back & forth to help out)


2. Position the tables with table cloths, attach the 'walls' and their vinyl coverings, hang the pegboard from the organ box, position the roll around cart and it's vinyl coverings


3. Unpack each piece and neatly roll up the bubble wrap to be placed under the tables for easy finding later


4. Hang 5 large pieces from the 'walls'
   
5. Carefully balance 3 medium sized pieces on the top of the organ box


6. Artfully display all the rest of the pieces on the table tops, sides of the organ box and sides of the roll around


7. Place the price tags near each piece


8. Hang the "Show Special: 25% off" signs


9. Dust table tops


10. Stand back to look at the space as a whole and move stuff around


11. Stand back again and move more stuff around


12. Ditto


13. Done

Two o'clock came and we were ready. Well, everyone except Greg...he was still in his set-up clothes. So, I sent him out to the van to change and bring back the business card holder with him. Then we were ready.

Ergo:
I wanted to help out as much as possible at the show, so I sold my slings & carriers I had to wear Z in & bought an Ego Baby Carrier. I had to sell all four (2 Maya Wraps, 1 Mei Tai Baby, 1 Moby Wrap) just to pay for the Ergo - and it was worth it! I wore Z most of the day. He took 2 naps in the Ergo, he nursed in the Ergo, he went around and talked to the other artists and attendees with me. I never would have been able to do that with my other carriers. Thankfully Michele hung out with Z a few times during the show so that I could better help Greg & rest my body. (Z asleep in the Ergo. Adorable!)

Feedback:
Everyone who came into our space laughed or smiled. Most people made a comment about how much they loved what they saw. One man looked Greg in the eye, shook his hand and said, "You have the best stuff here!" Can it get better than that?

(Greg standing at the roll around cart.)

Friends & Family:
We have some wonderful friends and family. Everyone who said they were going to come showed up and a few who said they weren't sure stopped by too. THANK YOU! We loved seeing you at the show and sharing our first time out with you!

(Jene, Kalika & Michele having a good laugh.)

Thank you Kalika for purchasing the VW Bug Key Holder. I now know of something else we have in common.

Thank you Jene for getting the candle holder. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Thank you Auntie Helner for buying what you did. (She bought it as a Christmas gift and the receiver might read this. So, you know, it's on the hush and hush. :)

It's such a treat knowing that some of Greg's artwork is now in your home.

Playing:
A lot of Greg's pieces are interactive. Push a button and you might see a light blink, hear a buzz or see a fan twirl. I had fun showing these pieces to friends who had never seem them before. The most fun was holding 'Sparky' at kid level for Kian and Nalani to push the button. At first they weren't sure. After seeing mom do it they were willing to step closer and give it a try for themselves. They seemed to get a kick out of it. They both took turns pushing the button for longer and longer periods to see the light blink and hear the buzz. I really enjoyed seeing the their faces light up, especially Kian's since he wasn't feeling well.

(Looking out of our space to the right. Kian holding mom's hand, Mary Jo. Nalani being held by dad, Brian.)

Artists & their websites:
With Zander safely snug in the Ergo & my animal print business card holder in my hand, he & I went around the entire show with a mission: how many links can I get for our website http://www.gregsstudio.com/?

I asked most of the other artists at the show if they would be willing to link with our website. Our wonderful website guy told us that the more relevant links you have on your site the higher you come up in search engine results. Everyone I spoke to was willing to do so, though a lot of them either don't have a site up yet or don't like the site they do have up. I was surprised. At the same time I was relieved because I was starting to think we were the last ones without an active site!

Since I was wearing Z and couldn't make notes on their business cards, I'm not sure what the final count actually is. When our site is closer to being up I'll contact them to see what their status is in cyber space. If you have an art related web site and would like to link up, let me know!

(Greg & Z enjoying The Show.)

The End:
The show went until 7p and slowed down considerably around 6:15p. At this point I was sitting on the floor hiding behind the roll around feeding Z apple/pear sauce. Michele was standing nearby and reassured me that it was not me sitting there that was causing people not to come inside are space. She could see the whole auditorium from where she was standing and could see that some artists were actually packing up early.

We waited until 7p to pack up. Michele & Zander packed all the price tags. I actually got Z on video putting one in it's plastic bag. Cute. While Michele chased after Z throughout the room Greg and I packed up all the pieces that were going home with us. Then one of the volunteers helped Greg take everything out to the cars. The packing up was not quite as organized as the setting up. It didn't take as long though - only about 2 - 2.5 hours. We were the last ones to leave.

Rest, Food, and Reflection:
It was drizzling when we got outside The Center. It only took a moment to figure out where we wanted to go though - Mama Testa's. We got there pretty quickly considering we had three cars to park in Hillcrest on a Saturday night. I had my usual yummy avocado tacos, Greg had his potato tacos and Michele ate fish tacos. As usual the beans, chips and especially the sauces were terrific.

Michele said she heard a lot of people talking about how fun all of Greg's pieces are. She also said people commented most on 'How Do You Like Your Hippo' and 'Roadside Out'.

The three of us decided that we had a very successful show. We had a great display, though we do want to do some tweaking. We got better feedback and than I was expecting. Better in that I heard more consistently how great it all was. We added people to our email list. We sold a few pieces. And...we had FUN!

Here's to the next adventure for Greg's Studio...