October arrived and then left in a blink! I always really enjoy October, I think it’s partly because by the time we get here everyone is settled into the school routine but theres a half term to look forward to, autumn (which I love!) is in full swing and I also really enjoy Halloween! Yes, I do decorate inside the house, we do a Halloween treasure hunt, pumpkin carving, make and decorate Halloween biscuits and then top it off with a family Halloween movie! This year we are keeping our traditions with the added excitement of a few extra events!
I always knew this month would be busy and it lived up to expectations in a very positive way! In early August I heard about Art Below, an arts organisation with the aim to turn ad space into art space. Basically a poster of your work, with your name and social media details is placed on a billbord in a London tube station; how amazingly exciting is that?!! It’s now entering its twentieth year and the aim is to keep contemporary art visible, accessible, and part of everyday life and I just love the premise! Artists can choose Pimlico or Hyde Park station for two weeks or Regent’s Park for four - you can guess which one I chose right? Yep, Regent’s Park it was!
My family and I took a short trip into London to visit and it was one of those ‘pinch me’ moments! We hopped onto the tube, it started to slow down as we approached Regent’s Park Station and there it was! I was so excited and it really was fantastic to see it there! And it was so big!!! The colours popped, the detail was crisp, it was brilliant!
Yes it’s great advertising, yes it’s amazing to see my piece so big and seen by so many people but the main thing was to see a piece of my work in a London tube station!!! It was so much fun and a little strange in a really cool way if that makes sense?! I loved this as an experience and I love the premise; I’d definitely rather see art on billboards than ads!!!
As part of the Art Below initiative there is also the option to take part in a group exhibition at the Ad Lib Gallery in Wimbledon with all the other artists with artwork displayed in the stations. I chose to exhibit ‘Messengers of Hope’ and it looked great in the gallery; centre stage on the ‘gallery wall’! Perfect!
The Ad Lib gallery is a lovely space and the people I have spoken there are so friendly, they made the whole experience including the tube poster so easy and straight forward. I was so impressed with them and the whole process. It was all so exciting!
While this was happening I also had to get ready for my autumn Art Fair. Since the kids returned to school at the beginning of September I have been working really hard finishing pieces, writing certificates, printing labels…...
I’ve been going to Art:Surrey at Epsom Racecourse for a few years now and fancied changing things up a bit so I decided to return to Landmark this autumn. It’s been a few years since I exhibited at this art fair, I remember I met some nice people, had some great chats and actually did quite well financially .
The art fair is at Landmark Art’s Centre which is based in an old church in a busy part of Teddington; it really is a gorgeous building! It’s a smaller fair than Art:Surrey with less artists and less footfall so I was a little unsure whether I had made a mistake. However, the stands are cheaper so I thought I would use this as an opportunity to try a larger stand especially as my work seems to be getting bigger:)
The car was fully packed up more than usual due to needing more work to fill the larger stand and also because my sons had an inset day so they came with us to ‘help’! It was pretty straight forward setting up especially once I borrowed some upholstery pins to stop the smaller panels tipping on the wires and pieces generally moving (thats a top tip if you are using picture wires and hooks on a fabric covered stand!). I was super happy with how I curated my stand and felt pretty excited about the weekend!
I again had great stand neighbours, I caught up with a few art buddies and met new ones; I was very lucky to be surrounded by some very talented and generally fab people (artists are a great bunch!).
The private view on the Friday was mainly friends and family and the Saturday crowd consisted of largely locals and other artists. I had some good chats but sold only a few decorations to a fellow artist which is always such a big compliment. However, Sunday brought an entirely different visitors….
The fair opened at 10am and I didn’t stop to take a breath until there was a short lull at 1pm! It was fantastic; I met someone genuinely nice, interesting and supportive people - I loved it! Sunday morning completely changed the weekend! To be honest I was feeling a little dejected Saturday night - I should have known better as this was the same format as the last time I was at Landmark!
Not only did I meet some fab people, sold originals, prints and decorations and spoke to several people that were either potentially new collectors or represented future opportunities (its another ‘watch this space’ moment - I’ll share if/when it happens!).
I was so happy (and a little relieved) that I had more than covered the cost of my stand but most of all I had the most amazing chats with people - those connections are so important. I felt proud of my work and the time and effort I had invested was so completely worth it! I also ran a little competition to win an original; all visitors had to do was subscribe to my newsletter and they would be entered. The winner was so excited that she won, it was so lovely to make someone so happy. To the point I think I might run little competitions like this a bit more often - it feels like a little thank you for the support!
Overall it was an exhausting, proud and exciting weekend! Landmark Arts Centre did a great job and for me, it was a big success! It’s good to mix things up and try new places to exhibit. I learnt so much from talking to the people who stopped to chat, suggestions to apply to join local art societies (which I have already actioned), other opportunities I need to mull over and think about, and then theres the potential opportunities which I need to follow up! Either way it could be a very interesting and exciting 2027, and I am so ready to get my work out there!
Oh, and yes I am pretty sure I will be exhibiting at Landmark Art Fair next autumn;) What a brilliant month!!!
See you next month!!!