THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140547
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 104 lines
True to habit, two old friends were getting an early start at the Boardwalk Art Show. At 10 a.m. sharp, Barbara McAbee and Cynthia Bullock were hitting the pavement hard, their running shoes pointed north from 19th Street.
These two Virginia Beach women, married and in their 40s, came to buy. They had a budget. They had a plan.
``We come every year,'' said McAbee. ``We overlook the show first. We have an idea of what we need.''
``We'll eat lunch at one of the hotels,'' Bullock said. ``Get something to drink, get our energy back, and then go all the way back through the show.''
That's when they pull out their wallets.
Bullock had budgeted $1,000 for this year's show, which runs through Sunday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
``Actually, my husband is very generous. He probably wouldn't mind if I went over,'' she said.
In past years, Bullock, who has gone to the show since she was 10, has bought birthday presents, Father's Day presents, even Christmas gifts, not to mention art for her home.
On Thursday, Bullock was browsing for a treat for herself, unsure of what would excite her eye.
``You're still looking for that picture, aren't you?'' McAbee said.
Bullock shook her head, thinking of the $450 oil painting she passed up eight years ago. She just knows that picture would go for $2,000 today. If she had only made note of the artist's name.
It's an art patron's lesson, the lifelong pals said. ``If you love it, you should buy it right then,'' stressed McAbee.
Her proudest purchase was a Paul Landry canvas she netted years ago for $200. ``That's my favorite find. Now it's worth $2,000.''
``I'm addicted to art. I love art,'' McAbee said, though this would not be a year she'd prove her affection with major cash outlays. ``I might buy a few gifts today. But I'm not spending too much money. We're moving soon to Greensboro, N.C.''
Those canny shoppers weren't the only ones looking to leave some cash in the artists' coffers. Dave Hancock of Virginia Beach walked the entire 16-block Boardwalk show seeking a seascape that most resembled Virginia Beach. He planned to ship it to San Francisco, to his daughter, who misses her hometown.
By midday he settled on a large canvas by Virginia Beach painter Emma Meehan, who has exhibited in the show for three decades. ``Hers were the best. All the rest were nondescript, no character. This just looked like 41st Street.''
It was a plus, he said, that her prices, some as low as $10, were so reasonable.
Which brings us to the artists' side of things.
Sales strategies tend to be anathema to most creative types. But you'll find every breed at the Boardwalk, from the rare aggressive hawker to the lackadaisical yawner who hardly moves from an umbrella-shaded director's chair.
Most of the artists are somewhere in between.
Meehan, 80, stood inside a display tent filled with dozens of her seascapes and still lifes, ranging from miniatures to over-the-sofa scale.
``I feel as if you can never push to sell. People either like something or they don't,'' Meehan said.
One of her longtime patrons, Kathleen Losey of Virginia Beach, examined Meehan's vast collection of miniatures. ``These are probably the best bargain at the show. What are they? $10? $15? For a real oil painting,'' Losey said.
``I like doing it,'' Meehan told her. ``So what? As long as I make enough money out of it to pay for what I do. You've got a gift? Why not use it to make people happy?''
Meehan developed her own pricing system, geared to size. ``I multiply the width by the length. If it's a 9 by 12, that's 108. And I divide that by two. That makes $54. If I really like it, I might say $65.''
I don't really have a strategy,'' said Bill Lehman, a less traditional painter from Melbourne Beach, Fla. Lehman was at the Boardwalk for his third consecutive year.
``See, my paintings are not an impulse item.'' He pointed toward his tent, where he was exhibiting large watercolors with vivid, abstract designs. We're talking neo-fluorescent hues of green, magenta and gold. Not everybody's color scheme can accommodate such intensity.
``Most of my customers are people who have been following me for a while. They might buy a smaller one. And finally, they want to come back and get a bigger one.''
He brought about 100 pieces to the Boardwalk, and each is priced from $200 to $1,500. Lehman estimated it will cost him $1,000 to exhibit at the Boardwalk, including hotel and meals, transportation and application fees.
Last year, he sold plenty of work, he said, declining to name a figure. ``We'll just say it was very profitable. After 20 years of doing these shows, I try to only go to shows that are good, profitwise.''
Lehman never haggles on prices, he said. ``I price my work at a reasonable rate to begin with.''
And he never pushes for sales. ``It would never work in a million years. It's just not that type of an item.'' He pointed again to his art. ``You cannot sell that to a person who doesn't want it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER/The Virginian-Pilot
Cynthia Bullock, left, and Barbara McAbee take a look at artist
Vonnie Whitworth's booth at the show on Friday. Bullock and McAbee,
both of Virginia Beach, have made a tradition out of visiting the
show, and buying art.
Color photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Cindy Stevens and Matt Adams of Virginia Beach take a look at Dan
Mackin's beach scenes at the show on Friday.
KEYWORDS: BOARDWALK ART SHOW by CNB