Con Report: Faerie Escape Atlanta

I’m back from Faerie Escape Atlanta with a very good feeling about the direction this con is going. They’re tapping a niche for mystical/mythical fantasy that I think will gain them a lot of followers, if they can keep it going!  The con was held in a small Holiday’s Inn, a refreshing break from cons that sprawl across multiple hotels with enough people packed into them to make you feel like a sardine. I also ♥ free parking and light traffic to this location!

Angelic Shades at Faerie Escape 2010.
Product placement galore!
This was FEA’s first year in operation and it showed with the lack of attendance for Sunday, when there weren’t as many events scheduled to keep folks coming back.  Traffic in the dealer’s room was all but dead.  What the con lacked in traffic, however, it made up for in the friendly atmosphere and good company. We sat next to Henna Belle, who provided us with lovely conversation and entranced us with her wonderful henna art. She was mesmerizing to watch!
I also met a couple of fantasy authors from Mercury Retrograde Press and was delighted to learn there was a small indy press here in Sandy Springs that catered to underground and character-driven fantasy works. They lured me in with free brownies and I left with two books I couldn’t resist, Secret of the Sands by Leona Wisoker (desert kingdom + prince + thieves=SOLD!) and Shorn by Larissa N. Niec (winged people + angst = Also SOLD!).

Both Larissa and Leona were kind enough to personalize my books for me, which was a treat. I’m hoping that once I get through my huge to-read pile that I’ll be able to work with them on producing some art for their books, which they both seemed highly interested in!  I’ve been wanting an excuse to illustrate something beyond my own stories and this seems like an excellent opportunity for me to expand my subject matter and try more challenging scene-based work.

The Phoenix and Dragon bookstore hosted the event, another place I’ve never heard of local to me!  They also display art in their store on a monthly basis, so will definitely be looking into that once a few more originals have returned from their travels abroad. FAE Magazine also expressed some interest in my art, which I’m hoping to ply my trade with submissions shortly!

So while I barely made more than $150 the whole weekend, it was enough to cover the cost of the Exhibitors table/gas/food and provided a good opportunity to network with people in my area.  Product-wise, my prints were all but neglected in favor of the leather carving, which really seemed to grab people’s attention!  All but one butterfly barrette (the comet moth) sold while half of the keychains and macrame necklaces were wiped out by a single customer.  Surprisingly, not a single mask sold, for as much as people were trying them on!  On the bright side, I won’t have to remake them for DragonCon, which is somewhat of a relief!  I am hoping to return next year to FEA with nothing but crafts and will probably be saving my print/art stock for DragonCon and Anime Weekend Atlanta specifically.
On a random note, with so many faeries wandering around, I feel compelled to make my own fae persona, which I have deemed the Butterfly Eater.  Costume with a ‘captured and impaled’ butterfly theme coming up!  Those good faeries won’t know what hit them. Mua ha ha!
Now, I have two weeks to get in gear for the next (and largest) convention I go to each year, DragonCon here in Atlanta!  I have around 22 images to mat & embellish, paintings to frame, and keychains to make.
So let the mad rush begin!  I’m armed with coffee, tape for my eyelids, and an unhealthy addiction to heavy workloads!
PS
My display (as you can tell from the booth photo) has evolved a bit! A new artist alley booth breakdown is coming soon!

4 comments

  1. Coty says:

    Neat, Angela! It seems that you had a good time!
    I would not be too surprised that the masks sell less, because though they are beautiful, the are also more pricey, and after all the summer, Lord knows we are all tight with money! 🙂
    I hope you have better sells next Con and that next year this one gathers more people.

  2. Angela Sasser says:

    It’s really a shame as the masks are pretty dirt cheap, as far as leather carving goes. But perhaps at larger cons (or during less trying times) things will sell better. There is always Etsy to dump them all off at as well!

    I’m looking forward to seeing how FEA grows and to the next big cons on my list. I’m progressively trying to get more involved in the larger ones!

  3. Hayley E. Lavik says:

    Sounds like a great time! I’m so glad it went well. I look forward to scouring these con scenes with you sometime in the future. I’m really surprised no one swiped the masks, especially for such reasonable prices, but I guess everyone has their own budgets and agenda.

    Your costume for next year sounds wicked, oh man I can’t wait to see it >:)

  4. Angela Sasser says:

    I sort of did the Wing Cutter (the elves who cut off fairy wings) concept at DragonCon one year, but that was with cheap feather butterflies. It’d be fun to do something with more realistic leather butterflies.

    I really look forward to hooking you into a convention trip as well! Someday sooon this will happen …and there will be a Saiyan battle!

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