Spaces Between The Gaps: art for sale

Setting Up an Art Fair or Market Stall

Thursday, November 03, 2011

The stall of WhereFishSing aka artist Fiona Morgan at the Ballarat Artisan Fair 2011

Set up of my stall in progress for the Ballarat Artisan Fair

Ballarat Artisan Fair. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday 4th, 5th & 6th November 2011. The Mining Exchange, 8 Lydiard St, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia (just a few doors down from the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery). 10am - 4pm each day. Some forty or so regional artists will be displaying and selling their creations, along with music, coffee, nibbles, artists talks and demonstrations. Come along if you can.

Today has been consumed with the set up of my stall at the Ballarat Artisan Fair. This is the first time I've prepared for an art fair. It's taken several weeks to get everything together, from varnishing all the (70+) paintings, to sourcing gift bags (that never arrived!) to printing promotional material. Below is a list of everything I've been able to think of to take along or have prepared. I'll append it afterwards as there are bound to be new insights gained from participating in the event.

Table

Trestle table or two
Many markets require a white table cover, so get a white sheet or two, or something nicer such as velvet (not velveteen as it looks cheap) or satin or canvas
Large butterfly clips for clipping tablecloth to table, and gaffa tape the same colour as the table cover for hiding the clips
Clamps for backup clipping tablecloth to table
A bucket or box as a bin for under your table is rather handy

Promotional material

Business name banner with rope & eyelets and gaffa tape for hanging options
Business cards
Email list signup sheet on clipboard (essential!!)
Pens for signup sheet, attached by string
Postcards of artwork
Photo books of artwork - show off more than you can bring on the day as interested people may ask for a commission based on what they see you are capable of
Photo board of artwork - lots of artwork to choose from on the day but too many paintings to display at once? Show photo samples of your full range. Individual artworks can be shown on request.
Artist statement for display, possibly laminated
Price tags, ready and blank (who knows what will happen on the day and how many you will need)
Nice paper to print out price tags and artist statement and any other small signage

Displaying artwork

Figure out the stall design and layout first
Builders level for getting frames hung straight (so good)
Wire/hooks/picture hooks (a roll of fencing wire, some pliers and tin snips are super handy to make hooks of any size or strength)
Framing wire (make sure it's rated to cope with more than double the weight your work weighs)
Fishing wire to make a washing line artwork display (useful for giftcards and other small lightweight works)
Sinkers to weight down display wire to make it stay taught
Small bulldog clips x 24 for hanging unframed artwork washing line style (these are super handy)
Cotton gloves for handling artwork
Frames, ready to hang
Pliers - fat and thin
Hammer
Wirecutters (tinsnips are far more effective than the scissor part of pliers)
Screwdrivers - an assortment
Masking tape
Scissors
Gaffa tape / cloth tape in colours to match your display elements
Blu-tack
Double sided tape
Backboard/screen on which to hang artwork
Window cleaner and paper towels for cleaning the glass & frames - essential

Storing artwork

Portable box storage system
Glassine paper for unframed artwork

Looking after me

Portable music
Lunch - no heating required, not messy
Snacks - nuts, fruit, quick, not messy
Water - have two litres
Coffee, tea, hot drink in thermos or hot water plus bags/containers, milk
Camping chair or something to sit on, plus a cover to make this presentable

Selling artwork

Change from bank for cash sales
Cash storage - bumbag or tin or wallet
Credit card payment facilities - if not provided, take a laptop with easy access to the Paypal site, laptop power supply, powerboard and extension cord
Certificates of authenticity - ready to print (take printer, extension cord and spare ink) or already printed out in doubles and take carbon paper
Clip board with attached pen for filling out the COA's - very handy
Packaging for sold artwork - precut cardboard sleeves / boxes or gift bags and bubble wrap
Phone, charged up
Red dot stickers
Paintings, varnished and framed
Pencils
Pens
Notepads
Packing tape
Regular stickytape / sellotape

If you're an artist and have useful notes to add from your experiences of art fairs, please enlighten the rest of us in the comments.

Beginning your own art collection

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Image by by Incase

So you've decided you'd like to begin your very own art collection? Or perhaps you're contemplating the idea? Here are some pointers to get your collection going in the right direction for your cashola and enjoyment. My other article, 'How do I know what art to buy?', gives pointers on choosing individual pieces of art.

First up, $500 a year is enough to begin a collection. Yes. So if you think you can't afford your own art collection you're probably wrong.

Secondly, a collection of related pieces of art is far more valuable than a random collection. You'll get more enjoyment out of becoming an expert on your chosen niche of the art world too. Don't be random. Choose a theme for your collection, it doesn't matter what it is as long as it's something you're interested in. Local artists or surreal artists, landscapes or cartoons, oil paintings or stencils, there are many ways that you could choose to do this. Remember, there is more financial and enjoyment value this way.

You might want to write down what your collecting theme is to help keep you on track for when you find art that you love that doesn't fit with your theme. Just a suggestion.

Thirdly, you also may want to take into consideration your living environment. In that, humid or coldly damp places and works on paper are not a good match (add insects and direct sunlight to that list), bronze sculptures are almost indestructable which is useful for bushfire zones, massive sized artworks don't fit in apartments and if you have a colourfully decorated home the art you choose may need to fit your home colour scheme. If you are worried about an artwork fitting in with a change in decor, remember that like a good piece of furniture, a good artwork will transfer just fine into a different residence.

Where to find the art you want and can afford.

The primary art market means buying direct from artists or via galleries representing an artist. This is the cheapest way to start your collection, with artist direct being the most hip pocket friendly. Generally, the less well known the artist, the lower the price of the work. You can find artists online, artists selling direct from their studio and artists selling via exhibitions in both commercial and artist run galleries. There will be publications in your area listing all the latest exhibitions. Visit and view. Get on the mailing lists of artists and galleries that you like so you find out about new works and shows first.

The secondary art market means buying from other art collectors. Usually an art dealer or gallery is involved. Art auctions are another form of the secondary market. If you are buying via auction, remember that there are cycles in fashionability in the art world. This affects auction prices significantly. What's not in fashion is cheaper to buy.

A couple of notes

An artwork with a signature on the front is more valuable than a similar piece with a signature hidden on the back or missing a signature altogether.

Oil on canvas has traditionally been seen to be the most valuable of art mediums, but this is changing with so many more materials available to artists and more knowledgable conservation techniques.

Go with what you love. You'll be looking at it for a long time.

Just One Trend

Monday, May 02, 2011

Feathers - January Art

Feathers

Buskers Festival market

An ordinary market day