On many Summer Sundays on the Cape, you can visit outdoor art shows.  I'm not talking flea market or those traveling truckloads of mass-produced-artwork extravaganzas.  

    The folks who display fine original works put in a ton of effort.  I did it for a few years.  It is a kick to sell something after hours at the easel, shopping for suitable frames, setting up on a lot and...waiting.  This is no way to make a living.  Yet, profits can go toward quality brushes, pigments, canvases, etc.  Most of the artists are notorious course-takers.  Sometimes, a sale pays for this skill sharpening.  
    The best part is that while hanging out out there, there is a wonderful sense of belonging.  Having moved to the Cape at the turn of the Century, I knew few people here.  While taking some courses at the Chatham
 Creative Arts Center, I heard of theYarmouth Art Guild.  I was a little apprehensive about joining, as I had run up against snoot here and there.  "This element is everywhere, so just ignore it," I said to myself.  I am so glad I did.  The folks at the YAG are great.  Really supportive.
    When I started showing my first summer, I had no rig.  There were no second-hand metal ones available at the time.  They can be broken down to fit your car.  Withstand the rain.  Are quite expensive.   Sharon and I put our heads together and came up with a wooden A frame.  (Sharon learned good carpentry skills from her father.)  We used 1x3" wood, which is actually 3/4x2 3/4" and was at the time lightweight enough for me to handle. We used plastic coated chicken wire, also not too heavy.  Anchored it with a staple gun.  Bought some small galvanised gate hinges.  Hung an exercise weight by a bungie cord to stabilize rig in the wind.  The A frame is good, as you can position it so the wind blows through it.  Placing a small American flag near one of the hinges helps show wind direction.   I used some drapery hooks to fasten the paintings on the rig.  Painted it with some left-over plum colored paint.  She was ready.  My rig and I did a several years out there.  SeeSpecs. You will see that I improved rig.  The turkey wire was obtained from a local feed and farm supply company.  It makes for a much nicer image for paintings (They hang straighter on squared off patern of fencing material.)  The removable pins are a blessing.  The two sides of the rig are heavier with the turkey wire, so you can carry to site one piece at a time.
    Sundays were O.K.  For a while I did Mondays too with another group, "The Brewster Monday Painters".  Some paintings that did not sell went into the "Sacrifice Sale" at the Creative Arts Center.  They are currently holding these sales twice a year.  I volunteered a time or two there.  People line up at the door before opening time.  It can get wild.  Like the old Filene's Basement!