Selling pots as Arts Alive opens the summer

This small, local June show is always fun and - mostly - always in fair weather. The weather held again this year, with brilliant sun and blue skies. Lots of shoppers on Saturday and I sold a few pots. Sunday, however, being Father's Day, was slooooooowwww into midafternoon. At least for me. I sold next to nothing ... no, wait ... I sold exactly nothing ... until about 3, then a few things in the next few hours, which made the day worthwhile.

As always, there's no judging what kind of pots people are buying - mugs sold, as did vases, small dishes, bowls, plates. Young people (see the photo) bought pots, as did a few older folks. So at least there's hope that 20somethings aren't just into iPods, manga and video games. At least a few of them like handmade stuff.

For me, the winner of the weekend was the Square connection, for easy acceptance of people's credit cards. First time I've used it. As long as you've got a smart phone and an internet connection, this thing is brilliant. If you're doing the knucklebuster at craft fairs or in your own studio, or writing down credit card numbers and then inputting them later at home, this is the thing to get. It's been well-reviewed all over the place, so I won't give all the details. But if you're at all interested in taking credit cards from folks, this is the way to go. Go to squareup.com and take a look at it. It costs you money only when you make a sale, you get the smartphone app and the one-inch-square card swiper free. It's pretty cool, a Google spinoff, and better than HDTV. Worth looking into.

OK, enough salesmanship for Square.

You'll see from the photos that my new, industrial strength display was used for the first time this weekend. Great little collapsible ladders from Lowe's, staging planks from Wood Lumber here in town, planing of the planks courtesy of Jim Akens' wonderful woodshop. It makes for a very clean and easy setup, though it might be too industrial for some people. I like it much better than the folding tables, dirty tablecloths and wooden boxes I've used for the past several years. And it's sturdy enough that chimpanzees could swing from the ladders and shelves and not disturb the pots. Well ... maybe ... but it's sturdy as hell. Easy to break down, too.

We're expecting Tracey and Gerry Broome here tomorrow night, with daughter Wesley. The Chapel Hill potter and her family have been touring Maine and New England and are headed back south. We'll see if we can find some fish to give them tomorrow night.

All for now.