This, that, and the other

Pin It It’s been an eventful week.

Sorry I have been away for a few days.

To be honest, I missed you all. I missed writing. After all, it seems that I don’t write anymore unless it is for work or for blogging.

While I won’t try to sugar-coat anything, I do know that many of you are curious as to what happened this weekend up at Sundance. While my sister tended to focus on the positive end of the experience, I instead decided to attend a pity party where all of the presents were for me.

I shut off my phone for two days.

I didn’t head to the blogging world to read up on anyone

If I’m being honest, a part of this was because of just being tired. Another part was because I had a lot to say, but didn’t feel like writing any of it down. The final part is that I just wanted a break for a few days.

Oh, and the amount of sales this weekend didn’t even cover the cost of the fee to have ‘spot’ up at Sundance.



There, with all of that said and done, let us instead move on to much more interesting things…such as the website.

So, will it REALLY be ready on Saturday like I promised?

To be honest, I don’t know. I look at it and there are a lot of empty spaces still. I am a bit nervous about that. I need to get a few more items uploaded (and written) so that will undoubtedly be tomorrow’s endeavor as I don’t feel much like working on it today.

Tonight I instead am listening to Nickel Creek and baking cookies.


Yeah, I’m so domestic, aren’t I?

Actually, the cookies are not for me. They are for a class who is bound and determined to have 100% of them turn in completed assignments. After trying for over a month, they finally did it for the first time today. You could feel the excitement in the room…mostly because they all broke into cheers and there was a lot of high-fives being passed around—as well as praise being slogged in every direction.

Ah, the subtle ways of a teacher to get his students to do their homework.

I just hope the ball continues to roll and does not lose the momentum it has now gained.

Time will undoubtedly tell as today slips into tomorrow.

I have nothing else to say as of the time being. However, I am still hopeful that the website will do something…

What?

Make tons of money of course…

I’d also like a rocket…

Perhaps a nice, big bag full of gold too…

Maybe a pony…

Up to my eyeballs

Pin It Well, the Sundance Harvest Market is just two days away.

Yes, I still have a lot to do; however, it’s starting to come along.

If you live in the area, and would like to come, I’d love it if you’d stop by and see my work “live.” It looks so much different when presented matted and framed. I, like a proud father, have been looking out at all of my creations - I love them all (though some more than others).

I guess you could say that I am biased.

The festival runs 10:00 - 4:00 both Saturday and Sunday. I know…it’s Conference weekend. I guess you could say that I am a heathen.

If you make it, I’d love to see you. If not, there’s always next year.

By the way, the website is coming along and will probably be online next week (prep for the festival is eating up my time…plus being a full-time teacher takes its fair share). I know I promised this week, I hope you’ll all forgive me.

Until I am able to return I remain respectfully yours,

Teachinfourth

A letter from Hal

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Last year I met this really nice guy up at Sundance. His name was Hal. He was selling his photography up at the Harvest Market, and as I talked with him, he really gave me a lot of encouragement to do it too.

I sent him an email the other day, asking what to expect (as well as odds and ends which I won’t include here). However, this is his reply to me about what to do/what to expect.

I laughed.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did…

Teachinfourth,

Ahh…but of course I remember you! We spent time talking, and I encouraged you to “just do it!” And now you are! Congratulations! We will be there also. I will answer your questions in the body of the text.

Bring $100 in cash. A couple of 20s, about 15 or 20 ones, and the rest in 5s and 10s. If you don’t you will be running around trying to find someone with change.

Bring a ticket book. Someone will want a receipt.

Bring a jacket…supposed to be cool…or worse.

Bring enthusiasm.

With regard to using credit cards, forget it. It takes weeks to set up a vendor account. You decide whether or not to take checks. I do. In the beginning, I sweat bullets over it, but not anymore.

With regard to setting prices, remember you have to recoup every penny you spent to bring your offering to the market. You only get it back one way...with sales. Remember in art you are dealing with the “magic” factor...the universal appeal some of your photos will have. I still haven’t found the top of the market. You have to get back your costs, but there is no top. Don’t sell yourself short, though. It is a thing you just have to learn, like everything else. If it sells well, I raise it. If it doesn't sell over a period of time, I put a new one in the frame. Some never sell. They teach me.

I put matted photos in a transparent plastic sleeve. Don’t buy the kind that have the adhesive on the flap. You can figure out why.

You asked what to expect. Expect to have fun. Expect to have 1,000 people to come in and go out of your tent, unhindered by any purchase. Expect someone to say “I like your work.” I still have trouble with that one. In my own mind, what I do is “stuff.” I don’t personally elevate it to the level of “work.” When people say that, I am embarrassed. Expect other photographers (you can tell them by the camera around their neck, with their finger on the trigger, who expect to take your work home free with them) who don’t have the courage you do, to come in and offer you a free evaluation of your “work.” One lady came in a few weeks ago, and said she just came in to see if my “work” was as good as hers.

Gag.

Or someone will comment how they like your piece, but how it would look better if it was just a little this way or that. I thank them for their thoughtfulness, and ask where they are selling their stuff.

