The Sustainable Living Festival is on again coming up on Feb 20-22nd and Federation Square in the city.
This is the link to the festival program:
http://www.slf.org.au/festival/program
there are all sorts of cool sounding talks, seminars and events!
There is a design festival on the Friday at which I will be having a market stall. I'll be selling 100% recycled cards and notebooks, printed with my designs. The market runs from 10am to 6pm!
I am also involved in helping with an event called the Fashion Jam, check out the link:
http://www.slf.org.au/festival/program/interactives/2193
Showing posts with label Markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Markets. Show all posts
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Thursday, October 2, 2008
At the markets
Lately I have been so busy that I haven't had any time to actually paint... also I have not had any looming deadlines so my thoughts, time and energy get directed to more immediate tasks. I don't mind this, it is part of the ebb and flow of an artists life. I don't think I could paint all day everyday anyway, that takes an aweful lot of stamina! (I know people who do it though!)
At the Sunday Arts at the Convent there is another stallholder, Elise Hurst, who brings her paints along and does some beautiful work while there. She sets up and starts a fresh painting each time and will often finish it on the same day. I have tried sketching and writing and all sorts of other menial tasks at the markets, coz there is usually a fair bit of time between interaction with customers. I always thought I'd get self conscious and distracted and weird if I tried painting in front of people, and it is a lot of fuss and bother to set up and pack up again at the end of the day. But last month at Rose St and then at the Convent I gave it a go... and it was great~!
I think I had been a bit starved of painting time in the studio due to things like moving both my house and studio, having the red balloon show and getting a few more hours a week of gainful employment. So when I set up I was straight into it and loving it. It made the day at the market pass so much faster and feel so much more productive!
These are pics of me revisiting an image I painted a couple of years ago. I had been commissioned to paint an elephant for a special occasion and it was a real pleasure to play with this image. In fact it had been one of my first successful elephant paintings. The original painting has a story attached that I might try and share sometime soon. I've used the image of the original as a card and it is always a popular one. I was surprised at how easily I blocked everyone out and how much I was at ease with people viewing my shambolic process and half finished work.
I will be doing that quite regularly at the markets. People love to watch, though some get quite shy about talking to me... I hope that it doesn't scare people away from buying stuff!!!
If you come to the markets don't be bashful, I still love to talk to people!
:)
At the Sunday Arts at the Convent there is another stallholder, Elise Hurst, who brings her paints along and does some beautiful work while there. She sets up and starts a fresh painting each time and will often finish it on the same day. I have tried sketching and writing and all sorts of other menial tasks at the markets, coz there is usually a fair bit of time between interaction with customers. I always thought I'd get self conscious and distracted and weird if I tried painting in front of people, and it is a lot of fuss and bother to set up and pack up again at the end of the day. But last month at Rose St and then at the Convent I gave it a go... and it was great~!
I think I had been a bit starved of painting time in the studio due to things like moving both my house and studio, having the red balloon show and getting a few more hours a week of gainful employment. So when I set up I was straight into it and loving it. It made the day at the market pass so much faster and feel so much more productive!
These are pics of me revisiting an image I painted a couple of years ago. I had been commissioned to paint an elephant for a special occasion and it was a real pleasure to play with this image. In fact it had been one of my first successful elephant paintings. The original painting has a story attached that I might try and share sometime soon. I've used the image of the original as a card and it is always a popular one. I was surprised at how easily I blocked everyone out and how much I was at ease with people viewing my shambolic process and half finished work.
I will be doing that quite regularly at the markets. People love to watch, though some get quite shy about talking to me... I hope that it doesn't scare people away from buying stuff!!!
If you come to the markets don't be bashful, I still love to talk to people!
:)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Reflections on Artist's Market and Art
I tend to get to Rose St early - say 9am (the market starts at 11am). At Rose St they allocate the spots and provide these great wooden boxes of different shapes and sizes to display your stuff on and they also have big sun umbrellas to offer shade to those who don't have a marquee. But if you want an umbrella and if you want good boxes to display your stuff you need to get there reasonably early. So I cart all my stuff from the car and start setting up my display - cards I have designed, sketch books I have covered with beautiful papers, prints carefully wrapped and labeled, and of course paintings. I usually have a range of small paintings which are affordable and easy to carry home from the markets. I do also like to bring at least one big painting - say 1m sq, just to give an indication of the breadth of my work. I don't expect to sell them at the market, as people don't really come to the market prepared to spend several hundred or even a thousand dollars on an art work! So they are really just for show. 
But even in regards to the smaller paintings or prints, people will often come back several times before they decide to buy something. I think it is a much harder thing to decide to purchase than a pair or earrings for the same price. My theory about that is that people feel like they can just throw a pair of earrings or a t-shirt into a box or leave it on a hanger and not wear it if they get tired of it... but art work people feel obliged to display - and would feel much more responsibility to take good care of or be respectful of it. It is somehow much harder psychologically to put an artwork in the hall cupboard when you are tired of it. Perhaps because it is not something people buy much of, perhaps because it has a certain aura or mystique... Also people have to consider a lot more immovable factors with art work than jewelery. For example the colours of walls in your house, the opinion of housemates or spouses, the size of the work in a certain space... it is all quite complicated. You can buy a pair of earrings knowing it will go with that particular outfit and you can wear them one a month or everyday - that's just what you do - they are supposed to be interchangeable and flexible. And if you decide you hate them you can chuck them out or give them away. It is much harder to do that with art work. So people are naturally cautious about making a purchase, even if it costs the same amount or less than other more wearable items at the market.
But when people do buy they are usually pretty sure they love it so I know it is going to a good home.
But even in regards to the smaller paintings or prints, people will often come back several times before they decide to buy something. I think it is a much harder thing to decide to purchase than a pair or earrings for the same price. My theory about that is that people feel like they can just throw a pair of earrings or a t-shirt into a box or leave it on a hanger and not wear it if they get tired of it... but art work people feel obliged to display - and would feel much more responsibility to take good care of or be respectful of it. It is somehow much harder psychologically to put an artwork in the hall cupboard when you are tired of it. Perhaps because it is not something people buy much of, perhaps because it has a certain aura or mystique... Also people have to consider a lot more immovable factors with art work than jewelery. For example the colours of walls in your house, the opinion of housemates or spouses, the size of the work in a certain space... it is all quite complicated. You can buy a pair of earrings knowing it will go with that particular outfit and you can wear them one a month or everyday - that's just what you do - they are supposed to be interchangeable and flexible. And if you decide you hate them you can chuck them out or give them away. It is much harder to do that with art work. So people are naturally cautious about making a purchase, even if it costs the same amount or less than other more wearable items at the market.But when people do buy they are usually pretty sure they love it so I know it is going to a good home.
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