Gallery show - Wrap up - Pros and Cons

Hi everyone. It’s been about 6 weeks or so since the gallery show. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I’m going to post just a few pictures to give an idea of how things we displayed and then give my thoughts on the good and bad of doing shows.

This tea set was the biggest hit of the show. There were so many interested visitors but it didn’t sell at the show. It may have since then but the price was very reasonable and the display was truly the highlight. Deb who created the set has other places she sells from, so I’m pretty sure it won’t be around very long. Deb brought a good selection of furniture pieces, and a few odds and sodds.

Kirsten was the clay artist and while she more pieces to show, these pickled chicks in the martini glasses and the ogre drew the most attention. She’s a very good artist with a very fertile imagination. ;o) Lots of people also liked the baby dragon in the hand in the bottom left of the picture. It takes the right person to match with the right art piece. We were all waiting for someone to take home the ogre, but nobody was brave enough. ;o~

You’ve seen all my projects from other blog posts, so I won’t go on about them all. I’m just showing a bit of how I displayed them. This particular prop I made with two shaker boards, dowels and coffee cup hooks. Add some paint and you have a great display piece. I have a second one painted in a dove grey.

This was a wide glass case and many of my dolls were able to be together, along with the fobs and tassels.

More dolls hung out together in this slimmer case.

This is a sign I made to hang in the window behind me. It was fairly high up but nicely visible from the playground area just beside the gallery. It brought people in which was great. Anyone coming in would see it on the window and it helped to describe what the show was about. I did the lettering on two pieces of poster board, added some checkered tape and a few bits of bling, just for a subtle touch of shiny. Sorry about the wash out on the right side of the picture, but I was trying to brighten it up from the grey it was.

This last picture is that of the table where I put the Hatter Hats with my stick pins and the other was for the draw.

So now my thoughts about the show in general. Well mostly good thoughts. I sold the most of the four of us that were displaying. I enjoyed meeting each and every person that came through and my thanks to those of you I spoke to directly that came out and supported me. It meant a lot and was much appreciated.

I was asked if I would be doing a show next year and no I won’t be. You will notice that I said 4 of us were in this show, but I have only displayed work from 3 of us. I don’t reward bad behaviour as Dr. Phil would say.

Two reasons I won’t do a show again.  Working with others can be a great experience but it can also be a not so nice experience when someone in the group has control issues and yes, the traits of a bully as I found out on more than one occasion. Two of the other artists were really nice and we enjoyed some good conversation and compared notes about how to sell and where etc.

However, when you reach a certain age, you should have grown out of the need to control and bully others. If you haven’t matured to that point by middle age, it’s probably not going to change and those around you will avoid you at all costs. Bullies and control freaks are usually people who are insecure about themselves for some reason. I’m sure everyone has been treated badly by a bully and we never know what the reason is, but we know to stay away from that person. You will never get a sincere apology or recognition of what they did and that it was inappropriate. So there it is.

The second part of “would I do a show again”, was also no. If I were to do another show, it would be on my own but it’s far too much work for one person to do alone between the setup, being there all week and the take down. So no. I will participate in gallery shows as an artist but having a private show, no.

But on the plus side to end off this post. It was a good experience overall. Some wonderful feedback about my work, and shows me that I am doing the right things that people enjoy. Now I’m on to projects for the fall show/sale at the gallery. I will be posting very soon about what I’m making for that. Back soon… ;o)