On Saturday, Kevin Simons watched as the rain swept away his dream of a high-yield weekend at Denver’s Capitol Hill People’s Fair.
After the weather cleared, he and his wife, Kathy, went to work selling sundresses, but their take for the afternoon was only $250. Last year they made $2,000 on the first day of the annual event.
The Simonses were among 320 vendors who set up shop last weekend in Civic Center, selling everything from welded steel-cactus sculptures to handmade shoes.
Each year as many as 127,000 people in the U.S. depend on crafts for some portion of their livelihood, according to a national study by the Craft Organization Directors Association. Their median annual earnings are $50,000 per household.
Fewer than 30,000 of them make their living solely from selling their creative output, the Simonses among them. The couple refused to discuss their income but said each year they produce about 2,000 dresses priced at $20 to $50 each.
They average sales of about $3,500 per show, but once made $10,000 at a show in Fort Worth, Texas.
Following the arts and crafts show circuit may sound romantic, but it’s not easy, Kevin Simons said.
“Most people would think this is way too stressful,” he said.
Artists must contend with hard traveling, uncertain sales and weather that can tear down a tent and decimate merchandise.
“This is a hard job, packing and moving, packing and moving, plus manufacturing in between,” said Ann Barber, marketing director for the National Craft Association, an information and resource center for artists and craftspeople.
And then there are the well-heeled copycats who can flood the market with products based on a successful craftsperson’s ideas.
“They will come out with very good designs, unique and different, and pretty soon they are copied,” Barber said.
Artists at this year’s People’s Fair included Wichita-based artist Eric Carroll, whose steel cactus sculptures range from $130 to $3,300 each, and Willy and Barb O’Neal, who sell handmade shoes that cost up to $350 per pair.
The Simonses spend their winters manufacturing clothing in their Dallas studio and their summers traveling to about 25 craft shows. They pay between $300 and $500 for space at each show and earn extra cash by wholesaling their dresses to shops that sell Celtic merchandise.
Before they started their dress business 12 years ago, Kevin worked as a bartender and waiter and Kathy worked in a supermarket.
“I was into the Zen of cashiering,” she said with a smile.
They were drawn to the arts-and-crafts circuit by their desire for flexibility, a creative outlet and the freedom of working for themselves. They invested at least $40,000 in material they import from Bali, and other startup costs and relied on credit cards to pay the bills. Three years passed before they broke even, Kevin Simons said.
Much of that time was spent learning the ropes. Initially, they relied on a $200 tent to protect their goods, for example, but at one show, a rain storm flooded that shelter. They saved their merchandise by stacking the dresses on shelves above the water line, Kevin Simons said.
Soon after, they replaced the tent with a more reliable version that cost more than $1,000.
During the early years, the couple staked out parking spots close to the fairs where they were selling and slept in their van. They now have two children, so they check into hotels on the road.
Daughter Tara, 7, has learned to make the most of her travel time, Kevin Simons said.
“She listens to books on tape and does her lessons,” he said.
Son Aidan, 2, is too young to understand the importance of their travels.
In spite of the difficulties, Kathy Simons said the lifestyle still meets the criteria that first attracted them.
“We wanted to do something creative, travel and do something together,” she said.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
Advice for life on craft-show circuit
Kevin Simons, who with his wife, Kathy, has spent the past 12 years selling handmade dresses at arts & crafts shows, offers these tips for those venturing down a similar path:
Talk to artists and craftspeople who regularly sell at the shows. They can give advice on everything from the best tents to buy to the costs of entering a show.
Start out in local shows that don’t require a jury to review your wares and approve them for sale before you can get a booth.
Read “Sunshine Artist Magazine,” which lists upcoming shows along with their estimated attendance, rather than relying on promoters for information. “I have gone all the way to Florida, and nobody showed up,” Simons said.
Be prepared to scrape by, at least during the first few years. It took the Simonses three years to break even.
Don’t be afraid to purchase the best tent you can afford. The Simonses and others have tents that cost more than $1,000. A cheap tent may be fine for a day at the beach, but hail can shred it, and rain and wind can send it flying, leaving thousands of dollars of merchandise ruined.
TOM McGHEE
