The downtown areas of smaller cities can be wonderful places to meet all kinds of people, so when I had the chance to do another downtown art show in Chico, California (where I live), I thought, why not? The last event was a blast, so why not give it another go, right?

This time, Chico’s Downtown Business Association hosted the event, known as ARTober FEST Fall Art Show, which included a few dozen vendors as well as three different musical acts. And it was held from 10 am to 4 pm, so I had even more time to talk to people about Colin.

And, boy, did I talk about Colin. There was definitely more interest in his work this time, and I even managed to double the number of prints sold (from 1 to 2!). While most people glanced at the table and then kept walking, there were some who stopped and lingered, and that’s when I asked them if they liked Star Wars. Of course, they almost always said “Yes,” and then it was time to bring out my Marketing Guy Patter.

See, I’m more of a marketing guy than a sales guy, so my goal was to simply educate people about Colin and his work, including many of the other amazing things he did (assuming they seemed interested in that, which many were). I wasn’t about to give them a pitch like, “Boy, this print would look great on your wall!” Instead, I focused on talking about Colin and showing his various prints, where, of course, I had pricing listed.

So, one guy bought two prints for his brother (one for Christmas and one his birthday), but, other than that, it was a lot of chatter and handing out business cards. That guy was definitely in the Gen X demographic, which is, of course, a sweet spot for Colin Cantwell sales, but I found that plenty of younger people appreciated him and his work too. One young guy even did a quick video tour of the table, gushing about how I was preserving part of cinema history.

Thank you, sir. Yes, that’s indeed what I’m trying to do.

Another amusing moment happened when an older guy stopped by and told me about his buddy who’s a huge Star Wars fan and has an X-Wing tattoo. He said

that guy had previously told him about Colin Cantwell, and when his wife looked at the list of vendors, she said, “Colin Cantwell is supposed to be there.” (Yes, next time I’ll have the booth listed as “Colin Cantwell, first Star Wars ship designer,” so it’s clearer why some people might be interested in it.) So the guy stopped by, but he didn’t seem too surprised that Colin himself wasn’t there. (I’m pretty sure he was aware of Colin’s passing.)

So, overall, it was another nice event in the books. The following day, I was at a toy show put on by the shop Toy Fusion in Sacramento. I was there to sell some other Star Wars stuff that I represent, but I brought Colin’s prints along anyway, just in case, and, wouldn’t you know it, I managed to sell a print there too.

What’s next? Well, the holiday season is upon us, so I’ll have to see if I can find another event for Colin’s work, preferably a comic book show or something similar, where I’m sure to find a much more receptive audience. I might not sell a lot of prints again, but if the cost of the table is reasonable, I think it’s worth my time to talk to people about Colin and hand out business cards.