Am I odd enough for OddMall?

OddMall Seattle
Next month I'll have a booth at OddMall. It's a new-to-Seattle fair that bills itself as "Emporium of the Weird." I had the honor of being the very first vendor accepted (I applied really early). But after seeing the list of other vendors and photos of their work, I'm worried.

 I don't know if I'm odd enough for OddMall.

In all my previous shows, my booth has stood out as a little...unusual. My earrings are made out of monopoly houses, not Swarovski crystals. Instead of soothing images of the ocean or wildflowers, my customers see the Terminator glaring at them. So I assumed I'd fit right in at Oddmall.
Monopoly earrings
Aren't hotels more valuable than crystals?
Then I looked at the vendor list. Wow. Lots of steampunk, goth, anime, and sci-fi fan merchandise. And black. Lots of black. My brightly colored retro stuff will stand out like a rainbow in a Twilight movie.

 My first reaction was to ransack my stash, looking for anything black. All I found was a leg from a pair of black jeans and half of a game board from a strange space travel board game.  Few things in my Etsy Shop are black. There's this cool iPad sleeve that I made out of boys swim trunks.
Skull-themed iPad sleeve
Ho ho ho and a bottle of iPad
So my next thought was, "quick, run out to every thrift store in a 10-mile radius and grab all the spooky black stuff you can find." 

 But then my wise husband reminded me what my brand is about -- "cool upcycled stuff with a retro vibe." I'm not a steampunk artist, as much as I'd aspire to be one. I love Star Trek (the original series, of course) but I wouldn't fit in at Comicon. I need to stick with what I do and let the chips fall where they may. Right?

 Artists, do you ever change what you make just to fit in at a show?
Visit me @ OddMall in the Lynnwood Convention Center, Sunday, 9-22

Comments

  1. Cindie August 6, 2013 at 8:38 AM

    I think your items will fit in perfectly - being colorful they'll stand out against the black.

    No, I've never changed what I do to fit in at an event. I may concentrate on different items that I already have but I won't make things to fit in. You need to do what you enjoy.

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  2. echo heloAugust 18, 2013 at 12:10 PM

    Since when was the point of doing what you do "to fit in"? In the spirit of oddness and weirdness, bright colours- and something a little different from the sea of black- seems a little too perfectly "odd".

    Oddmall will actually be my first art show, and the only thing I'm changing is that tendency of mine to hide both myself and the things I make from Other Humans.

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  3. KamakruAugust 18, 2013 at 12:10 PM

    You can enjoy a wide variety of themes and subjects and still have your own unique style of items that you create. That's part of what makes the artistic community so wonderful - the variety!

    I will sometimes make adjustments on my items depending on the show I'm at, but never completely. In the ends (as Cindie said) it's all about doing what you enjoy!

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  4. Claudia MBAugust 18, 2013 at 2:50 PM

    Thanks for the good advice. I will definitely keep it in mind. And I'm making what I'd normally make, just more of it, in anticipation for the show. Echo, I hope I get to meet you at Oddmall. But I warn you, I'm one of those Humans.

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