I recently had a show of my cartoons at the Prairie Center for the Arts. I’ve been part of other shows before, but this is the first time I’ve had a show of only my cartoons. It was really exciting, but it was also a massive amount of work.
The day I set up I must have climbed up and down this little ladder a few hundred times. And then there’s the walking to the other end of the room to judge position, straightness, etc … Never mind hefting all the framed art. It was a workout!
One of my favorite moments, however, came at the end of the day as everything had been hung and I was cleaning up. Two elderly women walked through the room and began looking at the cartoons. You don’t often get a chance to be a fly on the wall like this so I just stayed busy in the background and listened.
When they got to this cartoon, one commented grumpily “I don’t understand. Why would a mouse build a mousetrap?! That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t like these. Where’s the bathroom?”
You’d think I’d be hurt, right? Or maybe a little disappointed. But she was so unhappy with this cartoon that it was hilarious and it took all I had to not burst out laughing.
Other people I saw seemed to enjoy the cartoons in the gallery, but that lady was hands down my favorite.
This article, “Talk About Features vs. Benefits!” was first published on Small Business Trends