Expect the unexpected, not the least of which is the weather...

Expect to meet some really nice people, from any number of strange places, and expect to share your knowledge and encouragement with others who inquire, because you look like an expert now.

Get my drift? Congratulations for joining the rather limited group called, “doers.”

Good luck,

Hal


P.S. If you sell way too much, send the overage my direction.....


Well, I think you get an idea of how much fun this might actually be…I’m now so looking forward to it.

Scared? Absolutely.
Nervous? Right on.
Terrified? Check.
Excited? More every day.
A Doer? I am now.

Thanks, Hal.

I am a sixth grader...

Pin It Did you ever have one of those times when you felt really stupid?

I went up to Sundance to meet with Suzanne, the woman who does purchasing for the store up there, with some of my photography. However, I didn’t have the slightest clue what I needed in order to do this. So, stupid me went up with one—yes one—framed photo and a whole lot of nothing else.

Well, as I stood in Suzanne’s small office and she began to talk, I was suddenly thinking about my sixth grade Math class. More specifically, I was thinking about those students who sit there with these blank looks on their faces which tell me that they have absolutely no idea what it is I am talking about.

This was me. I had no clue what this woman meant as she went on about wholesale vs. retail and a bunch of Greek about consignment and going rate. She then went on to talk about portfolios and artist stories…In a word, I was completely lost. It probably hadn’t helped matters that I had a screaming migraine which was threatening to blow my head apart right on the spot.

As Suzanne took some of her time to explain what I should have had ready for our appointment, I suddenly found myself on ‘overload’ and my brain cells were starting to shut down. She was speaking this foreign language and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. At one point, I glanced at a chart on the wall behind her, and Suzanne, the office, and the reason I was there just drifted away. Her mouth was still moving…there was even sound. However, this sound was a million miles away as I remembered my poster for my Young Men’s awards which hung on my bedroom wall in Summit Valley. Wow, I hadn’t thought about that chart in years…I wondered just where it was now. Had I packed it away someplace? Those button-like stickers were so cool…

“Whoa there Zimmerman!” a voice seemed to chime in my head. “Why aren’t you paying attention to what this woman is telling you?”

I drug myself back to the present and listened as she went on and finally had to concede: “Look, Suzanne…I’m stupid, I have no idea about anything you just said.” I then went on to admit that I had a headache and she had said a lot of things I didn’t understand right off.

She blew out a breath and said, “Jason, you’re starting to give your headache to me.” She then gave me a homework assignment…to go and check out what other photographers had done, get pricings, and come back when I was good and ready…ready to commit to the world of business.

I just looked at her and said, “Are you even interested in the photography I have?” I asked.

Suzanne just looked at me and gave the fleeting hint of a smile. “I’m still talking to you, aren’t I?”

I left the office a bit dejected and REALLY confused. Well, luckily I had taken my sister, Shawna, up with me. As we left the office she began to explain to me what Suzanne had said, we then looked at an example up at the art gallery behind the store of an “author story and bio.” Well, it started to make a whole lot of sense and I realized that I had gone up completely unprepared, expecting Suzanne to do most of the legwork and not me.

So, what did I learn from this? Well, it is to do my “homework” beforehand and have things prepared out in advance. It is true that there is never a second chance at making a good first impression, however, we can be grateful for second chances and for those who make us do it right…sometimes by giving us a little helpful advice and then letting us do it on our own.

Well, I’ve still got homework…

Thankfulness

Pin It There are so many things I have to be thankful for. As I sit here up at Sundance yet again on a Sunday afternoon I am surrounded by the glory of God’s creation and find myself in awe of all of this beauty. How can one doubt His existence when we have all of these reminders? The elegant mountain stream as it cascades over stones, which become rounded by its continued rushing and flow. The call of birds in the Autumn-hemmed treetops. The smell of lazy smoke from bright, crackling flames burning the summer’s dried leaves…

Sundays and Sundance

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What is it about being at Sundance here in Provo Canyon that makes such a big difference for me? I think that it comes from being tucked away in the mountains surrounded by the majestically towering pines, the wind blowing through their lofty branches, and the veritable orchestra of sound as the river courses its way past me. Throw in the sound of the leafy aspens, just starting to show distinct signs of fall, kissed with reds and yellows, and you’ve got yourself off to a good start.

I love the smells up here too…those fresh, invigorating scents which make me remember old songs on the radio and cherished memories. I drink in these smells and greet them like some of my oldest and dearest friends.

Sunday afternoon…what a perfect time to find a place of solace! You can also imagine my surprise when I decided to write for a few minutes up here at the theatre at Sundance, opened my laptop, turned on a few Nickel Creek tunes, and then discovered that they had free wireless Internet. Ah, what a great extra bonus to an already glorious day!

It wasn’t long before a few friends contact me on IM and I began to wonder…do they have any idea of where I am right now? I also wondered just how jealous they may be if they only knew…

Oh, and by the way, Lindsay Lohan is up here too though I haven't seen her...after all, she is in rehab.