In my last blog, I talked about getting your work out there for others to see. One of those ways is to participate in art festivals in neighbouring communities.

Today, I thought I’d talk about what’s involved in doing an art festival, what you need to know and the equipment you will need.

Most art festivals take place outside. The atmosphere outside is more festival-like, BUT you are at the mercy of the weather. There are usually a lot of artists participating and there’s a wonderful camaraderie going on with other artists and with the public.

So what do you need to do a festival?

First, you need to find out everything you can about the event to make sure that it suits you, your work and your schedule. Then you need to apply usually providing pictures of your work. It is quite standard for organizers to want to see samples of your work before accepting you. Also, there’s usually a fee to pay in order to participate and most shows charge a small commission on sales.

Once you’ve been accepted comes the tough part, planning. Make yourself a checklist and use it. Go over it several times to make sure you’ve got everything listed. A very useful thing to do is to go to shows and look at what people are doing for protection and displays, how they organize their booth; see what works and what doesn’t from the standpoint of a customer. That will help you decide what you need to do.

Here are some of the things on my checklist:

The first things is, do you need a canopy, or umbrella for protection from the sun and/or rain? Most festivals allow, or even require, you to have a 10x10 standard canopy. The best kind to get is the pop-up kind, although it still takes 2 people to put it up. These don’t have to be expensive, shop around, particularly in the spring. You can get a good sturdy one at Costco for about $200. You can get less expensive ones than that, though they’re not as sturdy, but still quite acceptable. Some of these also come with walls that can be attached in case of rain. You might think about getting a couple of walls in case you have to block the rain (or the sun) from coming in.

Next you need display equipment. Of course, that will be different with different kinds of art. For painters, you need some way to hang your work. There are many options here. You can have panels located around the outside or in the middle of the booth: wood with pegboard insert is an example, another one is gridwall panels. Using panels is a fairly expensive proposition, not to mention the difficulty in transporting and setting them up.

Another option is to use easels. There are many types. Some are wooden and are generally more study and more expensive. A good option for outdoor shows are the ’wreath stands’ that you can order at flower shops. They’re not very expensive, you can get them as tall as 5 feet, and you can dig the ’feet’ into the ground which makes them fairly sturdy. They’re also easy to fold up and transport.

Then you’ll probably want a table for your smaller items and business cards, and a chair. A card rack if you sell art cards, although you can also just put them in a pretty box on your table; stand them on their sides so people can scan through them easily. Put a nice tablecloth on your table; it’s not necessary to have one of those fancy ones with the ruffles that go to the floor, just get a nice large tablecloth that goes down quite a bit on the front and sides, the longer the better; that also allows you to hide some of your things under the table without everyone seeing the mess.

A good strategy when doing festivals is to have things at different price points. Small and large paintings, art cards, perhaps some unframed pieces wrapped in cellophane, and if you have them, a few prints. That gives customers more options than just having large expensive paintings.

A few things you don’t want to forget: something warm to wear in case it gets cold; water and food; lots of business cards; a sign with your name on it; your biography; a float so you can make change; price cards naturally; you should have an invoice or receipt book to record sales and some pens; plastic bags to put sold things into; something to do in case it’s quiet, like something to work on, or something to read; sunscreen; bug repellent (try a sheet of Bounce, attach it to your chair or anywhere near you, works like a charm); and finally, things like tape, string, a few tools, scissors, kleenex or paper towel.

Finally, the thing to remember about festivals is that the weather is unpredictable, but if you’re willing to go along with that, they can be a lot of fun. You’ll meet a lot of people, get feedback on your work, make contacts, and hopefully, have a good time doing it.

Suzette

"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

I know that we all paint for different reasons. For some, it’s something to do to pass the time, to de-stress, to escape the demands of everyday life. Some paint strictly for themselves. For others, it’s more of a serious pursuit, to show and sell, and maybe make a career out of it.

Whatever your reasons are, I believe it’s important to show your work. I think that the creative process is a cycle and that showing your work to the public completes the cycle. I believe we need to show it, we need to get some feedback from the public, as much as we need to create in the first place. Making an occasional sale is icing on the cake in terms of satisfying our need for validation, not to mention helping to pay for more art supplies.

So how do we get exposure, how do we get our work ’out there’ for people to see? Here are some ideas:

• Of course, the first thing to do is to put your artwork all over your house, so all visitors will get a chance to see it.
• If you join an art organization, they will have shows on a regular basis; you’ll get a chance to exhibit.
• You can approach local places like restaurants, hospitals, doctor’s offices and ask them if you could display a few paintings. Any place that is public will bring exposure to your work. Of course, be sure to include your business card with telephone number and price, that way if anyone is interested in purchasing the work, they can contact you.
• There are also art festivals taking place in every town all the time. You could show your work at those. I’ll devote my next blog to what’s needed and how to set up at one of those festivals.
• You can approach commercial galleries and seek representation, or ask for your own show, solo or as part of a small group.
• You can go to a park on a nice summer day and set up your easel and start painting. Bring some finished paintings with you and set them out for people to see. People love to watch artists at work so you’ll get lots of attention. (Although be sure to make sure first that it’s OK for you to do this, I know that in Stanley Park, you need to pay in order to be allowed to set up.)
• Have a website, either your own, or as part of a group site or online gallery. If someone sees your work and decides to check you out, they’ll google your name and you want to make sure that they can find you and see your work that way.
• Think outside the box. For example, you can get a friend with a nice big house to throw and ’art party’ for you. You display your work all over her house and she invites all her friends. It would be customary for you to reward your friend for doing this by either giving her a percentage of sales, or by giving her a painting.
• Participate in local events and volunteer to help. Get your name out there and get people to know who you are.

As you can see, there are many ways to show your work. So get out there and let the world see what you’ve been up to.

Suzette

"Love what you do. Believe in your instincts. And you’d better be able to pick yourself up and brush yourself off every day. While life is not always fair, it is manageable. It’s a matter of attitude and confidence." (Mario Andretti)