Rainbow Serpent and Echo of the Ancient Sea (raku), hand made, slab built clay torsos by Tammy Vitale

Show yesterday, Patuxent River Naval Air Station umpteenth annual holiday craft show.  Had a good day – gave out lots of cards, including cards to find me at Heron’s Way Gallery in Leonardtown (for those not prepared to buy and who also wanted to browse my blog and websites before committing).  Echo of the Ancient Sea went to a new home, much to the chagrin of about 3 people who saw her after she had been marked sold but was still hanging.

Here are some more pictures of my display. I had a "specials" screen with designer tiles marked about half price and only one sold which reinforces my opinion that pricing at shows (within certain parameters) is not what sells.  It’s display and creating a space for people to see the work in their own home.  The torsos will rise to a minimum of $400 each starting January 2007 since they are selling so well.  I’m having a hard time keeping up my supply of them, although I’ll have one or two and some totems coming home from Alchemy in Silver Spring, and it’s sister store in Takoma Park.  Despite the fact that I sold like crazy just down the street from Alchemy when I did a show at Kefa Cafe, that has not translated to sales at Alchemy, so we are ending that affiliation.  That’s the thing with being an artist, you really have to trust your shop owners to know their customers’ wants.

Here are some more pictures from the show from my next door booth mate Candy Cummings.  She’s doesn’t have a website, but if you like her work, you can contact her at 301-863-6693.  She collects Barbie dolls and other related doll and makes them into fantastic mermaids.  Each is hand dressed – some of these costumes are amazing!  I think she should approach the American Visionary Museum in Baltimore (MD), and told her so.  She said I could be her manager.  Ha!  I can barely be my own manager!  But I thought you’d enjoy these so I took pictures to share.

The Snake Barbie is my favorite one.  I never played with Barbies .  I always thought they were ugly.  I played with Jill dolls who went away.  Before that, with Ginny dolls, who also went away.  Ginny was a little girl doll as opposed to Jill who had high heels and removeable, interchangeable earrings. I guess Barbie had better marketing.  But she was never as pretty as the Jill dolls, and if I remember correctly, Barbie’s figure was always more extreme. 

thought for the day:  what does the popularity of Barbie dolls tell us about the body images we project to our daughters  and ourselves?  Anything?  Everything?  (and no, I never bought a single solitary Barbie doll for my daughter, not that she played with dolls that much to begin with.  But like guns for my son, Barbies were banned from the house).