Merry Christmas Everyone!

Right, well I'm off to Hungary for Christmas with the in-laws tomorrow, so I thought I'd just pop by to wish all my blog readers a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!, and probably as I won't have time to update before then, a HAPPY NEW YEAR! as well. Thanks for taking an interest in what I've been up to in 2013! I'm hoping to have lots of exciting new projects and news to announce early in 2014, but nobody is really organising stuff at this time of year, so I've been left a bit in limbo on a few projects. We'll have to wait and see what January 1st brings!

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm feeling relatively upbeat about how the very early stages of my time as a full time artist has gone. I'm nowhere near making a living from it yet, but the more I investigate possibilities the more I see that there is a lot of opportunities out there for artists, as long as you can spare the time to work at things. And money. I keep seeing great courses and stuff advertised that would be really helpful, but I only have limited funds available, so some of those great sounding opportunities I have had to regretfully walk away from. That's the one dark cloud on the horizon. Running out of money. The house sale falling through has really messed up our plans for financial stability for next year. But…I guess I knew this was never going to be an easy choice, to pursue something that might be financially not very rewarding, especially at first. And I'm determined to weather the storm. Which doesn't mean I won't perhaps have to try and get a part time job sometime in the new year. I think, as long as it still leaves me with enough time and mental energy to pursue all these exciting arts opportunities, that might not be a bad thing. Anyway, the point is, it's gonna be tough, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I won't give up! And in the meantime, there's little nephews to play with, and delicious food to eat, and presents to dish out, and all that good stuff, so I'm going to put all that worry on hold for now and have fun! Here's hoping you, wherever you are, will be able to do the same! Very best wishes of the season to each and every one of you!

Oh, just time for a few more Pre-Christmas things:
I have started up my newsletter. I am still learning the software that enables me to manage it, but hopefully this is a place where you can subscribe, should you wish to:

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Also, remember that artist networking meeting I mentioned going to a few blog posts ago? I forgot to mention that someone was filming it, and they interviewed me! I just found out they posted the finished film online, and I made the final cut! Yay! I've never been interviewed "on screen" before, so I found the whole thing strangely exciting! (I'm also quite impressed with how coherent I sound. I remember thinking I'd said a load of rubbish. Must be the magic of editing!) Here's the video: And finally, how about a new picture, as we haven't had one of those for a while! Here's one of the ones I unearthed when looking for things to show to my repeat customer the other day. This is actually a photo I took a couple of years ago, that was just languishing on my computer until I dusted it off and did a little Photoshop magic on it a few days ago. I'm really quite fond of it now, although I was thinking of maybe correcting the tilt of the image so that the lines are horizontal. See what you think...

Right, well that's about all for now. Have yourselves a very Merry Christmas, and I'll be back in 2014!

Bad News/Good News

Well, that was a longer absence than planned. Two reasons, one is not arty related and depressing so we shan't dwell on it (house sale fell through - long and painful story so let's move on.) The second is rather nicer. I have my first bit of repeat business, from a nice lady who bought a picture from me at the Lancaster Art Market, and decided to buy another as a Christmas present! More on that later. First let's go back to last Sunday and look at the fine event that was the Liverpool Winter Arts Market.

The Magnificent main space at St.George's Hall, Liverpool

The vintage market in the music room

So, as you can see from the pictures, this is by far the biggest Arts Market that I have yet attended. It said on the flyer that there were 190 stalls, which I can well believe. There was the main space you can see above, and then a further three large rooms. I was in one of these rooms, although once a again I foolishly forgot to get a photo. Imagine a very posh room in a Georgian style country house (is that even a thing?), with really high ceilings, very light and airy, with large windows and cream painted walls and moulded plasterwork, and some huge paintings of Liverpudlian civic life on the walls. Then picture about 10 stalls dotted around the outside of the room looking inwards, including yours truly just opposite the door. I must say I was a bit disappointed to not be in the main room, as this was clearly where most of the action was, but we still got very good footfall in our room. The problem was sales! I didn't make nearly as much money as I did in Lancaster, and although I'm quickly realising I won't make much profit out of art markets alone, it's nice to at least cover your costs, which I didn't quite here. On the other hand, I had several almost sales, all of whom may come back to me (although with the hindsight of almost a week, nothing yet…). Plus, I handed out my card to lots of people, and spoke to many others about my work.

I guess in these early days I have to think of these events as being as much about raising my profile and getting my work known, and networking with other artists and designers and crafty folk, as about selling. Talking of networking, I did quite well on that front. I spoke to a lovely lady who makes jewellery out of old tools and such, who also has a shop in Liverpool. She was thinking of opening a shop in Manchester as well, and there may well be a role for me in that scheme…it's very early days yet, and it may come to nothing, but this could be a good opportunity for me. She also wanted me to help her find talented designer makers in Manchester who could also possibly get on board, so if you're reading this and it applies to you - get in touch with me right now!! Message me here or at my Facebook page.

