It's good to be back...
This weekend I travelled over to the Isle of Wight to set up and work my frst dapplegrey art show for two years. It was so lovely to be giving my art an airing, to be spending a day talking art to the public and my fellow stallholders who I hadn't seen for so long - it was so ... normal!
It turned out to be a fairly successful weekend. Not record-breaking, but lots of interest, three very promising commission enquiries, an interesting business proposition and about £300 worth of sales on the day.
As always, my dad came with me to help me set up and man the stall. He's the art influence in my life, and dapplegrey art is his baby as much as mine. It was great to give him a reason to come out, get a bit of sun on his face and socialise with a few people. The show was held on Saturday and Sunday but we headed to the venue to set up on the Friday so there was no pressure on Saturday morning. We do this every year and finish up with a cup of tea and a cake in a local cafe; it's just a lovely dad/daughter bonding time. Having said that, the set-up took up twice as long as normal as we were so out of the routine and the rhythm!
In the end I was mostly happy with how the stall looked (except the red roof on the marquee which wasn't great for artistic lighting!)
It was just such a lovely cathartic weekend, after the last crappy year where everything was cancelled an postponed multiple times. It was also a little bit bittersweet because I know how much my dad loves these events but I seriously wonder if this would be the last year he will be able to come. I know how much he enjoys these shows, but he's so unsteady on his legs now, and in so much pain with them, he could hardly walk by the afternoon on Sunday. When we dismantled the stall, he did what he could, but he had to sit down and watch me load the car, which would have been really difficult for him because he's quite old-fashioned in his outlook, and seeing me doing manual labour and heavy lifting and not being able to help would have hurt him badly.
So we may have some difficult conversations ahead of us. We shall have to see for next year. :(
But for now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that I had this opportunity, and so did my dad.
dapplegrey art is back in business!
It turned out to be a fairly successful weekend. Not record-breaking, but lots of interest, three very promising commission enquiries, an interesting business proposition and about £300 worth of sales on the day.
As always, my dad came with me to help me set up and man the stall. He's the art influence in my life, and dapplegrey art is his baby as much as mine. It was great to give him a reason to come out, get a bit of sun on his face and socialise with a few people. The show was held on Saturday and Sunday but we headed to the venue to set up on the Friday so there was no pressure on Saturday morning. We do this every year and finish up with a cup of tea and a cake in a local cafe; it's just a lovely dad/daughter bonding time. Having said that, the set-up took up twice as long as normal as we were so out of the routine and the rhythm!
In the end I was mostly happy with how the stall looked (except the red roof on the marquee which wasn't great for artistic lighting!)
It was just such a lovely cathartic weekend, after the last crappy year where everything was cancelled an postponed multiple times. It was also a little bit bittersweet because I know how much my dad loves these events but I seriously wonder if this would be the last year he will be able to come. I know how much he enjoys these shows, but he's so unsteady on his legs now, and in so much pain with them, he could hardly walk by the afternoon on Sunday. When we dismantled the stall, he did what he could, but he had to sit down and watch me load the car, which would have been really difficult for him because he's quite old-fashioned in his outlook, and seeing me doing manual labour and heavy lifting and not being able to help would have hurt him badly.
So we may have some difficult conversations ahead of us. We shall have to see for next year. :(
But for now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that I had this opportunity, and so did my dad.
dapplegrey art is back in business!