Quiet Time

So things are a bit quiet at the moment. Having headed back to Dubai for about 6 weeks i decided that it was now really too expensive to live there on my own and that i would have to come back to the UK. One problem was the lack of places to sell art anymore - previously Arte had been good with it's once a month art and craft fairs but now it was getting full of artists, a lot of whom were hobby artists and willing to sell their paintings for very little money. This then puts pressure on the professional artists, who have much higher costs to cover, to actually be able to sell and make money.

Another problem was with the general downturn of a few years where there were less hotel jobs around. It doesn't really help that I am not a salesperson and to be a success i think you really have to sell yourself.

So for the time being I will be based in the UK again, but available to go back to Dubai for any large jobs that may crop up. I will also likely be at the jazz festival again next February where sales are usually forthcoming.

This weekend I have 3 paintings in an art exhibition in Woodbridge, Suffolk so am hoping for a sale from there, and after that I have a possible craft fair at a local tennis club that I just need to confirm.

Art on the Prom 2011

So yesterday I took part in Art on the Prom in Felixstowe for the second year running. The weather forecast was not brilliant but better than it had looked earlier in the week. I felt the crowds were not quite as big as last year but then last year was a lovely sunny day. Sales started off slowly but there was a bit more of a rush as the afternoon started and I sold 8 paintings overall varying in size from small Union Jack paintings to a large painting called 'Dream'. I was pleased with the event overall and the feedback from visitors was good but it was just a bit disappointing that the rain came down with almost an hour to go as the end seems to be the busiest time. Things got a little bit wet but I don't think any damage was caused, just me ending up looking like a drowned rat!

Felixstowe Art Group Annual Exhibition

So this week was the Felixstowe art group's annual exhibition. I am a bit of an anomaly in the art group I think as most of the other artists concentrate on landscape and traditional painting rather than abstracts. There are a couple of artists in the group who are professional or semi professional artists but overall most of the group are hobbyists (not meant with any disrespect as being professional or hobbyist is no reflection on talent!). Anyway, so the annual exhibition has been going for 60 years although this is only my second year with the group.

They are a great bunch of people who manage to get a lot of people to visit the exhibition every year. I am very impressed at the visitor numbers and the number of paintings that are sold over the 5 days. Most of the artists really underprice their work so maybe it is no surprise that so much is sold.

Anyway, my stint on the desk was on Tuesday afternoon and it just so happened that a lady came in while I was there and wanted to buy all 3 of the paintings I had for sale! I was hugely surprised and pleased to say the least. I had two large textured abstracts in (see image on the right for one of them) and a textured, glittered union jack and was pleased at the way all 3 had come out and am glad they have found a new home. Now I just need to get painting again ready for Art on the Prom on 4th September.

Urban Art Fair - Brixton, London

So last weekend I took part in the Urban Art Fair for the first time. It was a good experience for me but the problem was that it poured down with rain the whole weekend which really put a dampener on it in terms of people coming to look and sales made. However, I would sign up for the fair again next year as it was a really good set up with 150 artists and I am sure the potential for painting sales there is quite good if the weather had been better. It is also quite cheap for a pitch with a commission payment rate of 10%.

Painting Texture Website

So I have set up a website all about painting texture - it will have lots of information about texture pastes and gels that you can buy and also how to make your own texture at home. At the moment it is a work in porgress adn I am just building up the info on there but in time there will also be other painting hints and tips bothe about oils and acrylic painting.

Set Up My QR

So I have set up my QR (Quick Response) code which is like a matrix barcode that holds a lot of information about me and links to my various pages - website, facebook, twitter etc. The barcode is read by an app on your phone that will scan it and take you to a page that you specify so that people can get all of your info. Next up on my list of things to do is to add this code to my business cards.

Untitled Artists Fair - VIP Night Tonight

So yesterday I went to set up my area at the Untitled Artists Fair. I have a smallish spot (as it is quite expensive to exhibit) but managed to fit in 8 60x60cm paintings. There is a huge diversity of artwork at the show and it seems like there is not much that is similar to mine (good thing or bad thing?!).

Tonight is the VIP Preview evening - open to those who have an invitation - although I think it is usually over subscribed and there are queues to get in. I have attached a vip ticket here that you can print off to gain entry to the fair and they have been giving out tickets for a few weeks for the weekend dates apparently.