Seeing as this was my last art fair before Christmas, I also treated myself and bought a few things. Not for others, as we are going to my husband's family for Christmas this year, and he has volunteered himself as being the main present buyer. Although I did keep my eye out in case I spotted the perfect thing for my mother-in-law or sister-in-law or my little nephews, nothing immediately jumped into view. I did, predictably, find plenty of things I would like to buy. The ones I treated myself to in the end were these:

The badge is by a company called Geek Cycled. Check out their website here. They do lots of great things with old comic books and retro toys and games, and the guy said they had done very well at the market, which I can well believe. This confirms my theory that practical objects, however decorative and fun, sell better than purely decorative ones like prints, something I hope to incorporate into my stock for next year! My item from them is actually a brooch in the shape of my home county of Devon. I guess it was originally a piece from a jigsaw puzzle, and judging by the charming little illustrations on it, I'd say 50's or 60's in age. There were lots of other cool brooches made from lego men and all sorts of other things, but how could I resist my home county? It was fate!

The ceramic piece was styled as a wall decoration, and I might use it as that in the future, but for now it's sitting as a decorative piece on the horizontal on my desk. I had vague ideas to use it as a coaster, but although the lady assured me it would stand up to that, now it comes to it I think it's too lovely to do that to. Unfortunately the maker didn't have any business cards, but I have signed up for her newsletter, so if I hear from her again I'll let you know her name. 

One of the lessons of the talk I went to at Wakefield on marketing yourself online was to have a newsletter, and at Lancaster and Liverpool I began collecting email addresses. I'm not sure that if you are a regular blog reader, there will be anything new for you in the newsletter, but I shall provide links somehow when I have created it. At the moment, that's still a project in my "to do" pile.

So, to my repeat customer. Having bought a framed print of the piece I call "Coral Reef"

she contacted me and said she would like to buy another piece as a Christmas present. I'm so thrilled about this, as it shows what another benefit of the art markets might be, of getting sales after the fact. I've had a few people asking about whether I have a webshop, and I think that has definitely got to be the way forward. It's just finding the money to pay for such a thing. Anyway, I digress. Having looked at the prints I had available on my Facebook page, none were quite what she wanted, so I have spent a fair bit of time this week going back through the many hundreds of photos I have in my back catalogue, after she told me which ones appealed to her, and I tried to find things that were similar. In the end, it was one that I was toying with getting printed already that she went for:

So, that is with the printers at the moment. There is a flat charge for using the printing press, so I've taken the opportunity to get some re-stocks of prints that sold well at the art markets so far, as well as printing some that sold well as cards but have not previously been larger prints. More news on that next week. Ok, that's enough for now I think! Lots of encouraging signs, and I'm going into the Christmas break feeling fairly positive about my first few months as a full time artist.

  

Things that I have learned

So, I survived!! Two art fairs in one weekend! It was hard work, but worth it. First up, there was the Handmade and Vintage Festive Market in Lancaster.

Here's a shot of the view from my stall, towards the end of the day. I stupidly forgot to take a picture of my own stall at either place, so you just have to imagine all my stuff laid out in this room. I was last but one on the end of the row, and there were people all round the room behind me as well. And there was a second, smaller room to the right of this picture. 

I must say, I think this was the best fair I've been to yet in terms of organisation, number of customers, range and quality of items on sale, and as it turned out for me, sales! I did pretty well, selling a large mounted print and a smaller one, and a smaller framed print, as well as quite a lot of cards and some of Anna's stickers. I also had time for a quick look around and was sorely tempted by some of the things on display, not least some lovely fusion glass earrings a bit like the ones shown below (sorry, that's as big as it can be), from Black Rose Crafts

Or possibly some really cool fashion accessories from Lost Little Soul, for example, this rather fabulous leather necklace:

I also chatted to several fellow stallholders, and it turned out the lady next to me was also from Manchester. She was really friendly, and gave me loads of leads to follow up regarding possible funding opportunities and galleries to contact, which I shall do very soon. One thing I've found really nice about attending these fairs, is the sense of camaraderie with the other stallholders. I imagined that perhaps some people, especially ones doing similar stuff, might guard their territory rather jealously and not want to give away too much info, but I've found the opposite to be true. People are only too happy to swap tips and advice, and to be really fulsome in their praise and encouragement. The general public have also been a constant delight. I guess, if the work doesn't interest them they just pass on by, so in general those that stop will only have good things to say, but the degree to which people have engaged with my work, and offered kind words, compliments and interest has really been fantastic. 

I'm also learning so much each time, so even though sales haven't been so great that I'm making loads of profit, I am managing to usually cover my costs, so I am keen to keep doing them in 2014, even though on their own they are clearly not going to be enough to make my dream of being a professional artist a reality. But I didn't know that a few weeks ago when I started attending them, and I know so much more now, so I consider that progress. I'll be back tomorrow with a report on the Winter Arts market in Liverpool, about which there's a lot to say as well.

