Hello all! My name is Annette, I live on a cattle property in the central tablelands area of NSW, Australia. I've been making gemstone and pearl jewellery (with an emphasis on the stones not the metal since I'm a gemmologist and just love rocks!) for the last 8 years and sell mostly within my regional area as well as online.
Since my earliest days trying to get ready for a big show, I found that the US is really a leader in the show scene and I garnered much advice from my online friends in the US and from the (incredible!) Bruce Baker CDs.
The show/art fair scene is quite a bit different in Australia.
Firstly, shows are few and far between. There are very few shows that are juried or even taking a variety of mediums. It can be pretty old-world down here and 'art' is often limited to painting, photography and ceramics. Our art galleries are a little more wordly, but sales through galleries are slow at the best of times.
The odd show that starts out promising often ends with a high influx of buy/sell vendors and they never seem to recover after that!
The next step is usually "markets" with a lot of low quality crafts and imported items - I don't even bother going to them. (I must say we do have some higher quality markets but they are limited to the capital cities).
We do have a swelling of "handmade" fairs and markets starting to make an impact and these take a variety of art and crafts, but once again these are few and far between with only one or two in major centres. With waiting lists a mile long you would think there would be the venue for more, but perhaps we don't have enough entreprenuers willing to organise them?
I'm always looking for ways to share and improve my knowledge in the show scene and I look forward to learning from you!
Replies
Hi Again, Annette,
I've been thinking about the issue of minimal art fairs available in your area, and had some more questions and maybe some ideas! Are you wanting the art fairs per se, or are you looking for more public venues for marketing your jewelry? My husband and I have a home show once a year, usually in late October or early November where we make our home into a large "booth" and invite everyone we know from personal friends, business colleagues, church friends, etc. We have spiced cider and goodies, and people come and browse, eat and look at jewelry and stones. We have time to get orders before the Christmas rush and we usually do pretty well. From time to time, friends who make other types of jewelry also participate.
I had a friend who knew someone at an elementary school, and got permission to go into the school in the teachers' lounge and show jewelry at their lunch time, during the Christmas season. I'm not sure that it would be okay in my school district, but there might be other places where people would have you come in. I once bought a very expensive chair to use for work and the people at the store asked me to come in after their workday and set up my jewelry!
I have done some home shows where the hostess invites her friends and gets a percentage off of her purchases depending on how many sales the friends purchase. I've also been the "entertainment" for a group of women, helping everyone make a small piece of jewelry, and having my things available for purchase. (This was a group of professional women who meet every month).
Teaching jewelry making is also a great place to build your reputation, and perhaps sell some of your stones as you share your enthusiasm for jewelry. Maybe you and your jewelry making friends will get to the point of having a group showing.
Honestly, I prefer doing art fairs as a main venue, but when I was trying to get started, these other things kept me going, and provided the needed push to keep me from giving up! Also, having a friend to work with initially was a godsend to me, since I always felt uncomfortable promoting my own things. (Nice girls don't brag, you know:)!
Anyway, just to let you know that I've been thinking about this.
Kathy Clausen
Hi again Kathy - thanks for the ideas and the time you've taken to write these down for me!
I live 25km out of my nearest town (population of the district 800 people) and so whilst a in-studio show won't work as people won't travel out just to look, I do borrow the local dance studio and use it for one day a year about a month prior to Christmas. This is always a good day - I send out invites to anyone from the local area that has bought from me before and have an advertising flyer distributed to each mailbox - I provide champers and a non-alcoholic beverage, some snacks and always get a decent amount of people through the door and good sales.
As I've been selling in my town now for about 9 years, I'm pretty well known and have regular direct enquiries and sales from locals as well as having pieces for sale (on commission) in the local gallery and the local crafts/artisan store.
I love a home show in people's homes as it certainly creates a buyer friendly atmosphere with friends encouraging purchases. Of course they don't work locally anymore as my work has good exposure around here, but in towns further afield whenever I have done them, they've been very lucrative. Unfortunately I'm not pushy enough to actually ask for someone to host these (a bit like you I think?) but I've just had a new brochure done for them, so hopefully they will encourage me to take the leap and ask if I think the person/time is right!?
As any decent show is few and far between, I've actually found our local agricultural shows to be quite good. This gives me the opportunity once a year to visit some of the surrounding communities. I've managed to wrangle spots in the ladies pavillion (where the cooking and art competitions are displayed) and even if I don't sell a lot it keeps my profile up in those communities.
I'm a member of the Arts group in the nearest large town (100km away) and once or twice a year they host a Maker's Market. I'm down to attend my first in April - there is no jury, but you have to be a member and as such your work has to have been vetted to allow membership, so I am hopeful for this!
I would like there to be more of a art-fair or even higher level craft-fair as you have in the US - as you can imagine living in a relatively sparsely populated area as I do, you can quickly reach saturation point, especially after a few years - so new areas/new people are what I need. A few years ago I did a Limited Edition Expo and did very well, gaining new clients and a couple of wholesale accounts, but the organisers were artists/artisans themselves and just found it took too much time out of their own creating to continue with them. Such a pity.
I must admit I've only taught a couple of people, I haven't offered classes but once again, there may not be the population base to make this work, but its worth looking into!
Cheers
Annette
Hello Annette and welcome. I guess you have it hard down there. I think it may be a good idea to really concentrate boosting up your online business. That way you can make your art work available to a larger audience. It is a bit of work, but once you learn what you are doing you could pretty much work from home. That sounds like it would be good for you seeing how there aren't many art shows for you to do. If you are interested in going that route a good book for you to read is Scott Fox's "Internet Riches". He offers help to those wanting to pursue on line businesses. You can see one of his books at the bottom of this page on the right side. You can also google Scott or his book. Check it out.
Glad you have joined us. I look forward to checking out your jewelry. I, too, am a lover of all kinds of rocks.
Jacki B
Thanks for the welcome Jacki - yes, I have a website but jewellery still seems to be one of those things that people really like to try/feel/see with their own eyes (rather than through a camera), so I do far better in person (plus I love people and getting out and sharing my passion!). Sales to established customers online are easier and I have a few sales ticking over through the web , but more would be better so I be sure to look at the book you've suggested.
Cheers
Annette
Hi Annette,
I noticed your message especially because our daughter and son-in-law live in NSW (Wollongong), and we were just there in December. My husband cuts cabochons, and I wire wrap and metal clay. While we were in Australia we tried to find somewhere to purchase some rough Australian agate, but we were there around the holidays, so the lapidary clubs weren't meeting. Anyway, we do about 12-15 art shows a year. There are so many jewelry makers here, it can be difficult to get into the shows. Right now I have 8 apps out, waiting to hear, have been rejected by 2 and wait-listed by another.
It sounds like you have a different problem of having too few shows. Do you have any secret longings to become a show producer? Sound like you could really fill a need.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Kathy Clausen