My Artweeks Story
Land, Sea and Sky
I entered Artweeks just before the deadline in December, knowing it would be one of the first things I’d be doing after being made redundant from my job at The Art Room in April. This was long before COVID 19 hit Europe. I’d been preparing work for a while and had in mind the kind of exhibition I’d create and the work I’d like to sell. I made sure I had a good variety of large works and smaller items that would be easy for visitors to take away. I had them all mounted and prepared in advance. In February I went to a great training day with Esther and Jo, the organisers, at The Jam Factory in Oxford. I met other artists and made friends and connections and left feeling very informed and a little anxious about the volume of work involved but hopeful and excited at the prospect of throwing myself in to something art career related, immediately after my final day of work.
When the restrictions were introduced in March, there was some uncertainty regarding their length of time and severity so it looked as if Artweeks could possibly still go ahead as it was still 6 weeks away. After a couple of weeks of updated upon updated emails, we realised it would either have to be cancelled or go online and take on a whole new character. I am still flabbergasted that in only 5 weeks, Esther and Jo managed to put together a varied, professional online studios event with so much choice and lots of features to last the whole month of May - Astonishing!
I spent hours and hours getting my head around the back end of my website, the front end of my AW gallery and all facets of my social media presence!
There were lots of possibilities for virtual studio tours, online zoom talks and live sessions as well as videos of artists talking about their work. I learnt a lot of new things and managed to create an online flip book http://online.fliphtml5.com/cxzel/jlvg/?1588155961917#p=1 , make a time lapse video, photograph all my work and upload it, label and detail it. All time consuming, mind bending, eye aching stuff.
I loved it when it started and I was able to put out a vase of freshly picked flowers and put them in a jug on an old table outside my house. I used my Artweeks banner and put out business cards. Lots of people were using the lane outside our house for their daily lockdown walk so it was busier than usual and lots of cards were taken and interest raised. I had some interesting conversations with locals I hadn’t met before and made some new connections.
I enjoyed creating social media campaigns and engaging with people through Instagram and Facebook. Most of my sales came in the first week but each weekend I created a different focus and this helped to keep people interested. I really enjoyed drawing and photographing 10 small pastel drawings done in my garden and hung on mini bulldog clips and selling for £15 each.
For the final weekend I put four paintings in to a secret auction for viewers to bid by direct message. It was a bit of a risk but I made it clear I had a minimum amount in my head so would decide whether to sell or not if the bids were too low. Luckily this didn’t happen and I sold one piece to someone I know will appreciate the work.
I’ve learnt that it is fun trying out new ideas, having a go at technology I’m unfamiliar with, and that selling art has a lot to do with relationships. People love to know the story behind the work and the story behind the artist. I love taking part in events like this because I gain so much from the comments and observations people make about mine and other artists’ work. Lots is opening up before me and I really hope you will stay with me. Please feel free to comment or email me anytime - conversations are always so helpful and thought provoking. If you’d like to subscribe to my monthly - ish newsletter please click on the link - it’s easy, just your name and email address and click ‘subscribe’ https://www.alisonberrettartist.com/subscribe-to-newsletter
Until next time…..stay well.