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I know we spend our lives focused on art fairs, presenting our product, production, development of image, and the like, but I have a serious question for you.  Is your studio space in your home, or outside of it?  

Our studio space was half of the basement, but as our business has grown we find that half the house is being engulfed.... and it gets stressful to just find a quiet place away from the action..... So we have begun to consider a studio outside of our home.  Im just curious how everyone else copes with this dilema. 

 I thought you artist friends who, like me, produce and sell our work, might be interested in a look at my studio. Warning: it might get ugly. 

  http://sandyartparts.blogspot.com

       I've heard it said by artists in discussing their future dreams: "I just want a small house and a big studio!"

    And why is it important to us artists to have that place to make art? So important, in fact, that a big studio is preferred over a big house. When my husband David got finished with art school in the '70's, he built a studio space in the pole shed at the farm. He enclosed a space, added a wood floor, put in insulation, a chimney and a Jotul wood stove. 

   Then he met me, married me, and embarked with me on an adventure that has taken 36  years to bring full circle. Now we are literally right back where we started. (Our first date was at the studio!)

      So we are older, wiser, and all that. And very much still needing a place to make art. Our art is varied;it requires supplies, time, and a lot of tools. And cats. Our art includes painting, jewelry making, mixed media collage, leather craft, decorative painting, and wood working. Our future art will include ceramics. There is no end in sight of the need we both have to make art. 

     The need to sell  our art goes hand in hand with the need to make it. Neither one of us is cut from the fabric of making art to just give it away. It's the selling it, the finding the right client for the work , that scratches the itch and completes the cycle.

   Of course all this comes at a price. When I think about the length I have gone to to get in the right shows so I can meet my ideal client, well, it makes me shudder. And if we were to count up the actual hours David has spent on his art that he would not, could not, get paid for, it's pretty insane. And yet there is this need to make art. So we keep figuring it out. How to make it, how to sell it , and how to have that big studio next to the small house.

   So we're doing a little bit of renovations. Like a new floor, insulation, rain gutters, varmint proofing, and lighting. Hopefully we will get it done before the weather turns freezing. 

I have to keep  my vision up of the big studio, because, as you can see, it's little more than a dirt hole right now. Our cats love it, they think it's a huge sand box/ litter box. My work area is the table in the upper right of the photo. Pretty primitive, huh? 

 But you should see the view from here.

 So what does your studio look like? Do you have a big studio and a small house? 

I have completed my first year on the art fair circuit. I still feel like someone who has many more questions than answers. However I do want to give back to this site which has been so very informative for me during this time of extreme growing pains.

I am a fiber artist who creates 2D work which look much like paintings. I use mostly recycled fabric which I overdye.  I didn't know what to expect from a "clearance sale" .After a year of trial and error I felt I had plenty to clear out from my studio. This show apparently has a significant following.

The load in and load out were magnificently easy. We were able to pull our van straight into the expo center and unload. My booth was very close by. It doesn't get any easier. The staff was helpful. They were easily found and gave me my informational materials. They provided coffee in the mornings. There was storage provided in the expo center but it is not around your booth. It's a bit of a walk. There is a 10x10 space allotted for your booth.

The expectations of booths were lower as it was a clearance sale so things were not super fancy. Many people used makeshift sale signs. I was amazed that people came to the show at all. The weather was miserable with ice and snow both days. There were several thousand people over both days and people were there to buy and get a bargain. Everyone was asking for discounts which was fine with me at a sale like this.

The quality of the art was high and looked like many of the artists who attend Winterfair. I walked around a few times and saw a potters booth with a 70% off sign- he had 3 pieces left on the shelf. I had a respectable weekend. Less than what I initially hoped for but significantly better than I expected with such bad weather. I hope to get in the show again next year. If the sun were shining I think the potential is there to clear out the old art and clean up on sales. Have a great day!

Sharon

Public Art Project on Tour in Basel, Manfred Kielnhofer

Shared by Austrian artist and designer Manfred Kielnhofer. The “Light Guards” project is further developed and become a ghost car touring in Basel art show during June 15 – 19 2011.

http://artobserved.com/2011/06/ao-on-site-art-fair-news-summary-and-final-photoset-art-42-basel-2011-in-closing/

Eccentric art was also at Basel, if not as dominant a presence as the traditional buys. Ghost Car by Kielnhofer was a large white van with hooded figures driving outside the fair, and the Bleifrei (which translates to Lead Free in German) Art Collective told Art Info: “Art is like Jesus; it died and it’s coming again.”

Manfred Kielnhofer, Ghost Car (2011) Basel, via Kielnhofer.com

Does anyone do trunk shows?   If not I urge you to try one... or do a studio show that could be set up much the same way.

I just had my annual 2 day trunk show in my local town (population of the town and outlying district 800), hosted by a lovely lady who has the local giftware store.  Nice atmosphere - bright and welcoming.   Situated perfectly smack in the centre of the shopping street.   This was my 6th year and my 3rd venue.   As a rule it's always done well, but I think this was the best year.

I was given a space to set up as you enter the store with a shop window for the 2 days as well.   The cost to the store for hosting was nil as she was doing it to also bring people in to her store.  

We did a joint advertisement with the owner in the local paper ($50 each), sent out invitations to anyone in the local district that had bought from me in the last couple of years ($36 postage and $10 for the invites) and then did a flyer into locals letterboxes ($76) a few days before. 

