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.

Where To Buy Art Materials In Dubai

So if you are an artist and you are wondering where you can buy art materials in Dubai then you do have a few options. Sometimes canvases in particular can be in short supply as they tend to send a shipment over that lasts a few months, gets sold out and then they order another one.

Anyway, there are two really good places and a bunch of others. The main place I buy my materials is in branches of Emirates Trading. They have a big branch up by the Al Nasr Cinema near Oud Metha and they have some smaller outlets at Bin Sougat Mall, Mall of the Emirates (DUCTAC) the old art centre (DIAC) and other branches in Sharjah etc. They supply Windsor & Newton canvases and Paints.

The other main place I buy paints, canvases and brushes is Kazim stationary in the Jumeirah Centre which is one of the many malls down the Beach Road (it's the one with the big Magrudy's at one end). They tend to have a good supply of Daler Rowney canvases and System 3 Paints.

There are also some other shops like Borders and Dubai Library Supplies who also supply different makes of paint including Pebeo.

If you want to get a canvas made to size then they will do this for you at Jam Jar, otherwise it is a bit cheaper to get them ready made from the shops.

Selling Art Online

There are numerous websites set up for selling art online and as of recently I did not really take the opportunity of selling my art online for a few reasons:

• I think it is very difficult to get a good feel for a piece of art just by viewing a photo of it, especially where there is a lot of texture involved.
• Shipping - with big heavy pieces of art the shipping cost can be prohibitive.
• I constantly sell my pieces in Dubai the the UK so I would have to keep tabs on what I had on offer online or else have a separate collection.

But recently I have been looking at Saatchi online (which I have been a member of for a few years) and they have set up the opportunity to sell your art online. You can sell originals but also you can sell prints of your work. This seems like a really good option in the online selling thing as they do all the work! They print the image off on paper or canvas, deal with all the shipping and I just get a cut of the profits. Also you can decide what price you want to put on your work which is great. So I have put 3 or 4 pieces up for sale as prints. They are paintings that I have a really good image of and ones that I like best that I think will make good prints. So I'll see what happens!

Buy Arts & Crafts Materials This Weekend at ARTE

The weekend at the ARTE soukh which is at Times Square Centre off Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai on Friday 13th May from Midday until 7pm, not only will there be a large selection of hand made arts and crafts to buy but also you will be able to buy unused arts and crafts surplus supplies that some of the artists and crafters have in their closets at discount prices. Among the things on offer will be excess Swarowski crystals from Carrie and surplus felt from Miriam the Felt Lady.

Come and take a look and maybe you can get some extra supplies for your arts and crafts.