Category: art show

Sold! The "Art" of the Art Sale

Thankfully, the art event on Sunday was very laid back and casual. Originally, I thought that was strange. I’ve entered work, and was rejected a few times, to events that charged a fee for each entry, was a juried event, and the organizers earned a small percentage of sales. They usually want an artist statement and biography, among other requirements like size of art, submission in pdf form, CD, photo. Plenty of stressful things.

This event had none of that, and it had me a little worried. What kind of thing was I getting myself into? “Call the organizer” was the info I got after I saw all they wanted was my name, number, and “Art”. Should I do it? Should I not bother? It ended up being just the right thing for me. The venue was relaxed as well as the chairpeople.

Just show, sell, or not. Great.

The other artists were fun to meet. This photographer, above, saw things in this postcard of my painting of a pepper stem, that I can’t repeat. She asked if it was a subliminal message. The word “hermaphrodite” came up. Really? Wild. I still see just a pepper stem.
This artist standing with me at my booth was an amazing cartoonist who made a cartoon book about the heroes of the Greek Revolution. Amazing work.

Here I am packing up a sale for a lovely show attendee. She came by my station and we talked about my work. We discussed my process, my motivation, the subjects, and my background as both a person and an artist. This lovely lady ended up buying two of my Greek landscape watercolors.

Then her friend came by and asked the price for the painting of a marigold. After I told him, he wrote out a check! We were all so excited. I asked them if they would take a photo together with the works they purchased and they agreed. Just wonderful, lovely people to meet.
I sold quite a few blank notecards of my paintings, and near the end of the night, two of my necklaces were purchased. It was fun for me to learn people wanted to buy so badly they went to the nearest ATM for cash!

To Mat or Not to Mat, That’s the Question

Preparing to present work to the public takes time. Since I decided to participate in this upcoming art show, I had to look through my work, chose which to bring, which to leave behind, mat or leave bare, mat and frame, or not bother.

Watercolor paintings are painted on pretty sturdy paper. It’s not easily bent, however care needs to be taken in the transporting of the pieces. And should something sell, the buyer needs some way to take the work with them, protected by something.

Which to chose?

This week I visited the art supplier near me for vinyl, acid free sleeves. Another online artist was sending out her work in such a thing and I asked where she purchased them. I thought I saw something like it somewhere. I found them in different sizes and bought a few packs.

The question now is to mat or leave the work bare? And, which pieces, and how many?

Some of my work already had mats, and I found a few left from another time I made some. So the matting job would be left for only a few larger works. Mats make the work look finished and neat.

If I mat some work, is it a must that all be matted?

Then there’s the pricing thing. From what I gather from others, the price is the price. It doesn’t matter when the work was done, there shouldn’t be a discount for that. I don’t think the price should change if there is a mat or not either. I will just bring different sizes of work to cover various prices.

Frames are another story. Have you seen the price of frames? Wow. And I shopped in the local craft store, not the custom framing section either! Amazing.

I’m not sure how many pieces to bring. I have an old school, box style portfolio case and I might fill it with work. If I sell out, I should only sell out, I’ll have more pieces to show that I could pull from the case.

Look at me, all I think I’ll sell out! We have to think big here and there.