It was set up as the first day 2-7pm as a 'client preview'.   We provided a few bottles of champagne and some sparkling water, cheese and crackers (cost about $60).  We tried to make it an "event".   And they sure turned out for it and were in the buying mood!  

The 2nd day was open for everyone 10am-5pm although lots of clients who couldn't come the first day came on the 2nd day. 

I was unsure how I'd go given the ongoing bad-news economy, however we have just had 130mm of rain in the last week and when you're selling to women who are on the land, rain always boosts expectations.  (Although there was so much rain some clients couldn't come as their creeks were up blocking the roads!). 

I'm pleased to say though I was busy for the whole 2 days - I DID take the camera but I was so busy I never managed to actually get it out of my bag and take a photo...sorry!

I started setting up around 10.30am the first day and had enquiries before I even had my tables put up!  It continued to about 6pm.  I thought that  was probably it and the second day would be quiet -  but people were waiting for me at 10am and the last left at 6pm.

The store owner was thrilled with her sales and the number of people through as well.

I had 34 sales comprising 65 items and have three orders yet to be made and costed.   Pieces sold ranged in price from $25 to $350.   The vast majority were previous customers so I'd already converted them to buyers in prior years so it wasn't hard to sell to them.   They were buying both gifts and something for themselves.  

I must add that I don't overwhelm the locals - this is my one show of the year.  I also have two displays in town (one gallery and one store) and people know where to find me the rest of the year if they want something.

Given Nel's recent thread about the spiralling costs of doing shows - I think a trunk/studio show is a good alternative and if you had a wide client base in different areas, you could travel around doing these types of events on a regular basis.

The grim seeker after truth
Anyone wondering why these grim reaper style figures were seated on this white van - look no further than the latest installation from artist Manfred Kielnhofer. He is from Haslach an der Mühl, in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria, Austria, and is an artist and designer whose work usually centres around the human anatomy. His recent piece of art is the Ghost Car, which is a product of the developing ‘Light Guards’ project. This project surfaced from the theory that humankind has always been able to boast having guardians in different ways, in potential danger from only themselves. This idea intrigued the artist Kielnhofer, who approached it with his artwork, intertwining the theme of longing for security harboured by all humans. The Ghost Car portrays a sizely white van driving, seating sheet-covered figures. Perhaps this reflects individuality, exploration and recognition of current events in society, as it seems to interpret the theme by suggesting the hooded figures are looking to the drapes and car for protection as they are possibly ghosts, who are afraid of the life after death, and long for safekeeping.
By Alessia De Silva
http://austriantimes.at/news/Panorama/2011-08-06/35422/The_grim_seeker_after_truth
http://kielnhofer.com

As I sit here busily creating surrounded by mess (strands of pearls, piles of gems, pieces of silver and a myriad of tools) that steadily closes in on me in an ever decreasing circle, so that I'm working in the most ridiculously tiny amount of space ... I need to know does everyone else find their work area getting chaotic too? Or am I just a messy worker?

Obviously this is my "process" as I love what I make from my very messy bench, but I'm sure my friends are shocked when they see me at work for the first time wondering how I could possibly work like this (they're not creative types) and are happily surprised when they see what finally emerges.

I must add that I DO periodically put things away and make the circle bigger, but a big tidy up leaves me bereft of creativity for a days if not weeks.  Once I sit down and start 'playing' (my precursor to creating) it rapidly gets chaotic again.

Please tell me I'm not alone :)

I just visited a great event on Saturday-the Tampa Tourdeclay which featured 6 studios with 20 Florida potters and their guest potters. Fun, food, music, shoptalk and sales were present as I went from each studio visiting with the potters with their unique styles and ways of marketing their work. Had a great time and enjoyed the comraderie. The event is a yearly feature of the Florida Westcoast Ceramic Society. www.tampatourdeclay.com

Hi everyone!

Please bear with me as it has been 40years since high school English and college English!!

I just had a wonderful week end visit with my Mom up in Augusta, Wisconsin! Had to bring up some of Grandmothers' things for my Mom to go over, plus a few things of my Sisters', a bit of a sad thing to do, but necessary. Anyway in spite of that, we had a really good time and visit! The reason I am writing this about Augusta, I don't know if people know of the large Amish Community they have up there? They do the most amazing quilts, wood work, furniture and the bake goods are just to die for!!!! The most beautiful breads!!!!

The Wood Shed in Augusta on Main Street, sells quite a bit of their furniture, their toys and such, but did you know that you can take a bus tour of the Amish Community? This is really something to see, you are riding along in your truck, car on the back roads, right along horse and buggy on the road! I know that there are some artists that specialize in Amish Artwork, this small area of Wisconsin would be a good place for this type of artwork. Make sure to ask permission first if it is all right to paint on their property and such. But never the less even if you just take a ride by yourself, the country side up there is beautiful! My Mom and I took a ride in her 1 ton truck up and down the hills on the back roads, it was bright and suuny, just a perfect day for a Sunday ride in the country. There is also a pretty good size art community up in the Augusta area, Roz Henning and her group, put on The Falling Leaves Art Tour every Fall, I think it is in October, this is a Saturday and Sunday ride in the country of the small towns, going thru the local artists art studios, to see what the do, talk with the artists and buy some lovely local artwork! Plus the local resturants offer wonderful meals and such when you are done with the tour! Beautiful art and wonderful food in Gods' Country! Again it's a pretty good ride to get to Augusta, it's outside of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, you can do mapquest to get driving directions.