Art Exhibition at The Storey

This month I have shown a selection of my recently created ‘Flower a Day’ collection in an exhibition run by @british_art_exhibitions at @the_storey_lancaster. 

This was the first time, since my degree show in 2003, that I have displayed my artwork in a formal exhibition.  

Preparation for the exhibition included selecting and framing pieces of work, pricing each piece and writing an artists statement. 

The process of pricing is particularly difficult for many artists as is it can be difficult to value your own work due to a range of factors that need to be taken into account, including material costs, time spent creating the work, size, and framing costs. Having done a lot of reading and research on this topic I took the decision to follow the pricing format advised by @mariabrophy Art Consultant, as it offers a simple standardised pricing strategy using £/inch formula that is fair to both artist and customers. 

The artists’ statement is always something that fills me with dread, I am not a master of words and struggle a little with dyslexia, making written work an intimidating task that often gets shoved to the bottom of the ‘to do’ list! Luckily my family are super supportive and are happy to do some proofreading for me, they’ve also introduced me to Grammarly which I find helpful. 

When it came to the hanging day, I arrived at the venue with my tools, business cards and the three pieces of work for the spaces that I had booked. The space that I have reserved was much larger than advertised and my three pieces looked lost next to artist next to me who had large, bold paintings set out in a grid. After a quick chat with the organiser, I rushed home and framed up six more pieces to add to my display. Although it felt a bit stressful and rushed I was pleased with the finished display of work. 

There was a mix of styles and techniques from artists of different ability and experience on display at the exhibition. As it was not a juried exhibition it was open to everyone, that said I felt the standard of work was very good. 

I found myself feeling anxious during the exhibition with self-doubt hovering over me; was my work good enough? would visitors like it? As is so often the case my worries were unfounded as I made a sale following the private viewing and another visitor showed interest in the same piece! 

Overall a great learning experience and confidence builder.