Friday 26 November 2010

Windsor Contemporary Art Fair

Now that I'm back online I can also tell you all about the WCAF which was held a couple of weeks ago on the 12th-14th November.

This was my first ever art fair and I have to admit that I was really nervous about it. 
Although my work had been selling well on Etsy, I'd never put myself out there in the public before with all my artwork in one place.  

When you exhibit at an art fair, in a way you are setting yourself up to be compared with 100 other artists.  And by "compared" I don't mean in style, because everyone is so different, but rather a comparison of standard - well that's what I was doing anyway! 

But thankfully I needn't have worried so much - I did pretty well for a first fair - I sold a few originals and lots of prints and cards.  

Another big upside to doing fairs is the contacts you make and the lovely people you meet.  All the other exhibitors are really supportive of each other and are very willing to give invaluable advice to newcomers.  Please take a look at the images below and check out the other artists.

So all in all it was a really enjoyable weekend and I'll definitely be applying again to exhibit next year.

My stand at the WCAF

Please check out my favourite artist at the fair - the lovely, sweet Helen Rhodes
Her work is just stunning - I would've bought her whole display if I could!

Another favourite artist at the fair - the amazing Darren Dearden
His work is huge and completely brilliant.

And yet another family favourite at the fair - artist Jo Bunce
She also paints amazing flowers - just gorgeous!

Computer Hell !!!

Oh my gosh - I've been in computer purgatory for the last 3 weeks - what a nightmare!  Yes my pc finally fried itself and it has taken 3 weeks to get a new one and be properly back online.  As much as I love my Blackberry, there are certain things that just can't be done. Like updating my shops - and PRINTING!!!  Of course this all happened just a week before I was due to exhibit at the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair.  Luckily my fab friend, Tania, came to my rescue and printed out all my giclee prints for me on her computer.  

The downside of course is that I've lost a whole load of images which are gone forever in the internet ether because my hard drive wasn't salvageable.  Yes, I know I should've backed everything up ... but I didn't.  

Lesson learned - enough said.