Project Paint Plane

Exhibiting mountains...

Very soon one of my 'Mountain' pieces will be at the Curious Art-Pie Show. This will be my second exhibition and I feel ready this time. This is why:

1. I will not be using my debit card every second to fulfil my need for perfection. Over a cup of tea I was inputting my expenses from my first exhibition into a calculator and after seeing I had spent well over a couple of hundred pounds for a week long exhibitions I decided, not only did I need to switch to unbranded tea and stop buying posh biscuits, I needed to find a way to do it cheaper. As you will see below there are few reason I spent more than I needed...we all have to learn right?

2. Framing – its big business. The moment I realised my error was when I was discussing framing costs with a seasoned artist. She grabbed my hand and said 'come with me' and she took me to her artwork which was in a prime location and asked me what I thought of the framing – it was good! It suited her art and looked professional. 'Do you know where I got those frames? Ikea & a seconded hand shop, trust me dear you don’t need to spend a lot'! She also sold her pieces. Point taken!

 Apart from the cost of framing there is the frame itself. My first framing experience cost me a lot (a lot!) of money and it was the wrong choice (too dark and didn't suit the gallery). I should have done some research.  A frame seems to be like those touches you put on a house before you have potential buyers around. It's the smell of freshly baked bread or ground coffee! I thought this was silly, but its true, and it might just make a person stop, look and buy.

3. Business cards. I have a tendency to get ahead of myself and I did with business cards. I wanted to be different and decided to make my business cards look like postcards. I left it too late and did a rush job (staying up late and getting frustrated) and they came back looking anything but what I wanted. Plus I paid for a quick turn around. Trust me if you don’t have time don’t get ahead of yourself! Keep it simple. 

4. Believe in your art! I'm not used to blowing my own trumpet and a lot of the time I wanted to hide during the exhibition. Looking at my pieces on the large wall I couldn’t believe they were good enough to be there. But thats not true! I had to get over this, and I feel a hundred times more confident for my next exhibition.

5. Use social media! I forgot one important thing, I posted updates on twitter and facebook but did not put the exhibition on my website! Opps. Its hard to remember to cover all bases, especially when you have a busy full time job. This time I have covered my website in adverts for my next exhibition. Twitter and facebook have been amazing too as you can get conversations going before the exhibition and its free marketing! yay! Plus I've meet some lovely like-minded people this way too. 

7. Finally submit submit submit. I have submitted to 2 exhibitions and been picked for both! If you asked me a year ago if I thought that was possible I would have laughed at you! But there it is. Take a chance.

My first exhibition made me realise 2 things.

Firstly my friends and family are amazing. Their support and continuing encouragement is beyond belief. Secondly it gave me focus and made me find an area of my art I believed in. I'm 100% behind my mountain series and for the first time, when it comes to my art, I'm proud of myself. I always wanted others to be proud of me, but maybe all I really wanted was the opposite. Do it for yourself as most likely everyone else won't need convincing.