One Weekend; Two Art Fairs

So, this coming weekend looks like it is going to be super busy, with not one but two Art Fairs! And, to top it all, these look like they will be the biggest two fairs I've attended! I kind of wish they had been spread out a bit more, not least because the one on Sunday had actually accepted me to come on both days, but I had to cancel as I had already been accepted for the other one. So, the line up is like this:
Saturday will be the Handmade + Vintage Festive Market in Lancaster. I was hoping to show you some promotional material about it, but it seems they've sent it to me in too low a resolution (comforting to know I'm not the only one who has these problems). So I'll just have to direct you to the Facebook event page. Anyway, it will be a pretty big affair, with about 50 stalls.

Then on Sunday, there will be an even bigger event! It's the Winter Arts Market in the gorgeous St George's Hall in Liverpool.
Here's a picture of it from the last event:

And here's the flyer for this year's event:

And if that's still not enough info, the website is here.

So, these should be two great events for me, with - hopefully - lots of sales! I sold so little at the last fair that I haven't had to do anything this week in terms of re-stocking, I still have lots of cards and prints unsold, but I really hope I won't be able to say the same afterwards! Not least because these are the last two events I'll be going to before Christmas. 

My husband had to pick this weekend to be away with work, so my lovely mum will be joining me to lend a hand with loading and unloading the car and with manning the stall so I can have a lunch break. I'm not quite sure she knows what shes let herself in for. The other day on the phone she said "what are we doing again?". Ah well, she ran a hotel and was a pub landlady for about 40 years, so she is very good at chatting to people. She may well be able to drum up more sales than me!

Ok, so that's all to report at the moment. I'll get back to the inspirations and experimentations stuff after this weekend, when I shall also be back with a full report on how it all went. And of course, it goes without saying, if you are in this part of the world, you should absolutely come and join us! It has all the makings of a great weekend! 

My good friend that bought the print in Wakefield said he liked the last Instagram, so here's another, this time from just down the road in Manchester:

The Art of good networking.

Wow, so much to catch up on! It's been a hectic time. So, when I last posted I was just about to go and do the Wednesday evening of my last Art fair, then a Friday and Saturday.
Well, this Art fair was not nearly as successful as the last one. The Wednesday evening saw a steady stream of people, but very few were buying, at least, not at my stall, I think some of the other stallholders did quite well. People who did stop to chat were very complementary about my work, but that was as far as it went. Anyway, I knew that was more of a "looking around" event than the other two days, so I went home in an upbeat frame of mind.

Me at the Art and Craft fair. Note the addition of a print stand!

Friday was… awful. I think I spoke to about a dozen people all day, and made no sales. There just wasn't anybody coming to the venue. Saturday was a little better, but still not very many people. I made a sale of a print, to a friend of mine that had come down specially to see me. (He got a good deal, of course!) I also sold a few cards to a fellow artist at the venue and one to a friend of an artist there. So, when you consider the money I spent getting to the venue each day (car twice and train once), plus the entrance fee, I made a loss. Oh well, it's a learning curve I guess. I made some good contacts with several of the other stallholders, all of whom were lovely. Plus, I went to a really useful talk on Friday evening by a lady who has set up a company called Craftfinder.
 The site is a directory of craft tradespeople, so just the place to go if you want to find hand crafted goods. They also help the craftspeople with promoting their work to the right buyers, so it's useful for producers and consumers alike. The talk was about how to use the internet to market yourself effectively. I proudly told everyone I had a blog! Others suggested Pinterest and Twitter as being valuable tools. I'm resisting Twitter for now, but I am keen to investigate Pinterest some more, so watch this space…
One of my fellow stallholders was a woman called Amy Lilley. She's a recent photography graduate who also does a lot of marketing work for arts venues in Wakefield. She was keen to put one of my pieces in a show she will be curating in the new year, which is great news! We exchanged business cards like you do, and I have since checked out her website and blog, both of which are well worth a look, which you can do from here.

The good networking continued last night, when I went to a meeting of the Salford Creative Network, which has been set up by Arts Development Salford, a local organisation I found my way towards via liking various related things on Facebook. The meeting was a perfect way to meet some fellow artists and there was also some people from various local arts organisations there, so it was perfect for me as someone who has recently moved to the area and wants to get involved with the local arts scene. They also have a great Arts Information pack that can be downloaded from their website, here. I've downloaded it have only given it a quick glance - it looks very useful though.

The guest speaker at the event was a lady that runs Eccles Community Art Gallery, a local organisation that seeks to provide exhibition space for local artists, as well as easy access to art for the local community. I happened to leave at the same time as her after the talk, and we briefly discussed me having an exhibition there, which was very exciting! I must follow it up by emailing her in the coming days. So, as you see, connections are being made and I'm meeting lots of really great people. Yay! This sort of socialising doesn't come naturally to me, I'm a bit shy and introverted by nature, and I don't have the knack of chatting easily with people I don't know, but everyone has been so nice and friendly that it hasn't really been a problem.
Wow, that's a long post. I still haven't told you about the TWO craft fairs I'm doing this coming weekend, but I think that can wait until tomorrow now.
As a reward for getting through this epic post, here's a nice little Instagram I took in Budapest in October.