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Getting Ready for a Show

“It’s like getting four girls ready for prom,” I wrote someone about the process I was involved in.

A friend takes lunch weekly at a local brew pub restaurant and had recommended me to them while they were in between artists and their walls were bare.

Katie telephoned me and we spoke. Then I went to see the place and gauge her interest.

We agreed that I’d come with the art the next day.

In the interim, I leaned a little about what lay ahead and determined that there was much more involved than just hanging the art. So I called in and rescheduled so that I would have time to get it ready.

I selected pieces which were good candidates both for the space and for the theme. Left off from consideration were pieces that either weren’t for sale, were not framed but needed a frame with glass, or were beautiful, just not right for this showing.

Katie liked having the larger pieces, which suited me fine. I rounded them up.

The day drew near. I got lumber, paint, wire, hangers, screws, nails, and a plan.

Some of the large paintings predated my use of gallery wrap canvas. Framing them would not only be a prohibitive expense, but also unwise. How something is framed is an end user decision like a hairdo style. An enclosure is a good protective device for such paintings. It has the utility of a frame at less cost and can be quickly removed when framing is nigh. I built several.

The next item was to build an inventory sheet with a photo of each picture, a price, dimensions, and it’s title. That took a very long time.

Pricing should have been done long ago and I’ve tried it numerous times. It’s like writing a will.

I ask myself, “If someone wanted you to do this painting today for this amount of money would you be happy to do it at that price?”

I imagine someone liking it enough to buy, and their reaction to the asking prices.

I imagine doing this for a living and at the asking price and the pace at which I can produce these, including the design work, the acquisition and assembly of component parts, and the time spent would it be a reasonable exchange?

I imagine my reaction if the art sold at this price, would I be happy to let it go?

In the end, I priced them less than I truly felt was a fair exchange. Though the pile represented a year’s worth of work, I was asking for six months living expenses. I didn’t like that I did that.

Over pricing means no sales. Under pricing means establishing myself as a bargain artist, which is not honest. I can’t compete with those guys and live.

The inventory part of preparation was so time consuming that I left off a box of little pieces that I’d wanted to include so that buyers could afford something no matter how little cash they had on hand. I had prints and little out door live sketched landscapes that could go for under $20 each.

That last day of preparation stretched on until 4:30 am the day of the installment. I got two hours of sleep and rose to pack the art in the truck.

Finally, I loaded the truck with a ladder and tools and the hanging supplies and all the art and headed out. I’d pushed out other events for the morning and now the way was clear to get this done.

This guy was unconcerned with the show, but stayed where he could keep an eye on me as I got ready

When I arrived at the business, there was no one to open for  me. Eventually the owner let me in, but he doesn’t deal directly with the artists. The person who does was not there.

She did telephone me at about the same time the owner let me in. He may not even speak English, I don’t know. He walked off to some other concern and we never had a conversation.  The contact person was apologetic and asked to reschedule ‘later’ but I sensed it was a situation like was stated in Pink Floyd lyrics, “We’ll meet again some sunny day”.

Though she unconvincingly suggested that we later reschedule, I got it. The deal was off. There had been other indicators that this might not work and after years working in Collections I knew that “later” is a date found only on imaginary calendars.

As I returned home I was grateful. Now I had a good idea what was involved in preparation for a showing. I understood the basics, some theoretical and some practical.

I’d gone through the pricing regimen for real.

And whatever made this show fall through happened before I filled their business with my art rather than after. If there are going to be problems with the consignment, that’s when you want them: before.

One of the other positives in this adventure was the discovery that in Washougal and Camas, something positive is happening. The down town areas of both places have a very good feel. Some one is doing good planning. Businesses are relocating to those formerly sleepy towns.

I read for hours online to discover the source of that visionary influence. The same developer came up again and again. That was while I researched the history of the business I was to hang art in so I could  calibrate my selections to suit.

I think I’ll keep an eye out for a way to do business in those towns. Meanwhile, here are the art works I would have showed at that restaurant.

 

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